Monk Fruit, also commonly called luo han guo or luo han kuo (from the Chinese luóhàn guǒ, 羅漢果, 罗汉果), la han qua (from Vietnamese la hán quả), arhat fruit, or Buddha fruit. It is the fruit of the vine Siraitia grosvenorii and is native to China. Botanical synonyms include Momordica grosvenorii and Thladiantha grosvenorii. It belongs to the cucurbitaceae family, also known as the gourd family.
The plant is cultivated for its extremely sweet fruit and serves as a natural sweetener as well as remedies in traditional Chinese medicine.
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The monk fruit is a small gourd-like fruit, spherical in shape measuring 5 to 8 cm and 4 to 6.5 cm in diameter. The surface is smooth, with yellow-brownish or green-brownish color containing striations from the fruit stem end of the furrows. It is covered by a hard but thin with fine hairs. The inside of the fruit contains an edible pulp, which, when dried, forms a thin, light brown brittle shell about 1 mm in thickness. The seeds are elongated and almost spherical. The monk fruit is notable for its intense sweetness, which can be concentrated from its juice. The fruit is 25 to 38% of various carbohydrates, mainly fructose and glucose. The sweetness of the fruit is composed of the mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides (saponins). There are five different mogrosides, numbered from I to V. The main ingredient is the mogroside V, which is also known under the name Esgoside.
The fruit also contains high amounts of vitamin C, and is remarkable for the low caloric content of its sweetening compounds.
The first record of the monk fruit appears during the 13th century in reference to its use by the monks of Guilin, according to the Chinese historical records. It was exceptionally uncommon and did not enter the general herb tradition of China due to its particularly growing conditions, which required shady, fog-shrouded slopes to protect the fruit from intense sunlight. The areas that could support the cultivation of the monk fruit primarily occurred in the mountain sides of Guangxi and Guangdong; and to a lesser extent, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Hainan Island. Knowledge of its cultivation was restricted to a select few monks who passed along the techniques for growing the fruit through generations, giving the fruit its name.
George Weidman Groff, a professor of agriculture in Guangzhou, created the first scientific documentation of the fruit in 1932. In August 1937, Groff embarked on an expedition to Guilin to study the monk fruit with financial backing provided by the National Geographic Society.
The first report on the herb in English was found in an unpublished manuscript written in 1938 by Professor G. W. Groff and Hoh Hin Cheung. The report noted that the fruits were effective as remedies for health conditions associated with high temperatures, such as heat stroke and fever. The paper also observed that “when cooked with pork or steeped with tea, (the luo han guo fruit) provides a common Chinese household remedy for colds and congestion of the lungs."
Through local verbal accounts, they established that it the fruit had only recently become widely used in China. However, the extensive knowledge that existed regarding its growth, pollination, and climatic requirements indicates a far reaching history of cultivation activity by a limited group of people.
The fruit has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a remedy for heat stroke, a treatment against lung ailments such as sore throats and congestion, as well as an aid to promote digestion. In China, it is believed to be an aid for longevity, due to its usage in regions that are recognized for their extraordinary number of citizens to reach 100 years and older. The fruit is also used in teas for the prevention or relief of coughs, headaches and detoxification.
There have been no recognized negative side effects of the monk fruit. It is classified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a GRAS(generally recognized as safe) product, and there are no restrictions on consuming the fruit or its extracts.