Stevia First reports excellent California crop yields for stevia

Published: 6-Nov-2014

Dry leaf yields rival global averages and validate regional crop suitability


Stevia First Corp, an agricultural biotechnology company based in California's Central Valley growing region which produces the zero-calorie sweetener stevia in industrial quantities, reports an excellent 2014 growing season, which is positive news for the future of California-grown stevia.

The company harvested stevia fields at locations throughout California in late August and the results indicate that local stevia dry leaf yields will meet and likely exceed the average globally reported dry leaf yields.

Jeremiah Mann, Stevia First's Senior Agronomist and VP of Operations, said: 'In addition to observing excellent crop performance we are pleased that working with our grower partners we demonstrated that commonly available agricultural equipment addressed all critical components of stevia production, including planting, weed control, harvest, transport, and storage.

'And the best part is that we have very good yields, and recognise that we have a lot of room for improvement and innovation at every step of leaf production.'

The leaf harvest will be used for ongoing development of the first dedicated North American stevia extraction and purification facilities, along with efforts to produce stevia sweetener using fermentation in conjunction with traditional agricultural production.

The market for all-natural, zero-calorie stevia sweeteners is expanding rapidly. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that stevia intake could eventually replace 20–30% of all dietary sweeteners. The total global sweetener market was estimated at US$58.3bn in 2010.

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