The growing demand for natural, low-calorie sweeteners has driven innovation in the food and beverage industry. Consumers increasingly seek alternatives to sugar that not only reduce caloric intake but also provide functional health benefits. Among these, monk fruit extract has emerged as a leading choice due to its clean sweetness, stability, and promising bioactive properties.
Monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii), also known as Luo Han Guo, is a small melon native to southern China. Its intense sweetness comes from mogrosides, cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides that are up to 300 times sweeter than sucrose¹. Rich in bioactive and nutritional compounds, monk fruit extract is heat-stable, acid-resistant, and delivers a clean taste with minimal aftertaste, making it ideal for applications such as baked goods, beverages, and dairy alternatives.
Beyond sweetness, monk fruit offers functional benefits. Research has shown that it possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, respiratory modulation, metabolic modulation, antitumor, and neuroprotective, and gastrointestinal function modulation properties2. Additionally, mogrosides in monk fruit have been clinically shown to help regulate blood sugar levels, making them promising for pharmaceutical and functional food applications3.
While monk fruit extract offers significant functional and health benefits, its use in food and beverage products must comply with local regulations. The table below summarises the permissibility and
