Monkfruit

Monkfruit
	Monkfruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Siraitia
Species:	S. grosvenorii
Binomial name
	Siraitia grosvenorii;
Synonyms
	Momordica grosvenorii

The monkfruit, or luohan guo (Siraitia grosvenorii) is a herbaceous plant from the gourd family. It is native to southern China and northern Thailand. The plant is used to get something called mogroside, which is sweeter than table sugar.^[2] It has been used as a low-calorie sweetener for drinks and in traditional Chinese medicine.

Overview

The plant is a vine which is about 3-5m long. The narrow, heart-shaped leaves are 10–20 cm long. The fruit is round, 5–7 cm in diameter, smooth, yellow-brownish or green-brownish in color.

The fleshy inside of the fruit is eaten, and the rind is used for making tea. The fruit is mostly known for being very sweet.^[3]

References

↑ "The Plant List".
↑ Itkin, M.; Davidovich-Rikanati, R.; Cohen, S.; Portnoy, V.; Doron-Faigenboim, A.; Oren, E.; Freilich, S.; Tzuri, G.; Baranes, N.; Shen, S.; Petreikov, M.; Sertchook, R.; Ben-Dor, S.; Gottlieb, H.; Hernandez, A.; Nelson, D. R.; Paris, H. S.; Tadmor, Y.; Burger, Y.; Lewinsohn, E.; Katzir, N.; Schaffer, A. (2016). "The biosynthetic pathway of the nonsugar, high-intensity sweetener mogroside V from Siraitia grosvenorii". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113 (47): E7619–E7628. doi:10.1073/pnas.1604828113. PMC 5127336. PMID 27821754.
↑ "Luo Han Guo: Sweet fruit used as sugar substitute and medicinal herb". www.itmonline.org. Retrieved 2021-08-19.

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[1] "The Plant List".

[itkin-2] Itkin, M.; Davidovich-Rikanati, R.; Cohen, S.; Portnoy, V.; Doron-Faigenboim, A.; Oren, E.; Freilich, S.; Tzuri, G.; Baranes, N.; Shen, S.; Petreikov, M.; Sertchook, R.; Ben-Dor, S.; Gottlieb, H.; Hernandez, A.; Nelson, D. R.; Paris, H. S.; Tadmor, Y.; Burger, Y.; Lewinsohn, E.; Katzir, N.; Schaffer, A. (2016). "The biosynthetic pathway of the nonsugar, high-intensity sweetener mogroside V from Siraitia grosvenorii". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113 (47): E7619–E7628. doi:10.1073/pnas.1604828113. PMC 5127336. PMID 27821754.

[3] "Luo Han Guo: Sweet fruit used as sugar substitute and medicinal herb". www.itmonline.org. Retrieved 2021-08-19.

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