Stevia plant introduced to farmers

TIRANA, Feb. 12 – An agriculture centre in Fushe-Kruje town, some 30 km from Tirana, has started experimentally growing the Stevia plant, widely grown for its sweet leaves, reported to having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar. “There are good conditions to be planted in Albania because of appropriate land and climate conditions,” says the Albanian Agriculture Ministry.
“We are carefully watching and giving a priority to the examination of new elements which could help Albanian farmers. We will carefully watch and control the launch of new cultures which benefit the Albanian economy and farmers,” said Tokli Thomai, deputy Agriculture Minister at a meeting where Albanian farmers were acquainted with the technology and benefits of growing the Stevia by Greek experts.
As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia’s taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.
Stevia is a plant that is native to South America. It is probably best known as a source of natural sweeteners. In fact, native people in South America have used stevia as a sweetener for hundreds of years. But the leaves are also used to make medicine. Stevia is used as a weight loss aid; for treating diabetes, high blood pressure and heartburn, for lowering uric acid levels, for preventing pregnancy, and for increasing the strength of the muscle contractions that pump blood from the heart.