[Latin Name] Sophora Japonica L

[Plant Source] from China

[Specifications] 90%-99%

[Appearance] Yellow crystalline powder

Plant Part Used:Bud

[Particle size] 80 Mesh

[Loss on drying] ≤12.0%

[Heavy Metal] ≤10PPM

[Storage] Store in cool & dry area, keep away from the direct light and heat.

[Shelf life] 24 Months

[Package] Packed in paper-drums and two plastic-bags inside.

[Net weight] 25kgs/drum

Brief Introduction

Quercetin is a plant pigment (flavonoid). It is found in many plants and foods, such as red wine, onions, green tea, apples, berries, Ginkgo biloba, St. John’s wort, American elder, and others. Buckwheat tea has a large amount of quercetin. People use quercetin as a medicine.

Quercetin is used for treating conditions of the heart and blood vessels including “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis), high cholesterol, heart disease, and circulation problems. It is also used for diabetes, cataracts, hay fever, peptic ulcer, schizophrenia, inflammation, asthma, gout, viral infections, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), preventing cancer, and for treating chronic infections of the prostate. Quercetin is also used to increase endurance and improve athletic performance.

Main Function

1.Quercetin may expel phlegm and arrest coughing, it can also be used as anti-asthmatic.

2. Quercetin has anticancer activity, inhibits PI3-kinase activity and slightly inhibits PIP Kinase activity, reduces cancer cell growth via type II estrogen receptors.

3.Quercetin may inhibit histamine release from basophils and mast cells.

4. Quercetin may control the spread of certain viruses within the body.

5, Quercetin may help reduce tissue destruction.

6.Quercetin may also be beneficial in the treatment of dysentery, gout, and psoriasis

Stevia grows best in upland areas in sub-tropical climate. In other places it can be grown as an annual. The plant prefers a lightly textured, well-drained soil to which organic matter has been added. It needs ample water so that the soil is consistently moist, but not wet. In hot, sunny climates it will do best in semi-shade. Propagation is from seed sown in spring, but germination rates can be low-expect half the seeds sown not to germinate. Plant seedlings out once all danger of frost is over. Leaves are best harvested just before flowering. The plants will also grow from cuttings,which are best taken in late winter.The concentration of stevioside in the leaves of Stevia increasing when the plants are grown under long day condition.While, cultivating stevia on a large scale, it can be grown in well-drained red soil and sandy loam soil. The soil should be in the pH range of 6.5-7.5. Saline soils should be avoided to cultivate this plant.

Stevia can be successfully cultivated all around the year all over India expect theareas, which receive snowfall, or temperatures go below 5 degree Celsius in winter.The summer temperatures actually do not affect this plant if the high summer temperatures have already been factored in the cultivation practices.Since seed germination rate is very poor,it is propagated vegetative. Though stem cuttings are used for vegetative tissue culture plants have proven to be the best planting material for Stevia. Tissue culture plants of Stevia are genetically pure, free from pathogens and haveexcellent vigor. The tissue culture plants can be planted throughout the year,expect during peak summer. An ideal planting density is 40,000 plants per acre with spacing of 25×40 cm in a raised bed system. The soil can be enriched with abasal dressing of 25 tons of well rotten farmyard manure/hectare

Soil Type
Stevia requires very good drainage any soil that retain the moisture for very long period of time are unsuitable for Stevia cultivation and should be religiously avoided.Red soil and sandy loam with a 6-7 pH are best for the cultivation of Stevia.

Raised bed preparation
Forming raised beds is the most economical way to grow Stevia. The raised bed should be of 15 cm in height and 60 cm in width. The distance between each plant 23 cm. This would give a plant population of around 40,000 per acre.

Planting Material
There are basically two options for multiplication. The first is the tissue culture and second the stem cutting. Tissue culture is the best option but many farmers are tempted to try the stem cutting method for multiplication. As per practical experience, stem cutting is sometimes more expensive to produce than the tissue culture since the success rate of the stem cuttings establishment is very low, it takes minimum of 25 weeks for the stem cutting to develop in proper feeding roots for transplantation (younger stem cuttings transplants have shown more than 50% mortality in first few weeks of transplants in main field).

