Influence of sweetener stevia on the quality of strawberry flavoured fresh yoghurt

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a shrub-like plant of the Asteraceae family, originating from Paraguay and Brazil, where it is used as a sweetener for therapeutic preparations, such as teas and other beverages, for hundreds of years. It is often called “sweet Paraguay honey” (Genus, 2003). The sweetener compound is obtained from the leaves of the plant by extraction (Prakash et al., 2008). The sweet taste of stevia is derived from glycosides that are located in the leaves. The most represented glycosides are steviosides, rebaudiosides A and F, steviolbiosides and dulcosides as shown in Figure 1 (Gardan et al., 2003). The most represented are steviosides and rebaudiosides and, depending on variety and growing conditions, their amount varies between Summary