Abstract

ISOLATION AND EXTRACTION OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETNER (STEVIA)

Suchita Aminha*, A.N.Soumya, V. Govinda Raju, B. Manish Goud, Mohammad Irfath, Syed Ali Pasha Quadri.

Abstract

Stevioside is extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni(asteraceae or compositae) plant. Due to its sweet taste it is used as anatural non caloric sweetener. These glycosides are 300 times sweeterthan sugar and also exhibit wide therapeutic activity. Stevia plants arealso rich in carbohydrates (61.93% d.w), protein(11.41% d.w), crudefibre (15.52% d.w), minerals(K-21.15; Ca-17.7; Na-14.93; Mg-3.26mg/100gm d.w; Cu-0.73; Mn-2.89; Fe-5.89; Zn-1.26 mg/100gm d.w)and also essential amino acids. It is used as a substitute for sucrose infood & beverages in many countries. In the present experimentisolation of stevioside from stevia leaves had been done by low costmethods. Isolated stevioside was analyzed by TLC method. The RFvalues of TLC were 0.50 & 0.67.

Keywords: Stevia rebaudiana, asteraceae, stevioside, non caloric sweetener, extraction, TLC.