Definition:

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SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucoside Health Benefits:

SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucosides (Mogrosides) are a class of natural triterpene sweetener extracted from the monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii), which belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. The term 'mogroside' refers to glycoside compounds formed by the linkage of monk fruit alcohol with glucose via a glycosidic bond. They are characterised by their high sweetness and zero calories, typically being 150-300 times sweeter than sucrose. As they do not participate in human energy metabolism, they yield virtually no calories upon ingestion, making them an excellent natural alternative to traditional sweeteners such as sucrose.

■ Source

SWEETEST®Mogrosides are found only in the monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii), a perennial vine endemic to China that exhibits distinct regional distribution characteristics. The plant grows as a climber with slender stems and heart-shaped or ovate leaves with irregular serrations along the edges. Its fruit is spherical or oval and turns reddish-brown when ripe. The rind is thin and downy, and the spongy pulp is rich in glycoside compounds. These sweet-tasting glycosides are concentrated primarily in the fruit's pulp and rind, making up 1-5% of its dry weight. The fruit contains over ten types of sweet glycoside, with Mogroside V being the core component. It constitutes the highest proportion of total glycosides at approximately 40-60%, and has a sweetness 250-300 times that of sucrose, offering a pure taste devoid of bitterness or aftertaste. This makes it the primary contributor to sweetness. Mogroside IV is the second most abundant compound, accounting for 10-20% of total glycosides and possessing a sweetness 150-200 times greater than that of sucrose. Its taste profile is slightly inferior to mogroside V, exhibiting a mild herbal note. Other minor components, such as mogrosides III, VI and VII, are present in lower concentrations and contribute less to the overall sweetness, but they can influence the product's flavour nuances. monk fruit cultivation demands stringent climatic and soil conditions. It thrives in mountainous regions at altitudes of 300-1,200 metres, characterised by warm, humid environments and significant diurnal temperature variations. The primary production area is Guilin City (including Yongfu County and Lingui District) in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. The unique karst topography and climatic conditions of this region result in monk fruit with a high sweetener content and superior quality, accounting for over 90% of global production. Small-scale cultivation also occurs in provinces such as Hunan, Guangdong and Guizhou, but neither the quantity nor the quality matches that of the main production area in Guangxi.

Particularities of SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucoside:

Product Specifications:

SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucoside is available in the following specification and contents, some products organic available:

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☑ SWEETEST®Monk fruit powder MV 95%/90%/75%/70%/65%/60%/55%

Product quality standards:

● GB 1886.77, Food grade, In-house

▶ Weight management

▶ Blood sugar stabilisation

SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucoside Applications:

SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucosides have achieved widespread application across food, dietary supplements, and multiple cross-industry sectors thanks to their core advantages of zero calories, no impact on blood sugar, natural safety, and high sweetness. Furthermore, technological advancements and evolving consumer demands continue to expand their application scenarios.

In the food sector, monk fruit glycosides are a natural solution for reducing sugar levels in all product categories. Within the beverage sector, they are the key ingredient for creating sugar-free products. Certain carbonated drinks use a blend of monk fruit glycosides and aspartame to achieve zero calories and mask the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners with the pure flavour profile of glycoside V. In tea and coffee beverages, monk fruit glycosides reduce bitterness and eliminate sugar intake. For functional drinks and fruit and vegetable juices, their non-glycaemic properties make them suitable for athletes and diabetics. In baking and confectionery, they surpass the flavour and caloric limitations of traditional sugar. Sugar-free baking: Replacing sucrose with monk fruit glycosides reduces the calorie content by 35-40% per 100 g of product. Adding konjac gum improves texture by preventing the dryness that can be caused by reducing the amount of sugar. Premium confectionery and chocolates use a blend of monk fruit glycosides and inulin to reduce sugar content while increasing dietary fibre. Their low-calorie and cavity-preventing properties make them a popular choice among parents for children's gummy products. As key ingredients in health-conscious upgrades to dairy products and condiments, monk fruit glycosides are added to yoghurts and cheeses to mask acidity. This reduces the calorie content by 20%-25% per 100 g without compromising probiotic activity. Bright Dairy's 'Rushih' sugar-free yoghurt combines monk fruit extract with fructooligosaccharides to improve taste while promoting gut health.

