Sweet success for PureCircle’s stevia patent application

PureCircle has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for its plant patent application for a new high-yield variety of stevia.

The application relates to a new variety of the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant that has a high content of steviol glycosides, which are the sweet components of the stevia plant that are extracted to produce high-purity stevia ingredients.

“This Notice demonstrates PureCircle’s commitment to innovation at each stage of our supply chain,” said Dr Avetik Markosyan, Vice President of R&D and Process Development of PureCircle. “We are pleased to be able to add this plant variety in support of our growing portfolio of proprietary stevia solutions.”

PureCircle grows the new variety commercially in several global markets, including Paraguay and Kenya. The company has about 90 additional patent applications, submitted across a number of markets, which are in various stages of the review process. PureCircle claims to lead the industry with its “vertically integrated, sustainable and natural supply chain”.