Chapter-1
Introduction
The worldwide demand for high potency sweeteners is expected to rise especially with the new practice of blending various sweeteners; the demand for alternatives is expected to increase. The sweet herb of Paraguay; Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni produces; in its leave;, such an alternative with the added advantage that stevia sweeteners are natural products. The sweet steviol glycosides have sensory & functional & properties superior to those of other high potency sweeteners. Stevia is to become a major source of high potency sweetener for the increasing natural food market in the coming future.
Stevia is a word both for a plant & for a sweetener extracted from the leaves of that plant. The plant has been grown used in South America for centuries,
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This compound is sometimes sold isolated from the leaves in a highly refined form. In other cases, the sweetener is made by crushing or distilling the leaves of the plant to form a powder or syrup with an intensely sweet flavor.
MΟRPHΟLΟGY
Stevia rebaudiana οriginated frοm Paraguay & is well knοwn fοr its sweetness, lοw in calοries & free frοm carbοhydrates, fats and prοteins. Stevia is an erect grοwing plant and in Malaysia it can grows uptο 20-30 cm tall befοre it starts flοwering. The leaves are green, develοped in pairs measuring abοut 2.5 -3.5 cm wide & 3-6 cm lοng. The flowers are white measuring abοut 8-15 mm in diameter and fοrmed at the tip οf grοwing shοοts. The mature seeds are black and very small (0.5-0.1gm/1000 seeds). It has shallοw but vigοrοus rοοt system.
Scientific Name(s): Stevia rebaudiana Bertοni. Asteraceae (daisies)
Cοmmοn Name(s): Stevia , rebiana , sweet leaf οf Paraguay , sweetleaf , sweet herb , hοney leaf , candyleaf , hοney yerba , caa-he-é , ca-a-yupi , eira-caa , capim dοce , Truvia , PureVia
TAXΟNΟMY
Dοmain: Eukaryοta
Kingdοm:
Aspartame, or more commonly known as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful and Equal Measure; was discovered purely by chance in 1965 by a chemist named James M. Schlatter, who was testing an antacid drug (Prantini; 2014). The commercial industry believed that “a wonder product” had been discovered, which stood to revolutionise the food industry as an artificial sweetener. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener which is found in many of our foods and beverages universally. Aspartame is two-hundred times sweeter than sugar and is commonly used as a tabletop sweetener, a sweetener in prepared foods, diet foods or drinks, flavored waters, chewing gum, condiments and is even found in flavoring of medicines. It is found in majority of our food products marketed for weight control (Prantini; 2014). Aspartame has a sweeter taste in comparison to sugar, and therefore less of the sweetener can be used in food products in order to achieve the same level of sweetness as if sugar was used; which results in an individual consuming fewer calories and less sugar (American Cancer Society; 2014).
During the time frame of 1450-1750, the Columbian Exchange was at its height of power and influence. Many products were introduced from foreign lands, like animals such as cattle, chickens, and horse, and agriculture such as potatoes, bananas, and avocados. Diseases also became widespread and persisted to distant lands where it wreaked devastation upon the non-immunized people. One such influential product during this time period was the cacao, or more commonly known as chocolate. First discovered and used in the Americas, cacao beans quickly traveled to and became a popular treat in European lands. It was valuable in the New World and even used as a currency by the Aztecs. Only the rich and privileged were allowed to purchase the valuable item in the beginning. Cacao was even used in religious ceremonies by the native people. When it moved to Europe and other lands, it also created a lot of stir. The cacao plant had quite a large impact upon the Columbian Exchange.
Cultures are becoming obsessed with pumpkin spice flavors because it’s just a good flavor. Other reasons why people are obsessed because it’s a newer thing. I really don’t know why everybody likes it I guess just because it’s good. I mean how could you pass up a pumpkin spice latte or pumpkin spice Pringles, pumpkin spice doughnuts or anything like that. People also like pumpkin spice latte because it’s caffeine. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is a coffee drink made with a mix of traditional fall spice flavors.
Suprisingly, for something so desireable knowledge of sugar cane spread vey slow. First found in Guinea and first farmed in India (sources vary on this), knowledge of it would only arrive in Europe thousands of years later. However, there is more to the history of sugar cane than a simple story of how something was adopted piecemeal into various cultures. Rather the history of sugar, with regards to this question, really only takes off with its introduction to Europe. First exposed to the delights of sugar cane during the crusades, Europeans quickly acquired a taste for this sweet substance.
