What is Monk Fruit Sweetener?

Monk Fruit(Luo Han Guo), the fruit of the Cucurbitaceae perennial vine. Aliases are lahan fruit, fake bitter gourd, light fruit wood turtle, gold not change, Luohan table, naked tortoise, and are known as “Oriental God Fruit”. Mainly produced in Longjiang Township, Longsheng and Baishou Township, Yongfu County, Guilin City, Guangxi, China, 90% of Luo Han Guo in China is produced in Yongfu County and Longsheng County. One of the medicinal and edible materials. The fruit has high nutritional value, rich in vitamin C (400 mg to 500 mg per 100 grams of fresh fruit) and flavonoids, polysaccharides, glycosides, fructose, glucose, protein, lipids, etc.

Chinese medicine believes that Luo Han Guo is sweet, sour, cool in nature, has the functions of clearing heat and cooling blood, promoting body fluid and relieving cough, detoxifying the intestines, rejuvenating the skin, nourishing the lungs and resolving phlegm. Cough, sore throat, constipation, thirst and irritability.

Modern medicine has proved that Luo Han Guo has significant curative effect on bronchitis, hypertension and other diseases, and also plays a role in preventing and treating coronary heart disease, vascular sclerosis and obesity. High nutritional value, it has the functions of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, resolving phlegm and relieving cough, cooling blood and soothing bones, clearing lungs and moistening intestines, and promoting fluid and quenching thirst; it can treat acute and chronic bronchitis, pharyngitis, bronchial asthma, whooping cough, stomach heat, constipation, acute Tonsillitis embolism, diabetic patients should also take.

Monk Fruit extract is light yellow powder to tan extract. The taste is extremely sweet, its sweetness is 240 times that of sucrose, the sweetness is close to granulated sugar, and it has a slightly similar aftertaste to licorice. High-purity mogroside is 300 times sweeter than sucrose, with a melting point of 197-201°C. Soluble in water and ethanol. It does not generate heat and is a valuable raw material for beverage and candy industries, and is the best substitute for sucrose.

Active Ingredients of Monk Fruit Extract

Monk fruit contains non-sugar sweet ingredients, mainly triterpenoid glycosides: mogroside V and IV, the sweetness of glycoside V is 256-344 times that of srcrose, and the sweetness of glycoside IV is sucrose. 126 times. Also contains a lot of glucose (glucose) [6], fructose (fructose) accounted for 14%. Also contains manganese, iron, nickel, selenium, tin, iodine, molybdenum and other 26 kinds of inorganic elements, protein, vitamins (vitamin C) and so on. Seed kernels contain 41.07% oil and fat, of which fatty acids are: linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, palmitolec acid, meat Myristic acid, lauric acid, decanoic acid.

Pharmacological effects of Monk Fruit extract
  1. Antitussive effect: D-mannitol has antitussive effect. It can also be used for cerebral edema, which can increase blood osmotic pressure, reduce intracranial pressure, and its dehydration effect is stronger than that of urea, and it lasts for a long time. It can also be used for edema of large-area burns and scalds, preventing and treating acute renal failure and reducing intraocular pressure, treating acute glaucoma and replacing sugar as a sweet food or flavoring agent for diabetic patients.
  2. Effect on intestinal tube:Luo Han Guo fitness tea (containing 77.5% of Luo Han Guo, 15% of tea, and 7.5% of Luo Han Guo preparation) has no obvious effect on the spontaneous activity of the isolated small intestine of mice, but can enhance the spontaneous activity of isolated small intestine of rabbits and dogs . It has an antagonistic effect on the tonic contraction of the intestinal tract caused by acetylcholine or barium chloride, which can relax the intestinal tract and relieve spasm; It shows that Luo Han Guo fitness tea has a two-way regulating effect on intestinal motor function.
  3. Other effects:Luo Han Guo fitness tea has no effect on normal rabbit stomach bioelectricity, that is, it does not affect normal digestive tract motor function. Luo Han Guo fitness tea was given to anesthetized dogs by gavage, and there was no significant effect on blood pressure and electrocardiogram.
Application of Monk Fruit extract

Modern medical research has found that Luo Han Guo is rich in mogroside, which is 300 times sweeter than sucrose, has a hypoglycemic effect, and can be used to assist in the treatment of diabetes; rich in vitamin C, which has anti-aging, anti-cancer and beneficial effects It has the effect of reducing blood lipids and weight loss, and can assist in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and improve the image of obese people. It can be widely used in nutritional health care products, infant food, puffed food, seasoning, middle-aged and elderly food, solid beverage, cake, cold food, instant food, instant food, etc.

