How to Process Stevia

Stevia is a food additive that comes from the herb stevia rebaudiana. The plant is also referred to as stevia. It is in the Chrysanthemum family of plants and grows wild in Brazil and Paraguay. According to stevia.com, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an import alert in 1991, which blocked imports of stevia into the United States. The FDA revised its alert in 1995, which allowed Stevia to be imported as a food additive, but not as a sweetener. This affects the way stevia is labeled, even though it sweetens beverages such as coffee and tea. Commercial processing of stevia involves water extraction from the dried leaves, then decolorizing the product. Purification is obtained via ion-exchange resins, and then the crystallization process produces granular stevia. However, there is a process that can be done at home to produce stevia extract.

Things You'll Need

• Stevia leaves or powder
• Cooking pot
• USP grain alcohol
• Filter
• Stove
• Pure water

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Instructions

• 1

  Crumble the stevia leaves into a cooking pot. If using stevia powder, pour the powder into the cooking pot.

• 2

  Add USP grain alcohol. The alcohol will be removed in a later step, so be sure to add enough alcohol to absorb the stevia extract.

• 3

  Allow the alcohol and stevia mixture to sit for 24 hours. Pour the alcohol and stevia mixture through a filter to remove the leaves or residual powder.

• 4

  Place the cooking pot on the stove to heat. Keep the heat set to low so that the mixture doesn't boil. This step may be skipped if a high alcohol content is desired. The heating allows the alcohol to evaporate.

• 5

  Dilute the remainder with pure water. Use enough water to achieve the desired taste.