甜叶菊(Stevia rebaudian Beratoni)是一种多年生草本植物,原产于南美巴拉圭东部和巴西境内的高原地区,近年来已成为国外扩大生产应用的新糖料作物。甜叶菊的叶甚甜,自古以来当地居民采叶用作甜茶饮料。据日本资料报道,其甜度,以实用倍率算,为白糖的80—100倍。但发热量较低。从甜叶菊的干叶中提炼出来的糖精有异味和异臭,用离子交换剂精制后,呈微黄包, Stevia rebaudian Beratoni is a perennial herb native to the plateau regions of eastern Paraguay and Brazil in South America. It has become a new sugar crop for expanding production and application abroad in recent years. Stevia leaf is very sweet, since ancient times, local residents to use leaves for sweet tea drinks. According to Japanese data reports, its sweetness, calculated at practical rates, 80-100 times as much as sugar. But the heat is low. Sweetener from dried leaves of stevia refined out of smell and stench, with ion exchange agent refined, was yellowish,