Center for Emerging Technology, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) organized an industrial visit to Stevia World Agrotech Pvt. Ltd. on 29 August, 2017. The faculty members accompanied the first and second-year M.Tech students of the Department of Food Technology.
At Stevia World Agro Pvt., Ltd. Mr. Manjunath Mandikal, the Director of Stevia World Agro Pvt., Ltd. welcomed the students and briefed about the company. Addressing the students, he explained why the company chose to produce Stevia products. He educated the students on the health benefits of using Stevia as a natural sugarless sweetener, the market drivers for their products, the area where it is utilized and their local and global products.
He explained how Stevia is cultivated, procured and the steps involved in the processing of raw material to obtain the final product. A brief description was given about the various products they manufacture and the food industries where they can be used as a substitute for sugar and artificial sweetener.
Dr. Bhavya, the Head of Research & Development Department spoke about the molecular properties of Stevia extracts and gave insights about the challenges in the Stevia products formulation.
After the session, samples of their products were distributed among students to give an idea about the end result of their processing. Students also visited the processing unit where they witnessed the storage area of raw materials and various equipment used to process the raw materials and packaging of the products.
During the trip, students gained practical knowledge about the handling of the raw materials, processing of the Stevia leaves, product formulation and packaging methods.
