- Also called:
- Swingle fruit and luo han guo
What is monk fruit, and where is it native to?
How is monk fruit used as a sweetener?
What are the health benefits of monk fruit extracts?
How does monk fruit compare with stevia as a sweetener?
Is monk fruit considered safe for consumption?
monk fruit, (Siraitia grosvenorii), perennial, herbaceous, tuberous vine found in the humid subtropical mountain forests of southern China, where it is native. It occurs mainly in Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guizhou provinces. The fruit of this plant has both medicinal and culinary uses. Extracts of the fruit (a gourd) are used as noncaloric alternatives to sugar that do not raise blood glucose levels. Coming in both powdered and liquid forms, the extracts are used as sweeteners in manufactured foods and beverages and as tabletop sweeteners for foods and for coffee, tea, and other beverages.
The name monk fruit comes from the Chinese term luo han guo, luo han meaning “enlightened man” (Sanskrit: arhat) and guomeaning “fruit.” In this case, the term refers to the 13th-century Buddhist monks in China who are credited with the plant’s first known use.
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Angiosperm
- Order: Cucurbitales
- Family: Cucurbitaceae
- Genus: Siraitia
Physical description
The plant is a climbing geophyte; that is, its nutrient and water storage structures and perennating buds occur below the soil. It usually grows 3–5 meters (about 10–16 feet) tall but can reach a height of 15 meters (about 49 feet), and it requires adequate support for climbing. The plant grows best in well-drained, fertile, loamy soil with negligible soil acidity (pH 6–6.5), and it requires a balanced exposure to sun and shade. It grows well at 16–20 ℃ (61–68 ℉) and does not tolerate frost. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants. They typically develop within 6 to 8 months of seed germination (or sowing of stem cuttings), and fruits form within 9 to 10 months. The round, oblong, or ovoid melonlike fruit has a length of 5–7 cm (about 2–3 inches) and a diameter of 4–7 cm (about 2–3 inches). It has a thin smooth rind, which turns from green to brown, yellowish brown, or greenish brown, with soft yellow hairs that gradually fall off, as it matures. Beneath the surface, the ripe fruit consists of a moist, spongy, sweet-tasting flesh with many ovate seeds.
The fruit starts to rot soon after harvest, and hence it is not typically eaten fresh but rather is dried. Traditionally, it has been dried in solar dryers or in hot-air ovens before consumption. To ensure better taste and quality, more-modern, low-temperature drying techniques are employed, including freeze-drying, freeze-vacuum drying, microwave drying, microwave-vacuum drying, microwave-vacuum infrared drying, and freezing followed by microwave-vacuum drying. See also dehydration.
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Fruit extract
Extracts made from the fresh ripe fruit are used as a natural zero-calorie sweetener, like such other sugar substitutes as stevia. In one process widely used to produce monk fruit sweetener, the rind and seeds are removed, the remaining fruit is crushed to release its juice, the juice and pulp are steeped in a hot solvent (e.g., purified water or aqueous ethanol), the resulting infusion is filtered and concentrated, and the remaining liquid is dried into a powder or further concentrated into a syrup. Juice components called mogrosides, which are cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides, give monk fruit extract most of its sweet taste. Among these compounds, mogroside V is the major contributor of sweetness. Since the mogrosides pass through the human digestive system without being absorbed or processed for energy, they do not add calories or increase blood sugar levels. In fresh monk fruit, mogrosides are present at 0.55–0.65 percent. In dried fruit, they are present at 2.5 percent. Monk fruit extract is 100–250 times sweeter than sugar, depending on the concentration of mogrosides in the extract, so a little goes a long way. The extract also contains flavonoids, amino acids, and lignans (a class of phytoestrogens, which occur mainly in plants and can mimic estrogen in the body).
Uses
In China monk fruit extracts have been used for hundreds of years as a natural sweetener and as a traditional medicine that treats constipation, lung congestion, cough, sore throat, and asthma. Studies have found that such extracts may have numerous health benefits, including antioxidant, antibacterial, expectorant, anti-asthma, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and antitussive effects. Monk fruit extracts may also protect the liver and boost the immune system. More research is needed to discover and verify their potential health benefits.
Monk fruit extract was introduced in the United States in the early 20th century. Although it has a smaller market than stevia there, its demand is projected to increase. Besides being used as a sweetener, it is used in making cosmetics.
Both monk fruit extract and stevia are non-nutritive sugar substitutes that can be used without adding calories or carbohydrates to the diet and without affecting blood sugar levels. Both can be used in multiple forms and combined with other food substances. And both are derived from natural sources, although they do require processing. However, unlike monk fruit extract, stevia may leave a bitter or metallic aftertaste and can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea. The limited availability and import and processing costs of monk fruit extract make it less accessible than stevia in the Western world.
Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers monk fruit extract to be “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS). The agency, however, has not specified an acceptable daily intake (ADI) level for the extract. It is possible that an ADI is not needed because of the tiny amount of extract needed to sweeten foods and beverages. In addition, monk fruit extracts are considered safe in more than 60 other countries, including China and Japan, and by Health Canada and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). In 2019 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found that the available data were insufficient to determine the safety of monk fruit sweeteners for human use. However, EFSA permitted the marketing of an aqueous decoction (a monk fruit “tea” made by steeping the fruit material in hot water) in 2024 without additional review, on the basis of the fruit’s long-standing consumption in the United Kingdom when it was a European Union (EU) member state. As of 2025, EFSA still did not approve highly purified mogrosides or nonaqueous monk fruit extracts, owing to limited toxicological data and no industry-led applications in the EU.
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