SACRAMENTO, CA--Stevia First Corp. (OTCQB: STVF) ("Stevia First" or the "Company"), an agricultural biotechnology company based in California's Central Valley growing region and focused on the industrial scale production of stevia, the all-natural zero-calorie sweetener that is rapidly transforming the food and beverage industry, is pleased to announce an important achievement and addition to its stevia production technologies.

The Company has successfully developed novel fermentation methods to produce steviol, a key step in the production of all steviol glycosides, the sweet substances found naturally within the stevia plant. Upon commercialization, steviol glycosides will serve in the reduction of sugar consumption and aid for the prevention of metabolic disorders.
Stevia First Corp. 高兴地宣布一个重要的成就,公司已成功开发出新颖的发酵方法生产斯替维醇,所有斯替维醇苷的生产的关键一步,在甜菊植株中发现的天然物质。 商业化后,斯替维醇苷将减少糖消费和援助代谢疾病的预防。

In related news, Stevia First has also recently developed a proprietary process that converts abundant precursor molecules found within the stevia leaf into high-purity Reb A, the best tasting of the more abundant steviol glycosides. This enzyme enhancement process could more than double the output of high-purity Reb A per acre of stevia leaf and the Company could use similar fermentation methods as described above for low-cost production of stevia enzymes within this process. Analogous fermentation methods have already been proven economical for ingredients critical to the food and beverage industry and their use is increasingly widespread around the globe.
在相关新闻,Stevia First Corp.最近还开发了一个专有的过程,将甜菊叶内丰富的前体分子转化为高纯度Reb A,而且口感更好。 这种酶增强过程可能增加一倍以上的高纯度产量，公司可以使用类似的发酵方法如上所述的低成本生产甜菊糖甙。 类似发酵的方法在全球的使用越来越广泛。

"We're intent on rapidly increasing the global supply of stevia, and are enabling this through a variety of methods including biosynthesis and mechanized agriculture," says Robert Brooke, CEO of Stevia First. "The continued rise in health concerns along with increased occurrences of diabetes and obesity is expected to drive the demand and growth for sugar substitutes over the next six years, making this a very crucial time for what we have produced. This achievement is another demonstration of what our R&D team can accomplish in a very short period of time."
“我们专注于迅速增长的全球甜菊供应,并通过各种方法包括启用这个生物合成和机械化农业,”甜菊的首席执行官罗伯特·布鲁克说。 “健康问题的继续增长,随着增加糖尿病和肥胖症增加，预计将推动糖替代品需求和增长在接下来的六年,这对我们是很重要的一段时间。 这一成就是我们的研发团队在很短时间内完成的。”

It is currently estimated that 70% or more of the cost of Reb A stevia extract is directly attributable to the cost of stevia leaf production, and the cost of stevia leaf extract has increased considerably due to a shortage of leaf supply. Next-generation stevia sweeteners such as Reb D or Reb M may be more "sugar-like" than Reb A, but they also are very rare and therefore even more expensive to obtain through traditional leaf extraction. The Company has succeeded in developing novel fermentation methods that enable production of steviol, a key intermediate molecule in the production of all sweet steviol glycosides, including stevia and next-gen stevia sweeteners, and this factor could greatly reduce or even bypass entirely the need for stevia leaf production. 

目前估计甜叶菊提取物Reb A70%以上的成本是直接归因于甜叶菊叶的生产成本,甜菊叶提取的成本大大增加由于叶供应短缺。 下一代甜叶菊甜味剂如 Reb D or Reb M可能更比Reb A像糖，但他们也非常少见,因此更昂贵的获得通过传统叶提取。 公司成功地开发新型发酵方法生产斯替维醇,It is common within industry, and often a starting point, to use glucose-fed yeast within a fermentation production system due to its relative ease of use. This latest fermentation process developed by Stevia First however is unique in that it takes advantage of a new production system, one which can be used within solid-state fermentations and does not require glucose as an input material. Solid state fermentations can recycle agricultural byproducts for use as input materials, use less water, and may also require relatively little capital equipment for operation. Compared to alternative methods in use today, these advantages could enable a fermentation production system that is even more economical and environmentally-friendly. 
使用葡萄糖酵母在发酵生产系统相对易用。 Stevia First这一最新开发的发酵过程独特之处在于,它利用一个新的生产系统,可以使用一个在固态发酵和不需要葡萄糖作为输入材料。 固态发酵可以作为输入使用的循环农业副产品的材料,使用更少的水,需要较少的资本设备操作。 相比,这些优势可以使发酵生产系统更加经济和环保。