Sugar was first grown in New Guinea around 9000 years ago, which New guinea traders trade cane stalks to different parts of the world. In the New world christopher columbus introduced cane sugar to caribbean islands. At first sugar was unknown in Europe but was changed when sugar trade first began. Sugar trade was driven by the factors of production land which provided all natural resources labor what provided human resources for work and capital which includes all the factories and the money that’s used to buy land. Consumer demand was why sugar trade continued to increase.
(Beckett S.t, 2008) Christopher Columbus from his journey to the Aztec realm brought back some cocoa beans to Europe as an investment, however it was just after the Spaniards vanquished Mexico that Don Cortez acquainted the beverage with Spain (1520s). Here is the place sugar was added to beat a portion of the severe, brutal flavours, yet however the beverage remained very nearly obscure to whatever is left of Europe for almost a hundred years, until it got to Italy in 1606 and France in 1657. It was exceptionally costly and, being a beverage for the upper rich and compelling class, and its spread was regularly through associations between effective families, "for instance, the Spanish princess Anna of Austria
Another contrast between the article How Candy Conquered America and This Cupcake is Trying to Hurt You is how our health is affected by our sugar intake now and back in the 1800’s. According to the article, Too Much Can Make Us Sick (http://www.sugarscience.org/too-much-can-make-us-sick/), “Heart disease”. Diabetes. These chronic conditions are among the leading causes of death worldwide.
Sugar is one of the most consumed commodities in the world today, and the profits of it are significant. According to Larry Schwartz (2014) “Americans consume 130 pounds of sugar every year” (Schwartz, 2014). We must be acknowledged about how it all started, to appreciate how people lived and how they struggled to provide such a commodity. Sugar was a profitable commodity in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. The cultivation of sugarcane expanded to the United States of America, which brought enslaves from Africa to work on the plantation of sugar during the 17th century. Sugar was known as the white gold for its income, which helped the U.S. to achieve independence from Great Britain. Although sugar has the worst history, it is widely used for nutritional, medical and industrial productions, and sugar manufacturing led to an industrial development and economic growth.
Sugar is not only a sweet substance used in coffee, cookies, and many other sweet tasting foods we love to eat and enjoy. It is truly a good that changed the world in many ways all the way back to its roots. In more than one way sugar is a useful and profitable tool, originating all the way back to the early middle middle ages. The sugar trade impacted the the Earth both socially and politically with the use of slaves brought to the Americas by the middle passage and other places. Economically, especially when prices dropped due to new technological improvements and slave abolishment all over the world. Lastly, the sugar trade impacted the world culturally, by leading
If one were to turn on the television and watch the news you would hear a lot of news stories, but you won’t commonly hear about a rising incline in steroids in today’s society. Today many people, even children, are using steroids to gain a strength advantage over their peers. So why are people using steroids?
Steroids are more than just muscle enhancers. It goes into more depth than that. Athletes use them to get the advantage on their opponent but that’s all one really knows. What really happens with the users body besides going weak to strong? It’s the science that goes in to it that gives the user its physical results. Steroids have many effects on the body both good and bad, whether it’s becoming bigger or becoming less of a man or woman, literally. When someone makes the choice to use steroids, they are getting into more than they can imagine. Steroids change your body completely and can be more bad than good. Steroids have more effects than one may think and are definitely overlooked when it comes to being a medicine and a science rather than a performance enhancer.
We are all familiar with sugar. It is sweet, delicious, and addictive; yet only a few of us know that it is deadly. When it comes to sugar, it seems like most people are in the mind frame knowing that it could be bad for our health, but only a few are really taking the moderate amounts. In fact, as a whole population, each and everyone of us are still eating about 500 extra calories per day from sugar. Yes, that seems like an exaggerated number judging from the tiny sweet crystals we sprinkle on our coffee, but it is not. Sugar is not only present in the form of sweets and flavourings, it is hidden in all the processed foods we eat. We have heard about the dangers of eating too much fat or salt, but we know very little about the harmful effects of consuming too much sugar. There still isn’t any warnings about sugar on our food labels, nor has there been any broadcasts on the serious damages it could do to our health. It has come to my concern during my research that few
This bean is native to the South American origin and comes from a small tropical tree in which the seeds are fermented and then used to make the cocoa powder that we use to make chocolate (Brill, Janet Bond, 162). It is filled with many antioxidants that offers many benefits to the brain and the body in general to improve everyday functions (Marano, Ham Estroff).