Chemical composition of dried Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves and effect of ultrasound-assisted extraction on total steviosides content in extract

Summary Introduction: Steviol stevioside, which has been used in the production of food products as a low-calorie sweeten, is one of the main glycoside groups in the leaves of the Stevia plants. It is useful for human health. Objective: The main objection of the present study was to find out some major chemical compositions of the dried Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves and an effective, affordable, and environmentally friendly method to reach the high extraction yield of total steviosides from them. Therefore, a novel extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), was carried out to extract total steviosides from dried leaves of S. rebaudiana plant with ethanol of 70% (v/v) as a solvent. Methods: Some major chemical compositions of the dried S. rebaudiana leaves were analyzed according to the AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) and total steviosides content (TSC) was measured by anthrone-sulphuric acid colorimetric assay with main influencing factors including material/solvent ratio, extraction temperature, and extraction time. Results: The results referred that some chemical compounds such as protein, lipid, fibre, sugar, etc. existed in this material. The best extraction conditions were the sample/solvent ratio of 1:100 (g/ml), extraction temperature of 75oC, and extraction time of 30 min. Conclusion: The highest amount of total steviosides content of 8.894 % was obtained at the optimal extraction condition. Consequently, these results demonstrated that the parameters of UAE were applied successfully for producing total glycosides.