The sweet shrub Bertoni has been used throughout the world as a noncaloric biosweetener owing to its two major thermostable phytoconstituents – namely, stevioside and rebaudioside – which have recently been added to the European Union list of permitted sweeteners. A number of countries across the globe, such as Japan, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, Korea, etc., have approved the use of -based sweeteners in foods and beverages. However, several studies on this ancient plant have revealed many of its pharmacological properties, such as anticancer, antihypertensive, antibacterial, etc., and thus ought to be called a medicinal plant. As expected, in recent years, researchers have directed the focus toward and have been patenting their inventions. A number of review articles have been published on in relation to different aspects, but no one has reported on their patents published. Hence, it has become necessary to provide the up-to-date and collective information on studies conducted and patents on and its metabolites with respect to their commercial applications. A good number of patents and research articles have been published on . These patents and research articles of interest were divided on the basis of their pharmacological activity and pharmaceutical application, described and discussed below in this review article. Furthermore, the yearwise distribution of patents was presented as bar diagram.
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