Lo Han Guo (Siraitia grosvenorii), also known as Monk fruit or Buddha fruit, is a perennial vine related to the cucumber, melon, squash and gourd. The vine bears an exotic fruit that is yellow-brown or green-brown, round and smooth, with an edible pulp that can be eaten fresh. Used for centuries in China as a natural sweetener, the pulp can be juiced or processed and used as a sugar alternative.

Lo han guo’s extremely sweet taste is attributed to its high content of mogrosides, especially mogroside V. Mogrosides are a group of terpene glycosides known to be 250 times sweeter than sucrose, and are numbered I to V according to their level of sweetness, with mogroside V being the sweetest. Lo han guo is also rich in polyphenols like siraitiflavandiol, and contains vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, calcium and 18 amino acids.*