The scientific species name honors Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor,who,as president of the National Geographic Society,helped to fund an expedition in the 1930s to find the living plant in China where it was already being cultivated.[3]
Etymology and regional names
Monkfruit was first mentioned in the records of 13th-century Chinese monks in Guangxi in the region of Guilin.[4] The difficulty of cultivation meant the fruit did not become part of the Chinese herbal tradition which depended on more readily available products.
Luóhàn (羅漢) is a shortened form of āluóhàn (Chinese:阿羅漢),which is an old transliteration of the Indian Sanskrit word arhat (prakrit:arahant). In early Buddhist traditions,a monk who becomes enlightened is called an arhat who attains the "fruition of arhatship" (Sanskrit:arhattaphala).[4] This was rendered in Chinese as luóhàn guǒ (羅漢果literally "arhat fruit") which later became the Chinese and western commercial designation for this type of sweet fruit.[5]
It may also be called la han qua (from Vietnamesela hán quả,which also means Arhat fruit),or longevity fruit (also used for other fruits).[5]
History and distribution
The first report in England on the herb was found in an unpublished manuscript written in 1938 by G. Weidman Groff and Hoh Hin Cheung.[4] The report stated the fruits were often used as the main ingredients of "cooling drinks" as remedies for hot weather,fever,or other dysfunctions traditionally associated with warmth or heat (e.g.,inflammation).[4]
The fruit was taken to the United States in the early 20th century. Groff mentioned that,during a visit to the American ministry of agriculture in 1917,the botanist Frederick Coville showed him a luo han guo fruit bought in a Chinese shop in Washington,DC. Seeds of the fruit,which had been bought in a Chinese shop in San Francisco,were entered into the botanic description of the species in 1941.[4]
The first research into the sweet component of luo han guo is attributed to C. H. Lee,who wrote an English report on it in 1975,and also to Tsunematsu Takemoto,who worked on it the early 1980s in Japan (later Takemoto decided to concentrate on the similar sweet plant,jiaogulan).
The development of luo han guo products in China has continued ever since,focusing in particular on the development of concentrated extracts.[4]
Description
The vine attains a length of 3 to 5 m,climbing over other plants by means of tendrils which twine around anything they touch. The narrow,heart-shaped leaves are 10–20cm long. The fruit is round,5–7cm in diameter,smooth,yellow-brownish or green-brownish in color,containing striations from the fruit stem end of the furrows with a hard but thin skin covered by fine hairs. The inside of the fruit contains an edible pulp,which,when dried,forms a thin,light brown,brittle shell about 1mm in thickness. The seeds are elongated and almost spherical.
The interior fruit is eaten fresh,and the rind is used to make tea.
The monk fruit is notable for its sweetness,which can be concentrated from its juice. The fruit contains 25 to 38% of various carbohydrates,mainly fructose and glucose. The sweetness of the fruit is increased by the mogrosides,a group of triterpene glycosides (saponins). The five different mogrosides are numbered from I to V;the main component is mogroside V,which is also known as esgoside.[4]
Mogroside biosynthesis
One analysis of 200 candidate genes of Siraitia grosvenorii revealed five enzyme families involved in the synthesis of mogroside V:squalene epoxidases,triterpenoidsynthases,epoxide hydrolases,cytochrome P450s,and UDP-glucosyltransferases.[2] The metabolic pathway for mogroside biosynthesis involves an initial stage of fruit development when squalene is metabolized to di-glucosylated,tetra-hydroxycucurbitadienols,then during fruit maturation,branched glucosyl groups are added and catalyzed,leading to the sweet M4,M5,and M6 mogrosides.[2]
Cultivation
Germination of seeds is slow and may take several months. It is grown primarily in the far southern Chinese province of Guangxi (mostly in the mountains near Guilin),as well as in Guangdong,Guizhou,Hunan,and Jiangxi.[4] These mountains lend the plants shade and often are surrounded by mists which protect the plants from the sun. Nonetheless,the climate in this southern province is warm. The plant is rarely found in the wild,so it has been cultivated for hundreds of years.[4]
Records as early as 1813 mention the cultivation of this plant in the Guangxi province. Most of the plantations are located in Yongfu County and Lingui County.
Longjiang Town in Yongfu County has acquired the name "home of the Chinese luohanguo fruit";a number of companies specialised in making luohanguo extracts and finished products have been set up in the area. The Yongfu Pharmaceutical Factory is the oldest of these.
Traditional processing
Dried Siraitia grosvenorii fruit cut open,with the seeds removed
Luohan guo is harvested in the form of a round,green fruit,which becomes brown on drying.[4] It is rarely used in its fresh form,as it is hard to store when fresh.
