The sweetness is 300 times that of sucrose, but the calories are very low! This treasure fruit can also be eaten by diabetics

Have you noticed that some beverages on the market are advertised as "0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories", but they still taste a little sweet, which is amazing. The sweetener behind this is most likely the extract of monk fruit - mogroside.

Everyone may have heard of Luo Han Guo, especially for people in Guangdong and Guangxi, this is a native "herbal tea ingredient". What does it look like? Why is it so naturally sweet? In addition to making tea, what other ways can it be eaten? Today we will talk about this magical fruit.

Image source: Taken from e-commerce platform

Long history, shaped like a gourd

Unlike imported fruits such as bananas, monk fruit is a thoroughly localized fruit. Monk fruit is native to southern my country and first appeared in the records of monks in Guilin, Guangxi in the 13th century. Li Shizhen, a pharmacist in the Ming Dynasty, also mentioned monk fruit in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "It is shaped like a chicken egg but shorter, with a green-yellow skin, fine dots on it like buckwheat skin, and a yellow membrane in the middle to separate the upper and lower parts. Each half contains four or five seeds, like loquat seeds, with a yellow and moist color. Its kernel is like a pine kernel, with red and white flesh, and some are yellow." The description is quite detailed.

Image source: Taken from e-commerce platform

Monk fruit looks like a chubby gourd baby, especially when it is just picked from the vine, its green skin is round and heavy, very cute. When the monk fruit slowly matures, the skin will turn yellow-brown, feel rougher, and be covered with a layer of fine hairs.

The vines of monk fruit can climb up to trees several meters high, blooming in summer and bearing fruit in autumn. It is a local specialty economic crop in Guilin, Guangxi, and a geographical indication product of Yongfu County, Guilin. In addition, it is also grown in Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi and other places.

Natural sweeteners

300 times sweeter than sucrose

Most people eat fruits for their sweet and sour taste and nutrition, but monk fruit is different. What makes monk fruit famous is its sweetness.

How sweet is it? Let me put it this way, try cracking a monk fruit, throwing it into a thermos, pouring boiling water over it, soaking it for a few minutes, and then opening the lid. You will definitely be surrounded by a rich sweet aroma. Take a bite, and it's so sweet that it's like adding half a cup of sugar.

The reason why monk fruit is sweet is that it contains mogroside, which is a natural sweetener with pure sweetness and no peculiar smell. Its sweetness is 300 times that of sucrose, so only a little can provide more sweetness.

Source: GB2760-2024 National Food Safety Standard Food Additives Usage Standard

Moreover, mogroside is hardly absorbed in the human body and does not generate much heat. It passes directly through the small intestine and is excreted from the body. Therefore, when eating monk fruit, you don’t have to worry about gaining weight or increasing blood sugar. In 1996, my country officially certified mogroside as a food additive. It can be used as a sweetener to partially or completely replace sucrose in various foods. It is especially suitable as a sugar substitute for obese people and diabetic patients.

Therefore, monk fruit is often processed into various foods, such as monk fruit tea, monk fruit lozenges, monk fruit drinks, etc., which are very popular in the market.

A certain brand of fruit tea

However, because monk fruit is so sweet, you must pay attention to controlling the amount when eating it. Don't put too much, otherwise it may be too sweet and affect the taste.

Blood sugar friendly, but not hypoglycemic

There are many sayings among the people that "Lo Han Guo can lower blood sugar". As mentioned above, Lo Han Guo glycosides are blood sugar-friendly and do not easily raise blood sugar. However, not raising blood sugar does not mean that it can help lower blood sugar.

1. Lack of clinical trials

Although some animal experiments have found that monk fruit extract can help lower blood sugar in diabetic mice, these experiments are still in the animal stage and lack clinical evidence. Therefore, at this stage we cannot hastily assume that monk fruit can lower blood sugar and use it to replace hypoglycemic drugs.

2. Sugar substitutes have little effect on blood sugar

In 2023, the World Health Organization evaluated 283 randomized controlled trials and observational studies. In these studies, the results of randomized trials revealed that compared with sugars, sugar substitutes failed to have a significant effect on diabetes-related biochemical indicators such as blood sugar and insulin.

Source: Summary of WHO guidelines on the use of sugar-free sweeteners

Therefore, for those who have abnormal blood sugar problems, don't count on monk fruit to lower blood sugar. In daily life, pay attention to scientific diet, moderate exercise, and reasonable treatment according to doctor's advice, which is the scientific means to treat diabetes.

How to eat monk fruit

More than just tea

Most monk fruit is sold in the form of dried products. Although fresh monk fruit can be eaten, I sincerely advise you not to try it easily. Don't believe it? You can go to social platforms to see the experience sharing of netizens.

Image source: A social platform

After taking a few bites, some people feel dizzy, some want to vomit, some have numb tongues or even sore tongue tips... So, there is a reason why some ways of eating are unpopular.

In Guangdong and Guangxi, the most common way to eat monk fruit is to make tea. Both fresh monk fruit and dried monk fruit can be used to make tea. For fresh monk fruit, just crack it open, break it into small pieces, throw it into a cup, and then pour boiling water over it. For dried monk fruit, you have to break the shell first, take out the seeds and pulp inside, put them into the cup together, and brew it with boiling water. The brewed monk fruit tea is ruddy in color and sweet in taste. But don't put too much, 1/4 is sweet enough to make your throat.

In addition to making tea, monk fruit can also be used to make soup. When stewing meat or soup, adding a monk fruit can not only make the soup clearer and brighter, but also increase the sweet taste of the soup, while also playing a role in removing fishy and greasy taste.

In addition, monk fruit can also be used to cook porridge and desserts, such as monk fruit and white fungus soup, monk fruit stewed with snow pear, monk fruit rock sugar water, etc. In the dry winter in the north, you can drink some to moisten your throat. Of course, because monk fruit is so sweet, when making these delicacies, you must remember to put less sugar or no sugar, otherwise it may be too sweet for people to bear.

Finally, we need to remind everyone that although monk fruit has many benefits, it should not be consumed in excess. If you are interested in this fruit, why not go to the market and pick a few to try!

References

[1] Wikipedia. Monk Fruit. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%BE%85%E6%BC%A2%E6%9E%9C

[2] Plant Intelligence. Monk Fruit. https://www.iplant.cn/info/%E7%BD%97%E6%B1%89%E6%9E%9C

[3]GongX,ChenN,RenK,JiaJ,WeiK,ZhangL,LvY,WangJ,LiM.TheFruitsofSiraitiagrosvenorii:AReviewofaChineseFood-Medicine.FrontPharmacol.2019Nov22;1 0:1400.doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.01400.Erratumin:FrontPharmacol.2020Jan30;10:1627.doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.01627.PMID:31849659;PMCID:PMC6903776.

[4] Qi Xiangyang, Chen Weijun, Song Yunfei, Xie Bijun. Hypoglycemic effect of monk fruit extract on diabetic mice[J]. Chinese Journal of Public Health, 2003, 19(10): 1226-1227.

[5] China Medical Information Query Platform. Monk Fruit. https://www.dayi.org.cn/search?keyword=%E7%BD%97%E6%B1%89%E6%9E%9C

[6] World Health Organization. Summary of WHO guidelines on the use of sugar-free sweeteners. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/375023

Planning and production

Author: Li Chun, registered nutritionist

Review丨Zhong Kai, Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center