الفهرس 
1- INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Stevia, a member of the Composite family, is a plant native to South America, but has been distributed to Southeast Asia. Extracts of the leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) have been used for centuries to sweeten food and beverages in South America, Japan and China (Geuns, 2003). The stevia leaves in its powder form is green in color, 10 – 15 times sweeter than sucrose with after taste bitterness. The primary components responsible for the sweet properties of the plant are glycosides of steviol. They are extracted from the leaves with hot water, followed by solvent purification of the water-soluble extract. Dried Stevia leaves contained essential amino acids (arginin,lysine, histidine, phenyl alanine, leucine, methionine, valine, therionine and isolucine), the amounts is higher than those recommended by FAO and WHO (1985) for daily adults as well as non- essential amino acids. Over 100 phytochemicals have been discovered in stevia. It is rich in terpenes and flavonoids. The constituents responsible for stevia’s sweetness were documented in 1931. Stevia has demonstrated antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, and antiyeast activity. A water extract was shown to help prevent dental cavities by inhibiting the bacteria Streptococcus mutans that stimulates plaque formation. Additionally, a U.S. patent was filed in 1993 on a extract of stevia that claimed it to have vasodilatory activity and deemed it effective for various skin diseases (acne, heat rash, pruritis) and diseases caused by blood circulation insufficiency.