Stevia FAQ — 36 questions from buyers and formulators
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PART 01Stevia basics
What steviol glycosides are, where the leaf comes from, and how the extract is made.
What is stevia, and what are steviol glycosides?
Stevia is the common name for Stevia rebaudiana, a perennial plant native to Paraguay. Its leaves contain steviol glycosides, a family of diterpene glycosides that taste sweet but carry no calories and no glycaemic load. The purified glycosides are sold as a high-intensity sweetener under the food-additive name “steviol glycosides” — E 960a in the European Union, GRAS in the United States, and GB 1886.355 in China.
Are stevia, steviol glycosides and Reb A the same thing?
Not quite. “Stevia” is the plant; “steviol glycosides” is the regulated additive category extracted from it; Rebaudioside A (Reb A) is one single compound inside that category. A commercial Reb A 97% grade is about 97% Reb A with the remaining 3% made up of stevioside, Reb B, Reb C and minor glycosides. When a specification talks about “total steviol glycosides” it means the sum of all of them.
Which compounds make up a stevia extract?
The leaf contains stevioside, Rebaudioside A, B, C, D, E, F and M, Dulcoside A and steviolbioside. Stevioside and Reb A dominate, at roughly 8–10% and 8% of total glycosides in an ordinary cultivar. Reb M and Reb D are present only in traces — about 0.1% and 0.2% — which is why they need oriented breeding or enzymatic conversion to be supplied at commercial volume.
Where does your stevia leaf come from?
From Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, China, and the surrounding contract-planting belt. GL Stevia has bred its own cultivar, GL#10 (Gelin No. 10), planted at scale in high-latitude fields with more than 2,000 accumulated temperature hours — conditions under which the leaf builds a higher Reb M share than the subtropical varieties. Leaf supply is traceable down to field and harvest lot.
How is stevia extract made?
Dried leaves are extracted with food-grade ethanol and purified water. The crude extract is then adsorbed on resin, eluted, decolourised, concentrated and crystallised, and finally spray-dried and blended. Each step runs under a documented CCP plan, and a lot is released only after in-house HPLC release testing, with third-party verification on request.
Does stevia have calories or a glycaemic effect?
No. Steviol glycosides are not metabolised by the human body: they pass through the digestive tract and are excreted, so they contribute 0 kcal and produce no glycaemic response. That is why they are used in sugar-reduced beverages, diabetic-friendly formulations and “zero sugar” claims. The sugar alcohols or fibres blended with them — erythritol, for example — do carry a small calorie value of their own.
PART 02Taste and formulation
Sweetness equivalence, bitterness, masking and how stevia behaves in a real formula.
How many times sweeter than sugar is stevia?
It depends on the grade. Measured against a 5% sucrose solution, our leaf-extracted grades run from about 210× to 300×: Optimvia RM95 300×, GLSTEVIA RA98 300×, RA97 280×, RA95 260×, Optimvia RD95 210× and the SG95-RA60 blend 230×. The enzymatic GSG range is lower — Melis300 at 150–160× and GLF03 GSG75 at 80–100× — because the added glucose units dilute the sweetness per kilogram.
Can I convert sweetness directly with a multiplier?
Only as a starting point. A 300× grade does not mean 1 g replaces 300 g of sugar across the whole concentration range: sweetness equivalence curves flatten at high dose, and the perceived intensity also depends on the food matrix, pH, temperature and the presence of other sweeteners. Use the multiplier for the first trial, then adjust with a sensory panel — typically in the range of 60–80% of the calculated value.
Why does stevia taste bitter or liquorice-like?
The bitterness comes from the steviol backbone and from the minor glycosides. Stevioside, with three glucose units, is the most bitter; Reb A with four is cleaner; Reb M with six is cleanest. The bitter and the sweet signal are detected by different receptors — the TAS2R family for bitterness — so the effect appears at high dose even in a pure grade, and it lingers because the molecule binds the receptor for longer than sucrose does.
How do I reduce the bitterness and aftertaste?
