Sweet herb

The scientific name of Sweet herb: Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Hemsl.

Name of Sweet herb in different languages:-

English: Stevia plant

Hindi: Meeta

Sanskrit:

Malayalam: Stevia, Madhura chedi

Tamil: Mathurakeerai

Plant description:

It is an erect perennial herb growing up to 65-75 cm tall with hairy branches and stems, not draught tolerant, small, shrubby, leaves sessile, oppositely arranged lanceolate to oblanceolate, serrated above the middle. It has toothed, lance- shaped leaves borne in opposite pairs along the stems and it bears showy clusters of white flower heads, each head made up of 5 tiny florets. The flowers developed into hard, one seeded fruits (achenes). Flowers are small, white and arranged in an irregular cyme.

Leaf Arrangement

Shape-Tapered	Margin-Serrated	Venation-Reticulate

Useful plant parts:

leaf

Medicinal uses:

flavour, diabetic diets, colour and odour enhancers, antioxidants and as alcoholic beverage enhancer. Medicinally it is used in toothpaste, mouthwashes, skin care, hypertension treatment and capsule additive to improve taste

Chemical content:

Stevioside, rebaudioside-A, rebaudioside, Glycosides, flavonoid glycosides, coumarins, cinnamic acids, phenyl propanoids and essential oils

Medicinal properties:

Antidermatic, antidiabetic. Antioxidants and catalyst for alcoholic beverages.