The company said that plants produced from the new Huinong Two (H2) seeds have about 66 percent Reb A in the plant leaf, ten percent more than GLG’s previous generation of stevia plants, allowing it to produce more of the sweetener on less land, improving production costs and sustainability. Reb A is the sweet component of the stevia plant most often used in stevia sweeteners. In addition, the plants produce about 22 percent more leaves per acre, the company said.
GLG added that all of its seeds are produced using traditional plant breeding techniques, without genetic modification.
The company’s chairman and CEO Dr. Luke Zhang said: “The stevia leaf contributes to approximately 65 percent of total production costs for our products and these successful developments enable us to continually reduce our operating costs, maintain a strong cost position, and offer a high quality, competitive sweetener to the world's food and beverage industry."