Processed
Leaf Powder Crude
D tier
Crude leaf powder is dried, milled Stevia rebaudiana—green, herbal, bitter, and only modestly sweet compared with a white extract. Herbalists and some traditional users stir it into tea. It will dye a batter khaki and it will not pass for a modern stevia extract in a clear soda. This is the starting agricultural product, not a high-intensity food additive grade. If a recipe wants "stevia extract," this powder will disappoint and taste of hay. Use it as a herb, or buy a purified glycoside.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Guaraní use of ka'a he'ê leaf as a sweet herb predates any white extract.
Health-food shops sold green stevia leaf powder long before reb A approvals.
Crude powders remained in herbal aisles as food-additive extracts went white.
Whole-leaf powders stayed legal as herbs in markets that restrict crude extracts in processed foods.