Stevia Production under the Egyptian Context - EMAP

Stevia Production under the Egyptian Context
Mr. JAYARAM BALASUBRAMANIAN
Stevia International Expert
30 th January 2013

Part One
NATURAL LOW– CALORIE SWEETENERS
STEVIA REBAUDIANA
REBAUDIOSIDE- A

NATURAL SWEETENERS
PRODUCT SOURCE INTENSITY
(SUCROSE)
Rebaudioside-A Stevia rebaudiana 250
Glycirrhizin Glycirrhiza glabra 50
Lakanto
(Mogroside)
Momordica grosvenorii 300
Thaumatin Thaumatococcus daniellii 2000
Brazzein Pentadiplandra brazzeana 800
Rugusoside Rubus suasissimus 30

Sweeteners (Proteins)
PRODUCT NAME PLANT SOURCE INTENSITY
(SUCROSE)
CURCULIN Curculigo latifolia 550
MABILIN Capparis masaikai 100
MONELIN Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii 3000
PENTADIN Pentadiplandra brazzeana 500

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
PRODUCT NAME
BRAND
NAMES
FDA
APPROVAL
ASPARTAME Nutra sweet, Equal 1981 200
SUCROLASE Splenda 1998 600
SACCHARIN Hermesetas 1958 400
ACESULFAME-K
Nutrinova
Ace-k
Sunett TM
1988 200
NEOTAME 2002 4000
CYCLAMATE Sucaryl TM reapproval 30
INTENSITY
(SUCROSE)

Rebaudioside- A (Reb-A)
The Next Generation of Sweeteners
• Plant indigenous to Paraguay whose leaves have been
used to sweeten food and beverages for over 600 years
• Reb-A has no caloric content, zero carbohydrate and a
low glycemic index, making it suitable for consumption by
diabetics
• Reb-A has a taste profile which is a credible, natural and
healthy alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners

Market Environment
• Global obesity epidemic
• Rising health care costs
• Consumer attention to diet
• Major food and beverage companies searching for
healthy ingredient alternatives
• Global sweetener market is estimated at $40‐-50
billion

STATUS of STEVIA
• Stevia has been used as sweetener in Japan, China and Korea
• Stevia contributes more than 70% as sweetener in Japan
• The launch of stevia as sweetener faced stiff challenges from
various competitors
• JBB Japan, Stevia Canada and Sweet Aloha farms, Hawaii are
some of the firms promoting stevia
* In 1995, FDA re approved stevia as a food supplement
• In Dec.2008, Rebiana ( Rebaudioside-A 95%), a product of Cargill
and Coca-cola collaboration got GRAS status- as general purpose
sweetener for food and drinks, not as just a supplement by FDA.
• 12 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland etc.

REGULATORY STATUS

STEVIA REBAUDIANA
• Stevia is a natural sweet herb of Paraguay, commonly known as
sweet leaf or sugar leaf, cultivated mainly in China, Brazil, Japan
• 80 % of the total area is only in China
• Performs better in long- day conditions
• Leaf yield is 5000 kg of dry leaves per ha.
• Stevioside and Rebaudioside – A, as sweetening principles
•Leaves contain 10 -15% of total glycoside, out of which
Rebaudioside –A is 40%

Sweetness intensity of Sweeteners
(Compared to Sucrose )
SWEETENER
1 SUCROSE 1
2 FRUCTOSE 1.73
3 INERT SUGAR 1.30
4 GLUCOSE 0.74
5 MALTOSE 0.32
6 LACTOSE 0.16
7 SACCHARIN 550
8 ASPARTAME 200
9 ACESULFAME K 200
10 CYCLAMATE 35
11 NEOLICEPERIDIN DIHYDROCALCONE 330
12 THAUMATIN 3500
13 ALCIME 2500
14 NEOCIME 2000
15 STEVIOSIDE 160
16 REBAUDIOSIDE-A 250
17 SUCRALOSE 600
INTENSITY

Part Two
GLOBAL MARKET SCENARIO
of STEVIA PRODUCTS

• Global sweetener market is estimated at $40‐-50 billion
• The qty of Stevia product sales was 3500 tons in the year 2011
and it is expected to over 11000 tons in 2014
• The principle global promoters are Pure Circle and GLG and are
contract growers processors for coco-cola and Pepsi
• The other players are Wisdom Brands, Granular Sweeden, Stevia
Cut, Blue California, Corn Products, Stevia Canada, Ever Stevia etc.

