Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a naturally sweet herb that has become a popular sugar substitute among the "natural foods" crowd. An extract of it (vastly diluted with erythritol--a "sugar alcohol") is widely sold under the brand name, Truvia. Of course sugar, which comes from sugar cane, is also a natural sweetener. One significant difference between the two is that the "sugar alcohols" of Truvia can not be digested. They are absorbed, broken down in the liver, and excreted by the kidneys.
Erythritol is not a fermentable sugar.
A curious study published this week in the Journal of Applied Entomology reports the effects of feeding fruit flies erythritol.
https://phys.org/news/2017-05-common-artificial-sweetener-safe-effective.html
While adult flies that consumed erythritol dramatically reduced their egg laying, larvae were killed by consuming it.
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are not closely related to the hornworm moth (Manduca sexta), but consumption of erythritol may have a similar effect. That is to say, larvae (the hornworms) may be metabolically poisoned by consuming erythritol. That question is not answered by the current paper, but is just my conjecture.
It may be that fruit fly larvae dine entirely on the available sweet material, whereas hornworm larvae would be consuming mostly tobacco leaf lamina, and not at risk from erythritol. Who knows if misting a tobacco leaf with a solution of Truvia might have a larvicidal effect.
I may test the idea this season. Even if it kills hookworms, would the erythritol residue on tobacco leaf affect the finished tobacco? Does it breakdown on the leaf surface in sunlight and rain? What chemical byproducts might be created by kilning leaf that has been treated with erythritol.
The fruit fly study used 1 molar erythritol. That is, one molecular weight (in grams) of erythritol, diluted into one liter of water. This computes to 122 grams of erythritol per liter of water, or roughly 1/4 pound of Truvia per liter.
Bob
Erythritol is not a fermentable sugar.
A curious study published this week in the Journal of Applied Entomology reports the effects of feeding fruit flies erythritol.
https://phys.org/news/2017-05-common-artificial-sweetener-safe-effective.html
While adult flies that consumed erythritol dramatically reduced their egg laying, larvae were killed by consuming it.
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are not closely related to the hornworm moth (Manduca sexta), but consumption of erythritol may have a similar effect. That is to say, larvae (the hornworms) may be metabolically poisoned by consuming erythritol. That question is not answered by the current paper, but is just my conjecture.
It may be that fruit fly larvae dine entirely on the available sweet material, whereas hornworm larvae would be consuming mostly tobacco leaf lamina, and not at risk from erythritol. Who knows if misting a tobacco leaf with a solution of Truvia might have a larvicidal effect.
I may test the idea this season. Even if it kills hookworms, would the erythritol residue on tobacco leaf affect the finished tobacco? Does it breakdown on the leaf surface in sunlight and rain? What chemical byproducts might be created by kilning leaf that has been treated with erythritol.
The fruit fly study used 1 molar erythritol. That is, one molecular weight (in grams) of erythritol, diluted into one liter of water. This computes to 122 grams of erythritol per liter of water, or roughly 1/4 pound of Truvia per liter.
Bob