Four levers, in order of cost-effectiveness: (1) move part of the sweetness to Reb M, which stays clean above 300 ppm where Reb A already needs masking; (2) lower the total glycoside dose by combining with a bulk sweetener such as erythritol or with monk fruit; (3) adjust the acid and salt balance — a small amount of citric acid or sodium citrate rounds the tail; (4) use a taste modulator. Reducing the dose is almost always cheaper than adding a masking agent.
How does stevia work with erythritol or monk fruit?
Well, and for different reasons. Erythritol supplies the bulk, mouthfeel and cooling that a high-intensity sweetener cannot — a 1:1 sugar replacement usually needs roughly 2–4% stevia-plus-erythritol blend on a sugar-equivalent basis. Monk fruit (mogroside V) brings a rounder front-end sweetness and masks the stevia tail, so a small addition changes the profile noticeably. Both are commonly pre-blended by the supplier so the customer receives one powder and one COA.
What does “5% SE” mean on your specification?
SE stands for sucrose equivalence. It means the sweetness of the sample was measured against a 5% sucrose solution — the reference concentration used in sensory panels because it sits in the range where sucrose sweetness is most stable. A grade quoted at 300× at 5% SE is 300 times as sweet as that reference. The value is lower if measured against a 10% solution, which is why sweetness figures from different suppliers are only comparable when the reference is stated.
PART 03Applications and stability
Beverages, dairy, bakery and sauces: acid, heat, solubility and reformulation in practice.
Which food and beverage categories use stevia?
Carbonated and still beverages, RTD tea and coffee, flavoured water, dairy and plant-based drinks, tabletop sweeteners, bakery fillings and icings, sauces, pickles, canned fruit, confectionery and dietary supplements. For categories that do not need high sweetness intensity — pickles and chilli sauces, for example — the SG95-RA60 blend usually gives the lowest cost per unit of sweetness.
Is stevia stable in acidic drinks?
Yes. Steviol glycosides are stable over the pH range of soft drinks and fruit juices (pH 2.5–4.0) and show no measurable loss during typical shelf life at ambient temperature. They do not hydrolyse to steviol under normal beverage conditions, and they do not react with the colour or the flavour system. Long-term storage above 40 °C is the only case where a gradual assay loss has to be accounted for.
Does pasteurisation or baking destroy the sweetness?
Pasteurisation, UHT and hot-fill are all safe: steviol glycosides withstand short-term treatment up to about 120 °C without loss. Baking is different — the glycosides themselves survive, but they do not brown, caramelise or provide bulk, so a bakery formula needs a bulking agent and a separate browning system. In extruded or long-bake applications, dose the sweetener in the aqueous phase where possible.
Does stevia precipitate in dairy or plant-based drinks?
Not when it is dosed correctly. Steviol glycosides are added at 0.01–0.05% in a beverage, far below their solubility limit, so precipitation is not a sweetener problem. Where a sediment does appear it usually comes from protein instability or from a poorly dissolved stock solution. Dissolve the powder in water at 60 °C under stirring before adding it to the protein base, and never add it dry to a cold dairy mix.
How soluble is stevia, and how do I dissolve it?
Leaf-extracted Reb A is only sparingly soluble in cold water and is normally dosed as a pre-dissolved stock or dry-blended with a carrier. The enzymatic GSG range is far more soluble — Melis300 dissolves above 20% w/v at 25 °C — which is why it suits liquid concentrates and syrups. For a stock solution, use water at 50–60 °C with gentle agitation, and prepare only what is used within the shift.
How do I reformulate when I replace sugar?
Sugar does five jobs, and only one of them is sweetness. Replace the sweetness with stevia, the bulk with erythritol, inulin or a fibre, the mouthfeel with a hydrocolloid such as xanthan or CMC where needed, the browning with a reducing sugar or a caramel colour, and the preservation with a humectant or a process change. A 30–50% sugar reduction is usually achievable without a bulking agent; above that, bulk becomes the limiting factor.
PART 04Products and grades
Reb A, Reb M, Reb D and GSG, and how to choose a grade and a purity.
Which grades does GL Stevia supply?