Thus,the fruits are usually dried before further use and are sold in this fashion in Chinese herbal shops. The fruits are dried slowly in ovens,preserving them and removing most of the unwanted aromas. However,this technique also leads to the formation of several bitter and astringent flavors. This limits the use of the dried fruits and extracts to the preparation of diluted tea,soup,and as a sweetener for products that would usually have sugar or honey added to them.[6]
In this process,the peel and seeds are removed,and the pulped fruit is made into a fruit concentrate or puree.[7] Additional juice may be extracted from the remaining pulp with hot water. The juice is homogenized,acidified slightly to prevent gelling and improve the flavor,then treated with pectinase or other enzymes to break down the pectin. Most of the off-flavor agents are then removed with ion-exchange resins,such as sulfonatedpolystyrene-divinylbenzene copolymer or polyacrylic acid. Alternatively,the off-flavors can be adsorbed by agents like charcoal or bentonite,which are removed by filtration;or precipitated with gelatin or other gelling agents. Most of the remaining sulfurous volatiles are then removed by low-pressureevaporation.[7] The juice is then pasteurized to inactivate remaining natural enzymes and kill micro-organisms. The process is claimed to preserve a substantial fraction of the mogrosides present in the fruit,[7] with the resulting sweetness at a level about 250 times stronger than sucrose.[2]
In Europe,it is classified as an unapproved Novel Food (not used in the food system before May 1997) which means that it may be marketed as a food or food ingredient only after a safety assessment and approval by the European Commission. In 2019,the EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF) was asked by the European Commission to provide its scientific opinion on the safety of Monk fruit extract as a food additive. The panel concluded that the current body of research was insufficient.[9] As of 2023,Siraitia grosvenorii was not listed among approved Novel Foods in the EU.[10][11]
Gelatin desserts are desserts made with a sweetened and flavoured processed collagen product (gelatin). This kind of dessert was first recorded as jelly by Hannah Glasse in her 18th-century book The Art of Cookery,appearing in a layer of trifle. Jelly is also featured in the best selling cookbooks of English food writers Eliza Acton and Isabella Beeton in the 19th century.
A liqueur is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits and additional flavorings such as sugar,fruits,herbs,and spices. Often served with or after dessert,they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond a resting period during production,when necessary,for their flavors to mingle.
A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners,making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms,such as small pills,powders,and packets.
Fennel is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy,perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized in many parts of the world,especially on dry soils near the sea coast and on riverbanks.
Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients;they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits,flowers,and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcoholic fermented beverage except beer. For historical reasons,mead,cider,and perry are also excluded from the definition of fruit wine.
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally,through sun drying,or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia,and is prized because of its sweet taste,nutritive value,and long shelf life.
Luohan is Chinese for arhat.
Siraitia is a genus of plants from the family Cucurbitaceae. The following species have been assigned to it,at various times:
Agave syrup,also known as maguey syrup or agave nectar,is a sweetener commercially produced from several species of agave,including Agave tequilana and Agave salmiana. Blue-agave syrup contains 56% fructose as a sugar providing sweetening properties.
A mogroside is a glycoside of cucurbitane derivatives found in certain plants,such as the fruit of the gourd vine Siraitia grosvenorii. Mogrosides are extracted from S. grosvenorii and used in the manufacture of sugar substitutes.
Yongfu County is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Guilin,Guangxi,China,located 55 km (34 mi) to the southwest of downtown Guilin. The county is mostly rural and hilly,marked by the same dramatic karst topography for which Guilin is famous.
Lingui District is the county seat and district administered by Guilin,Guangxi,China,and located midway between Guilin and Yangshuo. The district is mostly rural and hilly,marked by the same dramatic karst topography for which Guilin is famous. Tourist attractions include Snake World,Xiongsheng Tiger and Bear Village,and Crocodile Kingdom.
Lychee wine is a full-bodied Chinese dessert wine made of 100% lychee fruit. This wine has a golden colour and rich,sweet taste. It is usually served ice cold,either straight up or on the rocks with food. Lychee wine is believed to pair better with shellfish and Asian cuisine than with heavier meat dishes. This refreshing beverage can also be used as a cocktail mixer paired with other spirits.
Pineapple juice is a juice made from pressing the natural liquid out from the pulp of the pineapple. Numerous pineapple varieties may be used to manufacture commercial pineapple juice,the most common of which are Smooth Cayenne,Red Spanish,Queen,and Abacaxi. In manufacturing,pineapple juice is typically canned.
The juice vesicles,also known as citrus kernels,of a citrus fruit are the membranous content of the fruit's endocarp. The vesicles contain the juice of the fruit and appear shiny and sacklike. Vesicles come in two shapes:the superior and inferior,and these are distinct. Citrus fruit with more vesicles generally weighs more than those with fewer vesicles. Fruits with many segments,such as the grapefruit or pomelo,have more vesicles per segment than fruits with fewer segments,such as the kumquat and mandarin. Each vesicle in a segment in citrus fruits has approximately the same shape,size,and weight. About 5% of the weight of an average orange is made up of the membranes of the juice vesicles.
Siamenoside is a cucurbitane,a natural sweetener from the fruit of Siraitia grosvenorii combined with neomogroside. The mixture is about 300 times sweeter than sucrose. It is used as a natural sweetener in China.
Arihant,Arihanta,Arahant or Arhat may refer to:
The Eighteen Arhats are depicted in Chinese Buddhism as the original followers of Gautama Buddha (arhat) who have followed the Noble Eightfold Path and attained the four stages of enlightenment. They have reached the state of Nirvana and are free of worldly cravings. They are charged to protect the Buddhist faith and to wait on earth for the coming of Maitreya,an enlightened Buddha prophesied to arrive on earth many millennia after Gautama Buddha's death (parinirvana). In China,the eighteen arhats are also a popular subject in Buddhist art,such as the famous Chinese group of glazed pottery luohans from Yixian from about 1000 CE.
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