Nutrient content

The fruits and leaves of Luo Han Guo contain Luo Han Guo triterpenoid saponins, as well as a large amount of fructose, more than ten kinds of essential amino acids, fatty acids, flavonoids, vitamin C, and trace elements. As the main component of Luo Han Guo sweetener, Luo Han Guo saponin is a sweet triterpene glucoside, and its glycoside aglycone is triterpene alcohol.

Cucurbitane triterpenoids

These compounds are the main active ingredients in Luo Han Guo, and they have a common aglycone structure. Except for a few such substances in Luo Han Guo, they are all sweet substances or slightly sweet substances. Among them, Mogroside V is the main sweet component, it is non-toxic, low in calories, high in sweetness and good in thermal stability, and it is one of the substances developed as a natural sweetener.

Protein, amino acid

Luo Han Guo dried fruit contains 7.1%-7.8% protein. In its hydrolyzate, except tryptophan was not determined, 18 kinds of amino acids were complete. Among the amino acids determined, the ones with higher content are glutamic acid (108.2-113.3 mg/kg), aspartic acid (93.9-112.5 mg/kg), valine (52.5-55.5 mg/kg), alanine Acid (49.9-66.8mg/kg), Leucine (48.5-56.7mg/kg). Glutamate is the most non-essential amino acid in the human body, and it is an important raw material for the synthesis of glutathione. It can be seen that Luo Han Guo has high nutritional value.

Inorganic elements

Luo Han Guo fruit contains 24 kinds of inorganic elements, of which 16 kinds of trace elements and extensive elements are necessary for human body, and the elements with higher content are potassium (12290mg/kg), calcium (667mg/kg), magnesium (550mg/kg). The selenium contained in Luo Han Guo reaches 0.186mg/kg, which is 2-4 times that of food, and elemental selenium has good curative effect in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease, anti-aging and anti-cancer.

Precautions

Luo Han Guo is a plant recognized by the Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China as “both food and medicine”, and has no other side effects. Drinking it in a short period of time is fine, but drinking it for a long time will lead to the decline of gastrointestinal function and cause a chain of pathological reactions. If you have a cold constitution, try to avoid drinking Luo Han Guo.

 

Mogroside

Mogroside, also known as Mogroside (or Monk fruit sweet), is the sweet component of Luo Han Guo, a natural sweetener. The plant content is high and the water solubility is good. The finished product with a purity of more than 98% has been used as a food additive. It is extracted from Luo Han Guo and has zero calories. Has preventive effect. Mogroside is safe and non-toxic as a food. It is stipulated in the national mandatory standard “GB2760 Food Additive Use Standard” that Mogroside can be used in various foods in unlimited quantities.

Mogroside is a white to light yellow powder with the aroma of Monk fruit, extremely sweet taste, about 240 times sweeter than sucrose, melting point 197-201℃ (decomposition). Strong thermal stability, easily soluble in water and dilute ethanol. Mogroside V is an active ingredient with high content and sweetness in Luohanguo fruit. Its sweetness is about 300 times that of sucrose. It is a low-calorie, non-nutritive, non-fermentable sweetener and is the main sweetener.

Mogroside is composed of 11 cucurbitacin glycosides, namely Mogroside III, Mogroside IV, Mogroside V, etc. Among them, Mogroside V (Mogroside 5) has the strongest sweetness intensity and is also the main sweetness in Luo Han Guo. agent ingredients. Other extract components of Luo Han Guo include: Mogroside II, Mogroside III, Mogroside IV, Mogroside VI, flavonoids, melanin, etc. So many manufacturers combine monk fruit sweeteners with other natural products such as inulin or erythritol to reduce the sweetness.