FROM：http://www.steviafirst.com/news/news_releases/2015/01/stevia-first-corp.-announces-new-proprietary-fermentation-method-for-steviol-production

相关信息请看来自每日食品的翻译：

Stevia First Corp.是一家总部位于加利福尼亚州中央谷地种植区的农业生物技术公司，主要从事甜菊糖的大规模工业生产以及正在迅速改变食品和饮料行业的纯天然零热量甜味剂的生产，该公司于近日宣布，除了甜菊糖的生产技术，又取得了一项重要突破。
该公司已成功开发出生产甜菊醇的新型发酵方法，这在所有甜菊糖苷(甜菊糖中天然存在的甜味物质)的生产过程当中是十分关键的一步。该项技术一旦投入商业生产，甜菊糖甙将成为减糖产品的配料并且能够帮助预防新陈代谢紊乱。
根据相关报道，该公司最近还开发了一种工艺专利技术，可以将甜叶菊叶子中含有的丰富前体分子转化为高纯度的莱苞迪甙A(Reb A)，该物质是丰富的甜菊糖苷产品的味道最好的。这种酶强化的生产过程不仅可以使每亩甜叶菊叶产出的高纯度的莱苞迪甙A(Reb A)的量增加一倍以上，而且公司还可以使用与上述相似的发酵方法低成本的生产甜菊糖酶。类似的发酵方法在配料的经济性方面已经得到了证明，这对于食品和饮料行业至关重要，并且也在全球范围内得到了日益广泛的应用。
Stevia First Corp.的CEO Robert Brooke 指出：“我们想要迅速扩大甜菊糖的全球供应量，并尝试通过各种方法实现这一点，包括生物合成和机械化农业等手段，人们对于健康问题以及糖尿病和肥胖症患病增加现象越来越关注，这有望带动食糖替代品在未来六年内的需求和增长，我们要让这段时间成为我们产品发展的关键时期。这项成就是我们研发团队能力的另一种展现—在非常短的时间内他们能够完成怎样的挑战。”
据目前估计，甜叶菊提取物莱苞迪甙A(Reb A)的70%或者更多的成本直接来自于甜叶菊叶的生产，并且由于叶片的供应短缺，甜菊叶提取物的成本也大大增加。下一代甜叶菊甜味剂如Reb D 和Reb M可能会比Reb A更加“像糖”，但它们也十分罕见，因此通过传统的叶片提取方法获得这些物质的成本也会更加昂贵。该公司已成功开发出新型的发酵方法从而能够生产甜菊醇，甜菊醇是一种在所有甜味的甜菊糖苷（包括甜菊糖和下一代甜菊糖甜味剂）生产过程中都会生成的关键中间体分子，而且这个因素可大大减少或甚至完全消除甜叶菊叶的生产必要性。
在发酵生产系统内采用葡萄糖为营养源的酵母为发酵起点在业内是十分常见的，因为该方法相对容易操作。最新的发酵工艺是Stevia First Corp.开发出来的，该工艺的独特之处在于它利用了一个新型生产系统的优势，该系统能够在固态发酵中使用，并且不需要用葡萄糖作为原料。固态发酵可以回收农业副产品作为原料，用水量更少，并且生产中对固定设备的要求也相对较低。相比于目前使用的替代方法，这些优势可以使一个更经济和更环境友好型的发酵生产系统成为可能。