Stevia : A True Glycoside Used as a Sweetener and Not Affecting Behavior

Using ants as models, the glycoside rebaudioside A, a sweetener extracted from the plant Stevia rebaudiana and commercialized under the name ‘stevia’, was shown to have no effect on their food consumption, locomotion, precision of reaction, response to pheromones, brood caring, cognition, visual and olfactory conditioning and memory, although this sweetener slightly increased the ants audacity. However, when having the choice between stevia and saccharose, the ants somewhat preferred the latter. Stevia is thus a safe sweetener which does not impact general health, behavior and cognition, but it is generally perceived less pleasant than saccharose.