The shrub Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as Stevia, was first mentioned by the Spanish physician and botanist Pedro Jaime Esteve (1500-1556) who found it in the north-east of the territory now called Paraguay.

Guarani Indians of this area as in southern Brazil are using “ka’a he’ê” (”sweet leaf”), as it is called in Guaraní, since hundreds of years as a sweetener in yerba mate, and several tribes reported the use of this plant in the control of fertility of women, applying concentrated Stevia infusions for prolonged periods.

It is precisely this contraceptive property that is discussed since the 70s until today in the scientific literature. The reason is simple: Who wants to consume a sweetener that suddenly makes you barren?

Stevia leaf contains a complex mixture of glycosides (compounds where one or more sugar molecules are bound to a non-carbohydrate moiety). These compounds give the leaves an intensely sweet taste, about 30-45 times sweeter than sucrose, the sweet stuff of refined sugar. To date, ten different chemical compounds (chemically, all steviol glycosides) were isolated which are responsible for the sweet taste of the plant: stevioside, rebaudioside A, B, C, D, E and F, dulcoside A, rubusoside and steviolbioside. The highest concentration of the sweetening effect comes from Stevioside and rebaudioside A, responsible for the extract of Stevia being 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose with almost cero calories (about 0.2 calories per gram). » Read more: Potential Health Risks of Stevia Sweetener