STEVIA GLOBAL NETWORK
GRANULAR
SWEEDAN
REAL STEVIA
COCA-COLA
SUNWIN
CHINA
CULTIVATION &
PROCESSING
PURE CIRCLE
Malaysia
CARGILL
REBIANA
(Rebaudioside-A 95%)
TRUVIA
CULTIVATION &
PROCESSING
GLG LIFE TECH
CHINA
MARKETING
STEVIA
CANADA
CULTIVATION &
PROCESSING
PUREVIA
SWEET-ALOHA FARMS
HAWAII
BLUE
CALIFORNIA
WHOLE-EARTH
(MERISANT)
PEPSICO
WISDOM NATURAL
BRANDS
(SWEET LEAF)

COCA-COLA – CARGILL & PURE CIRCLE
COCA-COLA
CARGILL
REBAUDIOSIDE-A 95%
REBIANA
TRUVIA
APPROVED BY FDA AS
G.P.SWEETENER
CRUDE
EXTRACT
MARKETING
BEVERAGE
SPRITE
GREEN
PLANT
CHINA -4000
MALAYSIA-2000
PURE CIRCLE
MALAYSIA
CHINA
KENYA
THAILAND
LAOS
S.AMERICA

Coca-cola – cargill & GLG Life Tech
Coca-cola
cargill
Rebiana
Truvia
(95% -Rebaudioside-A)
CRUDE
EXTRACT
PLANTS
CHINA(2)
$200 MN FOR
3 YRS.
CONTRACT FOR
10 YRS.
GLG LIFE TECH
CHINA
CHINA

PEPSICO AND WHOLE-EARTH WITH PURE CIRCLE
PEPSICO
WHOLE- EARTH
(MERISANT)
PUREVIA
SO BE
Life water
Beverage
CRUDE
EXTRACT
China, Kenya, Thailand
Laos, S.America
PLANT
China -4000
Malaysia-2000
PURE CIRCLE
MALAYSIA

PURE CIRCLE - MALAYSIA
COCA-COLA
CARGILL
TRUVIA
PEPSICO
WHOLE-EARTH
PUREVIA
SUPPLY
MARKETING
PLANTS
China, Kenya, Thailand,
Laos & S.America
CHINA-4000
MALAYSIA-2000
PURE
CIRCLE

Planned expansion
PureCircle scaled up its crude extraction facilities in China in 2008/09. This plant has a production
capacity of at least 2,000 MT bringing total group capacity up to 3,000 MT per annum of stevia extract and
1000MT of refinery by early 2009. Outside China, PureCircle plans to invest up to US$100m in stand alone
new supply chain over the next 5 years.

Market for Sweeteners
• US$ 30bn p.a. Sweetener consumption
‣ Sugar / HFCS
‣ High Intensity Sweeteners (HIS)
• Increasing focus on Natural / Wellbeing /
Obesity
• Growing concern over artificial

Besides a safe natural sweetener, enough scientific
evidences are available to support the following
properties of stevia
•anti-diabetic
•Anti-obesity

Part Three
STEVIA PRODUCTION

NURSERY TECHNIQUES
Selection of the site
•The site should have good access , shade and weed free
•The site should be fairly flat land
• Adequate good quality water should be available, EC less than 0.5
• Soil Ph should be 5-7, otherwise to be reclaimed.
• The site should have a good protection
• If there is a green house, it is perfect.

