Siraitia grosvenorii(luo han guo or monk fruit) is a herbaceous perennial vine of the Cucurbitaceae (gourd) family, native to southern China and northern Thailand. The plant is cultivated for its fruit, whose extract is nearly 300 times sweeter than sugar and has been used in China as a low-calorie sweetener for cooling drinks and in traditional Chinese medicine.

The fruit of Luo Han Guo is well-known for its sweet taste, it has both sweet and bitter tasting triterpene glycosides, is now sold worldwide as a tea and made into an extract for use in numerous health-care products. Luo Han Guo has been used as a medicinal herb for treating cough and sore throat and is popularly considered to be a longevity aid.

High Sweetness

The sweet taste of the fruit comes mainly from mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides that make up about 1% of the flesh of the fresh fruit. It is 300 times sweeter than sucrose.

Non-Caloric

It is used as a natural zero calorie sweetener. Because it is about 300 times sweeter than sugar it needs to be mixed with a bulking agent if used as a table top sweetener

Clearing Throat

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is used for cough and sore throat and in southern China it is believed to be a longevity aid. The fruits are generally sold in dried form, and traditionally used in herbal tea or soup.

Anti-Allergy

Luo han guo has been shown to have an antihistamine effect in mice given the extract. The extract seems to counter an allergic response by calming the mast cells that release the chemicals such as histamine – which is associated with both allergies and asthma.