Evaluation of the environmental performance of stevia glycosides production using Precision Agriculture and green processing techniques

The aim of the current study was the evaluation of the environmental performance associated with the production of stevia glycosides powder using conventional, as well as green cultivation and processing techniques that aim to the reduction of bitter aftertaste of stevia glycosides. Four different scenarios were examined a) conventional cultivation followed by conventional processing of stevia leaves (extraction and spray drying), b) cultivation using precision agriculture (PA) followed by conventional processing of stevia leaves, c) conventional cultivation followed by innovative processing of stevia leaves (ultrasound and microwave assisted extraction (UMAE), purification with membranes and spray drying) in order to reduce the bitter aftertaste of stevia glycosides, d) cultivation using PA followed by innovative processing of stevia leaves. The environmental performance was evaluated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, as defined by ISO 14040 series. The analysis was carried out using GaBi software and ReCiPe 2016 methodology. Data were collected from farmers and stevia processing companies, as well as validated literature sources, environmental databases and laboratory scale analysis of the new techniques. Various environmental impact categories, such as climate change, acidification, eco-toxicity and eutrophication were examined. The results of the present study showed different environmental impacts. Regarding precision agriculture, it seems that steadily reducing inputs to the field, lead to reducing emissions in most of the impact categories studied. The addition of the new processing technologies leads to further decrease of the environmental footprint.