Benefits of Mogroside
  1. It has expectorant and antitussive effects;
  2. Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effect;
  3. scavenging free radicals and anti-oxidation;
  4. Hypoglycemic effect;
  5. Hepatoprotective effect;
  6. Anti-cancer effect;
  7. Enhance immunity, etc.
Advantages of Mogroside

Since mogroside has 0 calories and a GI value of 0, it does not raise blood sugar, so obese and diabetic patients often use it as a sugar substitute. In addition, mogroside has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Disadvantages of Mogroside

Like all sugar substitutes, eating it will stimulate the secretion of dopamine, which is not good for everyone to quit sugar addiction. In addition, the growth environment of mogroside is harsh, generally growing under very strict altitudes and conditions; and requires heavy rainfall, high humidity and high temperature day and night differences. So it is generally difficult to grow, harder to find than other sweeteners, and relatively expensive.

In addition, the sweetness of Luo Han Guo is at the back, and the sweetness stays in the mouth for a long time, which may be very uncomfortable for some people.

Mogroside, safety of intake

There is no set standard acceptable daily intake of mogroside (ADI) as insufficient research has been conducted.

However, it is estimated that a daily intake of approximately 6.8 mg/kg of body weight is safe.

Excessive intake is likely to cause gastrointestinal discomfort. So, does Mogroside, a sugar substitute, affect blood sugar? Is it ketogenic friendly?

Mogroside, does it increase sugar? Lose weight?

After the human body ingests mogroside, it does not participate in sugar metabolism, and the digestive system is not easy to absorb mogroside V. Most (about 80%) of mogroside ingested by the human body enter the blood, and are excreted through urine and feces, and a small part enters the large intestine, which is fermented and decomposed by the microbial flora and absorbed by the human body. Therefore, it generally does not cause drastic fluctuations in blood sugar.

The weight loss effect of mogroside

In 2012, a study found that mogroside, extracted from Luo Han Guo, inhibited diet-induced increases in body weight, abdominal and epididymal fat mass in obese mice.

The researchers extracted total Mogrosides, as well as Mogroside V and IV from Luo Han Guo, and tested the effect of this substance on pancreatic lipase in mice in vitro. Plasma cholesterol levels were assessed by supplementing the diet of mice with mogroside for 11 weeks, followed by oral administration of the lipid emulsion. It was found that total Mogrosides and Mogroside V and IV (600 μg/ml) had a good inhibitory effect on pancreatic lipase activity in mice in vitro.

Mogroside, inhibits pancreatic lipase activity.

In addition, mogroside inhibited the increase of liver weight, abdominal and epididymal fat weight in mice.

Effects of Mogroside on Diabetes and Insulin Resistance

In another study, researchers fed diabetic 7-week-old GK rats supplemented with 0.4% Monk fruit extract for 13 weeks to evaluate the effect of mogroside on diabetes. It was found that those rats whose diets were supplemented with Monk Fruit extract had significantly improved insulin resistance responses, lower blood sugar levels after glucose administration, less oxidative stress caused by diabetes, and lessened kidney damage. In addition, studies have found that Mogroside V has been shown to improve glucose metabolism, reduce liver damage, increase insulin sensitivity, and improve insulin resistance.

The researchers found that mogroside can regulate adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key protein molecule that regulates energy balance in the body. It consists of an α catalytic subunit and β and γ regulatory subunits and plays an important role in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism in vivo. While AMPK is strongly associated with body weight and type 2 diabetes, drugs targeting AMPK have been developed to treat metabolic disorders. Many hypoglycemic drugs also lower blood sugar levels by activating the AMPK pathway in the body, and mogroside can help activate the AMPK pathway. In turn, AMPK activation inhibits the expression of glucose phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase genes, thereby inhibiting the gluconeogenesis pathway and reducing blood glucose levels.

Therefore, mogroside, as a natural sugar substitute, is relatively healthy. 0 calories, no sugar, few side effects, friendly to sugar lovers, and anti-oxidative effect, it is a very good choice for sugar replacement.

 

The above is the detailed introduction of monk fruit extract that we bring to you today. If you like this post, please forward it to your friends.

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