| What is
stevia rebaudiana Bertoni? |
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Wondering
where the strange name stevia
rebaudiana Bertoni came from? Here's a clue: the three
parts of the name all point to different scientists! Let's have a
closer look, shall we?
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The
three scientists responsible for the discovery and documentation of
stevia are:
Latin derivation of the name of the 16th century Spanish botanist Pedro Jaime Esteve,
who was the first to study the effects of the mysterious stevia herb.
Not much is known about the kind sir, aside from the fact that he
supposedly died in 1566. At least he left a legacy!
 At the dawn of the 20th
century, a native chemist from Paraguay named
Ovidio Rebaudi
was the first to publish a chemical analysis of the
stevia plant, and was able to discern the two substances that would
become known as stevioside
and rebaudioside.
He
thought it apt to include his own name in the Latin version of the
stevia rebaudiana plant: Eupatorium rebaudianum.
 A Swiss botanist by the name
of Moisés de Santiago
Bertoni, who was
stationed in Paraguay at the same time, soon became intrigued by the
way the local tribes used herbs to naturally sweeten their beverages.
One plant in particular seemed very interesting indeed, because Bertoni
found out that the natives also used stevia as a natural medicine for
lowering blood pressure, disinfecting flesh wounds, and other sorts of
treatment. He published his reports in 1899, and hinted at the
particularly sweet taste that could possibly be derived from the stevia
plant.
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But
further research on stevia's sweetness was lacking, and it
wasn't until the early 30's that two French chemists by the name of
Briedel
and Lavieille were able to crystallize the glycosides that
gives the stevia herb its sweet taste. They quickly discovered that the
substances were up to 300 times sweeter than sucrose, without the side
effects that were known to be caused by sugar, such as sugar
addiction.
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