Four lines. GLSTEVIA RA — RA98, RA97 and RA95, plus the SG95-RA60 blend. Optimvia — RM95 (Reb M) and RD95 (Reb D). Melis300 — enzymatically modified GSG at 150–160×. GLF03 GSG75 — conventional GSG at 80–100×. All are white to off-white crystalline powder, packed to the same specification, and available as custom blends to your ratio from 5 kg per trial batch.
What is the difference between Reb A 95, 97 and 98?
The number is the guaranteed assay of Reb A on the COA: ≥95%, ≥97% and ≥98%. The practical differences are sweetness (260×, 280× and 300× at 5% SE respectively) and the level of residual minor glycosides, which is what the palate reads as bitterness at high dose. RA97 is the volume grade for most beverages, dairy and bakery. Choose RA98 when a label claim requires 98% or when the formula is sensitive to the last trace of bitterness; choose RA95 when cost per unit of sweetness dominates.
What is Reb M, and why does it cost more than Reb A?
Reb M (Rebaudioside M) is the steviol glycoside closest to sucrose in taste — six glucose units on the backbone, no liquorice note and no lingering bitterness even above 300 ppm. It costs more because it is scarce: about 0.1% of the glycosides in an ordinary leaf against roughly 8% for Reb A. A 95% grade is therefore not extracted — leaf steviol glycosides are converted with a food-grade enzyme preparation and then purified, which is the EU category E 960c. No fermentation step is involved. Optimvia RM95 is Reb M at 95% or above, CAS 1220616-44-3.
What is GSG, and what is Melis300?
GSG stands for glucosyl steviol glycosides — steviol glycosides with extra glucose units attached enzymatically by CGTase. Melis300 is our GSG grade: total glycosides ≥85%, sweetness 150–160× at 5% SE, solubility above 20% w/v at 25 °C. It sits between Reb A and Reb M on taste, above Reb A on solubility, and below Reb M on cost. In the European Union it is authorised as E 960c, the enzymatic category.
What is the difference between stevioside and Reb A?
Both are steviol glycosides from the same leaf, but Reb A carries four glucosyl units against three for stevioside, and that extra unit removes most of the lingering bitterness. Stevioside is cheaper per kilogram and still widely used in some markets, but at equal sweetness it reads more bitter and more liquorice-like. For a clean label in a beverage, Reb A or Reb M is the usual choice; stevioside appears mainly in cost-driven blends such as ST90s.
Is a higher purity always better?
No. Purity buys taste and label flexibility, and it costs yield — every extra percentage point of assay means more leaf, more resin passes and a higher price per kilogram. Match the grade to the application: RA98 for a 98% label claim or a delicate flavour system, RA97 for mainstream beverages and dairy, RA95 or SG95-RA60 for pickles, sauces and other categories where the sweetener sits far below its bitterness threshold. Over-specifying is one of the most common avoidable costs in a sugar-reduction project.
PART 05Regulations, quality and certification
EU and US status, certificates, organic, documentation and shelf life.
Are steviol glycosides approved in the EU and the US?
Yes, in both. In the European Union, steviol glycosides are authorised as E 960a when extracted from the leaf, and as E 960c when produced by enzymatic conversion; both sit under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 with product-specific maximum levels. Every grade we sell is leaf-derived and falls in one of those two categories. We operate no fermentation route — E 960b applies to none of our products. In the United States, purified steviol glycosides are GRAS — our plant holds FDA GRAS No. 702. China regulates them under GB 2760 and GB 1886.355-2022. Each lot is released against the specification of the destination market.
Which certificates does GL Stevia hold?
ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), GMP, Halal and Kosher, plus FDA GRAS No. 702 and USDA Organic (NOP) certification for the organic grade. The quality system is built on JECFA, EFSA, FSANZ and GB 1886.355-2022. Copies of the certificates are issued with quotations on request, and every shipment carries the certificate package for its own lot.
Is your stevia organic certified?