NURSERY TECHNIQUES
Seeds quality
• Generic Dark Clean Stevia Seeds with high
germination rate, clean stevia seeds means the
debris and feathery attachments have been
removed and rubbed.
• EVER STEVIA CANADA http://everstevia.com
• SteviaLand International http://stevia-store.com
• Stevia Canada

Preparation of nursery beds
•The land should be well ploughed and brought into fine tilt
• All the clods should be broken and weeds removed
•Apply 10 kg of organic manure in one sq. m and work very well
•Then open beds of one m width and convenient length.
• If well decomposed coco peat is available, top 3-5 cm could be covered with
the same
•Then spray some water and make the top surface little compact
•If poly-green house is not available, we have to provide poly tunnels
depending upon the temperature

Sowing of seeds and maintenance
• Normally, there will be 2500 to 3000 seeds in one gram
• Since the seeds are little fine, mix 20 parts of fine dry sand and make it homogenous
• Wet the beds with a sprayer so that the beds are little moist
• Drench the beds with 0.1 % COC or Bavistin (disinfectant to prevent damping off)
• The seeds should be sprinkled on the surface of the beds uniformly @ 0.5g per sq.m
• Seeds should not be covered with soil since seeds require light for better germination
• Cover the seeds with a transparent paper
• Spray the water on the paper twice or as required a day, so that there is little moisture
always
• The optimum temperature is 24 to 29 c
• The seeds germinate 8-15 days after sowing
• The paper should be removed once the germination starts
• The polythene sheet should be removed during day time
• After 15 days of germination, the seedlings should be sprayed with cow dung suspension
• The seedlings will be ready for transplanting between 45 to 60 days of germination
depending upon the conditions

Pricking or secondary nursery
• Pricking gives better results.
• In case of secondary nursery, seeds can be sown thicker
(2-3 gm sq.m)
• When the seedlings attain 2 to 3 leaves stage, pl. scoop the
seedlings and plant in the multi pot nursery trays or poly bags.
• Multi pot trays will be useful if we use mechanical planters

Nursery beds in Vietnam

Stevia nursery in China

CULTIVATION of STEVIA
• Stevia grows best in sub-tropical climate and needs rich garden soil, full
sun and partly shade, humidity, moderate temperature and plenty of water
• SOIL: Well drained soil is a must and avoid clay at any cost
• Soil testing is essential and the pH should be 6.5 to 7.5
• The soil should be ploughed well, worked with harrow and clods broken.
• The soil should be worked with 25 tons of OM per ha and brought to fine
• Raised beds should be prepared with 15 cm ht. and 60 cm width
• Apply the entire dose of P as DAP as basal dressing
• Adequate good quality water should be available, EC less than 0.5
• Soil Ph should be 5-7, otherwise to be reclaimed
• The site should have a good protection
• If there is a green house, it is perfect

Planting
• Both the seedlings and TC plants are used for planting, TC
plants are the best, stem cuttings are also used
• There should be a minimum of 30,000 plants per acre with a
spacing of 40x30 cm or 23 cm between plants in raised beds
• The field should be moist at the time of planting and life
irrigation should be given immediately after the planting

Irrigation
• Stevia requires plenty of water all year around
• Micro sprinklers are the best
• The frequency of irrigation should be determined according
to the climate
• The field should not be dry and plants should not wilt for want
of water

Weeding The field should be weed free
• Since the plants are raised beds, it is easy to do the weeding
manually
PINCHING
• After 30 days of planting, pinching the top will facilitate good
side branching and more leaves

Fertilizer application
• Recommended dose is 110:45:45 kg of NPK per acre. P
as basal dose (N&K as split doses, N is the most
important)
Plant protection
• Pests are negligible
• Septoria steviae and Sclerotina scierotiorum are the
diseases reported
• Diluted neem oil spray is effective otherwise we have to
go for chemical control

HARVESTING
• First harvest after 5-6 months of planting. Subsequent harvests every 3
months
• With better maintenance and favorable conditions 6 harvests possible.
• Cut off the plants with a pruning shears leaving 10-15 cm from ground
level
• Harvesting should be done just before flowering and the stevioside content
starts going down after flowering
• Stevia is a short day plant and it starts blooming once the short day sets in
• In long day condition, the Reb-A content will also increase
• The day length should be more than 14 hrs for best result.

