Stevia Production in California Announced

Stevia Production in California Announced - Image via Wikipedia

S&W Seed Company (Nasdaq:  SANW) announced that it is expecting to have stevia plants in commercial production in early 2011 in the Central Valley of California. The company expects the first cuttings to be during the first half of 2011.

S&W hired agronomist, Koren Sihota to oversee commercial cultivation of stevia. Sihota has traveled to South America, Asia and Europe to study and determine the best soil and climate conditions for stevia farming.

Stevia is an herb that is native to tropical and subtropical areas in North and South America known for its sweetness. It is used as a replacement for sugar and artificial sweeteners and is also known as sweetleaf and sugarleaf. Stevia extracts are up to 300 times as sweet as sugar. Stevia has virtually no calories and extracts are considered to be non-caloric.

Natives in Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil have been using stevia for centuries to sweeten yerba mate and medicinal teas used to treat heartburn and other ailments.

Japan has been using it for decades in chewing gum, diet Coke and yogurts.

In 2008, the FDA declared that stevia is “generally recognized as safe.” This opened the door for it to be used as a no-calorie sweetener in foods and drinks in the U.S.

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