Luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenorii)
Luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenorii syn. Momordica grosvenorii and Thladiantha grosvenorii) is a herbaceous perennial vine in the family Cucurbitaceae, native to southern China and Northern Thailand. It is also known as arhat fruit, Buddha fruit, monk's fruit and longevity fruit. The species is named after the father of photojournalism, Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (October 28, 1875 – February 4, 1966). Siraitia grosvenorii is grown primarily in China, mostly in Guilin of Guangxi province, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan, and Jiangxi. Luo han guo is reputed to aid longevity. Siraitia grosvenorii is a trailing vine, growing 3-5 m long with tendrils that twine around supports. The leaves are heart-shaped and entire, 10-20 cm long. The round fruit is 5-7 cm diameter, smooth, green, with a hard but thin skin which is covered by fine hairs. Luo han guo is collected as a round green fruit that turns brown on drying. The fruits are slow-dried in oven to preserve and removed unwanted aromas. Luo han guo is often sold in dried form. The fruit contains sweet, edible pulps and numerous seeds, which is used for making cooling drinks and in traditional Chinese medicine. The fruit extract is almost 300 times sweeter than sugar. In China, luo han guo extract is used as a natural low-calorie sweetener to treat diabetes and obesity. It is often used to treat heat stroke, sore throat, congestion of the lungs, chronic cough and constipation. The sweet taste of the fruit comes primarily from mogrosides, a group of terpene glycosides, present about 1% of the flesh of the fresh fruit.  Luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenorii) Author: KasugaHuang (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) | ||
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