Simple extraction and membrane purification process in isolation of steviosides with improved organoleptic activity

In recent years there has been increasing demand for natural non-nutritive high intensity sweeteners with low-calorie value as an alternative to sucrose. Extracts of the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), have been known for their sweet taste. Steviosides and rebaudioside-A are the two major diterpenoid glucosides components present in the leaf extracts of the stevia, these glycosides are 300 times sweeter than sugar and also exhibits wide therapeutic activity. The conventional methods of isolation of steviosides involve long extraction and purification procedures; therefore optimization of product yields is a challenging problem. The present study, establishes a new improvised process of extraction of steviosides from the stevia leaves in which the dry treated leaves were grounded, defatted, and extracted through pressurized hot water extractor (PHWE), followed by purification and concentration of the sweet glycosides through ultra (UF) and nano (NF) membrane filtration in obtaining high (98.2%) purity steviosides. This process established “green” method for isolation of high quality steviol glycosides, with improved final yield is 10.1% from 11% of crude leaf extract and observed the improved organoleptic and biological activity (antioxidant). Thus the method confirms a simple, inexpensive and eco-friendly process in obtaining pure steviosides.