2014, Vol. 2, Issue 5, Part A

author(s)
Gurpreet Kaur, Varindra Pandhair, G S Cheema

abstract
Steviol glycosides are highly sweet diterpene glycosides found in the Paragyan shrub, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. Steviol glycosides, mainly stevioside and rebaudioside, principal components of Stevia rebaudiana leaf, has become well known for their sweetness and are used as non-caloric sweeteners in several countries due to their nutritional and pharmacological benefits. Hence, craving for sweetness led man to discover several forms of alternative sweeteners. In this study, different polar and non-polar solvents were used for extracting glycosides from stevia leaves and the components isolated through column chromatography were characterized as steviolmonoside, stevioside and rebaudioside B on the basis of spectral (IR and 1H-NMR data), physical and chemical characteristics.