Harvesting
Another important aspect of harvesting is the timing of harvest. It should be noted that at no point of time plants should be allowed to flower since after flowering the Stevioside percentage goes down rapidly and leaves are rendered unmarketable. Leaves are harvested by plucking in a small quantity, or the entire plant with the side branches is cut leaving 10 to 15 cm from the base.The first harvesting can be done four to five months after planting. Subsequent harvesting can be done every three months, for five consecutive years. The sweetener in the leaf is maximum till the plant flowers. Just before flowering, the plant should be cut completely leaving 10 cm from the ground. The new flush of leaves will sprout from here. The new plant will be ready for harvest again in three months. The plant yields around 3000 kg of dried leaves from an acre of plantation every year. Harvesting should be done as late as possible, since cool autumn temperatures and shorter days tend to intensify the sweetness of the plants as they evolve into a reproductive state.

Unlocking the sweetness in your harvest
Once all leaves have been harvested it’s required to dry them. This can be
accomplished on a net. The drying process is not one that requires excessive heat;more important is good air circulation. On a moderately warm fall day, stevia crop can be quick dried in the full sun in about 12 hours. (Drying times longer than that will lower the stevioside content of the final product.)
Crushing the dried leaves is the final step in releasing stevia’s sweetening power. The
dried leaves are powdered, sieved and the fine powder is stored in containers. This can be done either by hand or, for greater effect, in a coffee grinder or in a special blender for herbs.

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Making your own soy milk is super easy and super cheap! All you need is some soy beans, water, a blender, a pot to cook it in and something to strain the milk like a nut milk bag, a jelly bag, or a few layers of cheesecloth.
**UPDATED VIDEO**
I made a new tutorial with an easier, faster method that produces a less beany soy milk! Please watch it here: https://youtu.be/3YffvW5N3E8

You can flavour it with your choice of sweetener or use this plain soy milk to make other things like your own tofu or cultured cheese. Keep in mind that this soy milk tastes very different from most commercial brands which usually have a dozen ingredients or more. But this is so easy and super cheap to make, I hope you’ll try it.

What to do with the leftover pulp? This pulp is called Okara. Try this Okara Sea Burger Recipe: https://youtu.be/uYBhkL8uzSY

EASY SOY MILK RECIPE
Printable recipe and full story: https://www.marystestkitchen.com/diy-soy-milk-recipe/
Makes about 5 cups

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dry soy beans (preferably organic)
5 cups water (plus more for soaking and rinsing)
Optional sweetener to taste (like sugar, agave, maple syrup or stevia)

DIRECTIONS

Soak the beans in fresh water for one or two days in a large container. Make sure there is enough room for the beans to expand to triple their size. Add water if the water level drops below the top of the beans.

Drain the beans and transfer to a large bowl. Add enough water to completely submerge the beans.

Rub the beans between your fingers to remove the skins. Remove the skins from the bowl by mixing the beans around and letting the beans settle to the bottom. Then skim the top to get at the loose skins. Discard the skins. Try to get most of the skins but don’t worry if there are a few left.

Drain the beans.

Blend the beans with 5 cups of water until the beans well pureed. This took about one minute with my regular 12 speed Oster Blender on the Liquefy setting. If you have a high speed blender, take care not to over blend. You may need to work in a couple batches depending your blender’s capacity.

Strain the liquid into a large pot using a nut milk bag, jelly bag or a few layers of cheesecloth over a colander or sieve. The liquid will be your soy milk. The pulp, known as okara, can be discarded or used in other recipes.

Heat the milk on high heat until boiling while stirring regularly. The milk tends to form a skin at the bottom of the pot so stirring is necessary to keep this from building up. During this process, a skin may form at the top; this is normal and known as yuba. The yuba can be stirred back into the milk or skimmed off.

Let the milk boil for a couple minutes; stir and reduce the temperature as needed to prevent the milk from bubbling over.

Reduce the heat to medium or medium low. At this point, it’s a good idea to taste the milk. It may be a bit beany tasting and bitter. As the milk is cooked, the beany and bitter taste will be reduced. Let the milk simmer for anywhere between 10 minutes to 2 hours. How long is up to you.

When ready, strain the milk into a container.

Serve the milk hot or cold. Add sweetener to taste. I use about 1 or 2 teaspoons of maple syrup per cup.

NOTES

Store your fresh soy milk in the fridge for up to 3 days. The leftover soymilk pulp (okara) will also stay fresh in the fridge for about 3 days.

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