ABSTRACT

Stevia Rebaudiana is a shrub that belongs to the compositae family. Naturally scored as a zerocalorie sweetener, it can be used in a variety of products. The current study aimed at developing indigenous food products sweetened with Stevia Rebaudiana and later were compared with sucrose for Glycemic responses among young females (18-22 years). The products developed were tested on hedonic scale for acceptability for five basic parameters. The products were analyzed for proximate composition. Of the evaluated products, pancakes scored highest sweetened with Stevia. The addition Stevia altered the proximate composition. Major differences found were in carbohydrates, fats and caloric value. Glycemic indices showed significantly difference among all the Stevia and sucrose sweetened products. Stevia Rebaudiana sweetened products kept post prandial blood glucose low throughout the test period. Threshold test was done to compare the sweetness of Stevia extract and sugar solution. The highest combination was found to be 5ml of Stevia extract in 1000 ml water equivalent to a Sugar solution containing 10 grams of Sugar .The duration of the sweet stimulus for Stevia lasted for 40 seconds as perceived by 20 of the judges. It is concluded from the present study that Stevia Rebaudiana has a greater potential in the preparation of low sucrose and low calorie products. Keywords: Stevia Rebaudiana, Proximate Analysis, Nutritional Composition, Glycemic Responses, Sweetness Threshold, Sweetness Duration

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2018/April/MS_IJBPAS_2018_4398.pdf

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