It is one of the names for the plant Stevia rebaudiana, native to South America and used by guarani as a sweetener. Although known to Europeans since the 16th century, it was only during the second half of the twentieth century that it was marketed as a substitute for sugar. The name is a tribute to botanist Pedro Jaime Esteve. See svetia.
It is one of the names of a herbaceous plant, native to Paraguay, known as diabetic grass, sweet grass or honey grass. It is also known in Guarani as Ka'a he'e. It belongs to the genus Stevia or Estevia and the family Asteraceae. It means dedicated to Esteve, in honor of the Spanish doctor and botanist who discovered the plant and its uses, called Pedro Jaime Esteve. The scientific name of the plant is Stevia rebaudiana. It is also called stevia or stevia a sweetener that is obtained from the same plant.
It is a sweet herb that is used as an alternative to sugar. It has no calories and therefore, it is widely used to avoid taking weight but bringing more sweetness even than sugar. The stevia plant has its origins in Paraguay where for centuries it began to be used to sweeten drinks, although the boom in its use worldwide is in the last decades being today very popular and demanded.
