PURPOSE: A natural sweetener similar to sugar, not leaving bitterness, astrigency, and aftertaste, comprising stevioside containing rebaudioside A and rebaudioside C in a specific ratio.

CONSTITUTION: Dried leaves of new cultivar of stevia containing 1.5W7 times as much rebaudioside A as stevioside and 0.1W0.4 as much rebaudioside C are extracted with water or a water-containing solvent, the prepared extracted solution is optionally brought into contact with a cation exchange resin and an anion exchange resin to remove ionic impurities, the solution is adsorbed on an absorption resin, eluted with a hydrophilic solvent, and the elute is concentrated to give a natural sweetener.