Yes. Our Reb A 97% is available as a USDA NOP certified organic grade, produced under the organic planting and processing programme and certified by LETIS. The organic certificate and the lot documentation are issued with each organic order. Tell us the destination market at enquiry stage — the standard that your labelling requires (NOP, EU 2018/848 or COR) determines which certificate has to travel with the lot.
Which documents come with each shipment?
Batch-specific COA, specification sheet, SDS, allergen / GMO / TSE-BSE statements, heavy metal and microbiological reports, Halal and Kosher certificates, country of origin and a shelf-life statement. Organic lots add the organic certificate and transaction certificate. Third-party test reports — SGS, Eurofins or an equivalent laboratory — are available on request, and can be arranged per lot for customers who do not accept supplier testing alone.
Are your products non-GMO, allergen-free and BSE-free?
The leaf-extracted range — GLSTEVIA RA and Optimvia RM95 / RD95 — is plant-derived and non-GMO, with no allergen and no animal-derived input, so the TSE-BSE statement is a declaration of absence. The enzymatic GSG range is produced with a food-grade CGTase preparation; we issue a GMO and enzyme-origin statement per grade rather than a blanket claim, because the wording that a customer's market accepts varies. Allergen statements cover the full EU Annex II list.
What is the shelf life, and how should it be stored?
24 months from the date of manufacture in the unopened original packing, stored below 25 °C in a dry place away from direct sunlight and strong odours. Once a drum is opened, reseal it and use the contents within the same production campaign; the powder is hygroscopic and will cake in a humid room. We do not recommend re-packing into non-food-grade containers, and we cannot warrant the shelf life of a material that has been repacked by a third party.
PART 06Ordering and supply
MOQ, samples, lead time, payment, packing and how to start an enquiry.
What is the MOQ?
20 kg per grade. Mixed pallets that combine several grades are accepted, so a customer can order 20 kg of RM95 and 20 kg of RA97 on the same pallet. Custom blends and non-standard assays start at 5 kg for a trial batch, with the commercial MOQ confirmed at quotation.
Can I get a free sample?
Yes. A 100 g sample per grade is free of charge and is dispatched within 3 working days, with the COA of the sampled lot. Freight for samples is confirmed case by case depending on destination and courier account, so tell us the delivery address and we will quote the freight separately from the goods.
What is the lead time?
3–7 days for standard grades held in stock, counted from order confirmation. Custom blends and non-standard assays are quoted with their own lead time at order confirmation, because they need a dedicated production slot. For orders that have to catch a specific vessel, tell us the vessel date at enquiry stage and we will confirm whether the schedule is achievable before you place the order.
What are the payment terms?
T/T 30% deposit with the order and 70% against a copy of the bill of lading, or an irrevocable L/C at sight. Prices are quoted FOB Shanghai or CIF to your port and are valid for 30 days. For a first order we can also work against a pro-forma invoice; long-term customers move to a running account after the third shipment.
How is the product packed and shipped?
20 kg net, food-grade PE inner bag in a fibre drum. 10 kg and 25 kg packings are available on request. Drums are palletised and shrink-wrapped, and the pallet is labelled with grade, lot number, net weight and production date. Port of loading is Shanghai, China. Air freight is possible for samples and urgent trial quantities; sea freight is the standard for commercial volume.
How do I start an enquiry?
Send the grade, the annual volume and the destination port. With those three items we can come back with a price, a lead time and the full document package in one reply, instead of a three-round exchange. If the application is still open, tell us the category and the target sugar reduction and we will recommend a grade — and, if it helps, send a sample so the panel can decide before the specification is fixed.
Need an answer that is not on this page?
Send the grade, the annual volume and the destination port. You will get price, lead time and the full document package in one reply — usually within one working day.
Ask our technical team →Xinghua GL Stevia Co., Ltd. (Green Bio) · Room A711, No. 358 Yinxi Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, China
Email marketing@greenbio.cn|www.glstevia.com|www.glstevia.cn
Maintained by the technical and export team at Xinghua GL Stevia Co., Ltd. Last reviewed 2 November 2026.
© 2026 Xinghua GL Stevia Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Steviol glycosides: EU E 960a / E 960c, FDA GRAS No. 702, GB 1886.355-2022.