POST HARVEST HANDLING
• Normal procedure is harvest the crop and bring it to the drying area for sun
drying or mechanical drying. ( 50 to 55 C)
• Leaves should be in thin layers, low humidity , under sun
• Rapid drying produce good quality leaves
• If the leaves are not dried fast, the glycoside content will go down because
of oxidation in the leaves
• It is better to dry the leaves with green color
• After drying leaves are stripped off from stems either by hand or
mechanical thrasher

YIELD
A well managed crop will yield 1.0 to 1.2 tons of dry leaves
in the first year and around 1.6 to 2 tons from second year
onwards

FLOW CHART FOR PROCESSING REBAUDIOSIDE-A

Part Four
STEVIA CULTIVATION in EGYPT

STATUS of STEVIA in EGYPT
• Stevia is a new crop in Egypt, though there is awareness
about the crop
• It is in experimental stage in some research stations
• It is not commercially grown anywhere to my knowledge
• So, it is felt that Stevia is in introduction stage only
• There is lot of interest and enthusiasm in growing stevia

REVIEW of FIELD VISITS in EGYPT
• Generally, fields around BeniSuef and Fayoum are predominantly sandy, since
cultivation area itself is part of the desert
• Soil is poor in OM and other nutrients
• The plus point is less weeds and nil soil pathogens
• Farmers apply lot of organic matter either cattle manure or compost and irrigation
water from Nile canals and/or wells
• They grow chamomile, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint and Melissa other
than regular crops
• Cultivation in these desert areas with sandy soil is a real challenge and I must
have to congratulate Egyptian farming community for their sustained efforts,
devotion, hard work and above all their confidence and courage

ATTITUDE
All growers and companies are up beat with lot of enthusiasm and expectations
towards Stevia.
It was very impressive, the nursery maintained by Fridel group. It is of good
standard and there is scope for improvement always. We have demonstrated the
sowing of stevia seeds in 2 sq.m to follow in the future. They have good hands
up to grass root level.
As we know, there will be initial hiccups in introducing a new crop.
So, let us go slow and steady

CULTIVATION REQUIREMENTS
for EGYPTIAN CONDITION
CLIMATE
Stevia grows best in sub-tropical climate and needs rich garden soil, full
sun and partly shade, humidity, moderate temperature and plenty of
water. It can tolerate high temperatures up to 38.C and low
temperatures up to 5.C. It can not with stand frost.
It seems that the day temp. during summer goes up to 40.C plus.
Normally, the max. temp. will be between 11am and 3pm. During the
time , it is better to spray, the crop with water to cool the plant
premises. Mulching can also help in arresting the evaporation.

It seems that the night temperature during winter goes down to 2c in
some of the areas. Here we can time the harvest before winter and
apply mulch with straw. There is chill wind in some of the areas in Minya
and wind breaks may be helpful which is a common practice here.
Since the RH in most parts of Egypt is less than 70 due to dry weather
and high winds.
Though the rain fall is low, there is always Nile. If the irrigation is through
well water, the water should be tested and the EC should be less than
one.
Both drip and sprinklers suitable. Stevia like less water but in short
intervals.

NURSERY
•Handle the seeds carefully while sowing as the seeds are fine and expensive
• Always allot one area for mother plants for taking stem cuttings for the next
season (plant closely for propagation)
• One acre plants may be adequate for 100 acres expansion
• Plant the cuttings after dipping in IAA
• The rooting medium should have coco-peat and vermiculite at the bottom and 3
to 5 cm with sand
• Give a slanting cut while taking the cutting
• Either green house or poly tunnel necessary
• Maintain high humidity always

SOIL
• The soil in most parts of Egypt is sandy and clay soil in the deltas, so,
soil reclamation is a must
• Soil testing is necessary and pH should be corrected since Stevia thrives
well in the region of pH range of 6.0 to 7.5. In some farms, the soil is tested
and the pH was 7.2
• Here the organic matter content is very low and major nutrients will be
also very less. So apply organic matter 15 to 20 tons of compost or cattle
manure (well decomposed ) and well incorporated. Pl. get good source of
compost since it may contain lot of weed seeds as well as pathogens since
sand is inert
• Don’t compromise with fertilzers both in qty and method
• NPK : 110, 45, 45 KG PER ACRE in split doses except P

Production Plan
First Year
Nursery 1 st harvest 2 nd harvest 3 rd harvest
2 months 6 months 3 months 3 month
Feb -April Sept. Dec. March
Second Year
1 st harvest 2 nd harvest 3 rd harvest 4 th harvest
3 months 3 months 3 months 3 month
Third Year
1 st harvest 2 nd harvest 3 rd harvest 4 th harvest
3 months 3 months 3 months 3 month