Can the wonder sweetener stevia replace sugar?

Perennially deficient in production and dependent on import of sugar, Bangladesh stands hardly any chance of overcoming this problem in the near future. The mismatch between sugarcane cultivation and the obsolete production facilities is best illustrated by the closure of six sugar mills out of 15 under the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC). Mismanagement makes the sugar mills still more non-viable. Or else, it is difficult to justify the exorbitantly high production cost of sugar locally. At a time when Indian sugar is priced at Rs 40 a kilogram in that country's retail market, in Bangladesh market it costs Tk 140-165 depending on its quality.

State-run sugar mills produced 21,313 tonnes of sugar in the fiscal year 2022-23 ---a decline from 24,509 tonnes in 2021-22. The country's total requirement for sugar is estimated at about 2.0 million tonnes and this is only about 1.60 per cent of the total requirement. It is the five private firms which import raw materials for refining and finished product to market it. They are responsible for meeting 98 per cent of the demand of this widely used sweetener.

Sugar may look not a highly important foodstuff among the most vital types such as staples but its contribution to preparation of different kinds of dishes has ever remained unchallenged. Due to its overwhelming reliance on import of the commodity, its market is also jittery. No rational excuse is needed here to raise price of the item in defiance of the international price limit. Like cooking oil, sugar also hits atrocious price lines from time to time because of dwindling production of sugarcane and cost overrun in the aged and run-down sugar mills made worse by mismanagement and irregularities.

Against this background, the country needs to take a long view of overcoming this perennial problem. Unless modernisation of the state-run mills takes place at the expected level, there is no point bringing more areas under sugar cultivation. So, the best option is to go for alternatives. Molasses obtained from date juice can be an alternative to sugar in preparation of certain dishes. But it has its limitation when it comes to handy uses such as a spoonful of sugar in a cup of tea. Also, date trees are on the decline in several areas of the country largely because their low timber value and also because of the traditional juice extractors' reluctance to stick to this seasonal occupation.

Here exactly comes a wonder medicinal herb called stevia. Native to subtropical and tropical South America, it is a genus belonging to about 150 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family. It grows up to 60-70 cm long and its leaves have similarity with 'basoka' (justicia adhatoda or Malabar nut). Stevia leaf contains glycosides that actually give it its sweet taste. The compounds separated are stevioside and rebaudioside --- first done by two French chemists ---were found to be 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose the ordinary table sugar obtained from sugarcane. To its credit, stevia leaf is non-caloric and non-cariogenic, heat stable and non-fermentable.

Therefore, as a natural sweetener and low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternative, stevia is going to be in high demand. Quite naturally, it is appealing to diabetic patients and those on carbohydrate-controlled diets. Japan began its cultivation as early as the 70s of the past century as an alternative to cyclamate and saccharin ---two artificial sweeteners that are carcinogenic. Its extracts steviosides when purified is an organic sweetener with hardly any side effect. The Japanese have been using this in different foodstuffs and also as a table sweetener since 1971. That country leads the world in the use of stevia and has a 40 per cent share in the international market.

Popularly known as natural sugar, honey leaf or sugar leaf, it is dried and its powdered form is at least 50 times sweeter than sugar. Even the green leaf can be used as a sweetener but the refined extract as used by the Japanese are certainly healthier. In its raw form, stevia may or may not have side effects. Better it would be to conduct research for its safe use. Given the sugar crisis the country faces round the year, stevia cultivation can help overcome its reliance on sugar.   

Happily, the cultivation of the plant has been started in Kasiadanga under Poba Upazila in Rajshahi under the sponsorship of the Bangladesh Sugar Crop Research Institute (BSCRI) on an experimental basis. Experiment at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University, Gazipur has shown that if cloned, stevia plant grows better. If the constraint to its reproduction can be adequately addressed, stevia may be an effective alternative to sugar. Farmers will also feel the incentive quite attractive because per kilogram of green leaves is now priced at Tk 2,000--2,500 and the dried powder at Tk4,000-5,000. At the current rate, an income of Tk0.5-0.6 million from a hectare can be garnered. This may come down a little bit  with commercial cultivation but if the cash crop can be exported, the profit may go up further. By all means the prospect of stevia cultivation looks bright for the country.

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