In the dietary supplement industry, monk fruit glycosides have evolved from flavour enhancers to multifunctional ingredients. They are an essential choice for improving the taste of vitamin and mineral supplements. In tablets and capsules, they are typically used at concentrations of 0.05-0.1% to mask the bitterness and metallic taste of components such as B vitamins and iron. In liquid supplements, they are blended with natural fruit flavourings to mask the fishy odour of fish oil and the astringent taste of calcium preparations, thereby enhancing consumer compliance, particularly among children and the elderly. Functional supplements offer additional health benefits: in supplements for managing blood glucose, for example, monk fruit glycosides work together with dietary fibre and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to reduce postprandial blood glucose fluctuations while providing sweetness. Clinical studies indicate that 12 weeks of daily supplementation with monk fruit glycosides reduces glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels by 0.4%-0.6% in patients with type 2 diabetes. In gut health supplements, monk fruit glycosides combined with galacto-oligosaccharides act as both a sweetener and a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut and improving the effectiveness of the formulation. In weight management supplements, monk fruit glycosides replace traditional sweeteners, reducing calorie intake without affecting the absorption and utilisation of protein, thereby meeting the nutritional needs of fitness enthusiasts. In foods for special medical purposes, they combine regulatory compliance with functionality. Within renal disease-specific foods, they replace some carbohydrates, controlling calories while avoiding an increased metabolic burden on the kidneys, thus aligning with the International Society of Nephrology's Nutrition and Metabolism (KDIGO) dietary guidelines.

Furthermore, monk fruit glycosides are favoured as a natural anti-caries ingredient in oral care products, as a flavour-masking agent in pharmaceuticals, as a sustainable ingredient in pet food and animal feed, and as an innovative addition to cosmetics.

SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucosides are triterpene glycosides. The human body lacks the specific enzymes required to break down their glycosidic bonds. Following ingestion, they are barely digested or absorbed, providing negligible calories (≤0.5 kcal per gram of monk fruit glycoside, which is substantially lower than the 4 kcal per gram provided by sucrose). It is primarily excreted in the faeces and urine and does not participate in human energy metabolism. As a natural sucrose substitute, monk fruit glycosides significantly reduce total dietary calorie intake. For example, replacing sucrose with monk fruit glycosides in a 500 ml sugary drink reduces calorie intake by around 200 kcal. Long-term use may therefore help to lower the risk of obesity and align with dietary requirements for weight management.

SWEETEST®Grosvenor momordica glucosides are not absorbed into the bloodstream via the intestines. Consumption does not elevate blood glucose levels or stimulate insulin secretion. They have no significant impact on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), meeting the core requirements for low GI foods. Diabetics can use it as a daily sweetener to avoid the sharp blood glucose fluctuations caused by conventional sugars, while improving their dietary experience without compromising the efficacy of hypoglycaemic medication.

Individuals with elevated blood glucose levels can use it to help control their sugar intake, reduce the risk of insulin resistance and maintain stable blood glucose levels. Healthy individuals can reduce the short-term impact of refined sugar on blood glucose levels and lower their long-term risk of developing metabolic diseases. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have all confirmed that, within the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) limit of 10 mg/kg body weight, monk fruit glycosides have no adverse effect on blood glucose control in diabetic patients, and their safety is recognised globally.

▶ Oral health

Cariogenic bacteria in the oral cavity, such as Streptococcus mutans, cannot utilise Grosvenor momordica glucosides as an energy source. This means they fail to produce the acidic substances that erode tooth enamel. At the same time, its sweetening properties can replace sucrose, reducing the substrate for the proliferation of these bacteria and thereby lowering the incidence of dental caries at its source. Extracted from the Chinese monk fruit, monk fruit is classified as a dual-use food-medicine ingredient with a history of consumption in China spanning centuries. This avoids the potential safety concerns associated with synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose, making monk fruit glycosides suitable for populations with heightened safety requirements, including children and pregnant women. Multiple long-term toxicological studies confirm that monk fruit glycosides exhibit no carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic properties and have no adverse effect on liver or kidney function. Authorities, including the EFSA, have identified no health risks associated with prolonged consumption, making monk fruit glycosides suitable for daily use by all demographic groups.

■ Physical and chemical properties

SWEETEST®Mogrosides are white, odourless, crystalline or amorphous powders with an extremely sweet taste. They dissolve readily in water (approximately 20 g/L at 20°C) and other polar solvents such as ethanol and methanol, yet are poorly soluble in non-polar solvents such as diethyl ether and petroleum ether. They are neutral in aqueous solutions. They are exceptionally stable under acidic (pH 2-7) and neutral conditions, retaining their sweetness properties even when heated above 100°C (e.g. boiling or baking) without significant decomposition. Under strongly alkaline conditions (pH>10), however, glycosidic bonds may undergo hydrolysis, leading to reduced sweetness. monk fruit glycosides possess high sweetness intensity, providing a prolonged sweet sensation. Its sweetness onset is slower than that of sucrose, but the sensation lasts longer. Blending with sucrose optimises the sweetness curve and enhances flavour harmony. All monk fruit glycosides utilise monk fruit alcohol (a tetraterpenoid compound) as the aglycone, with varying numbers of glucose units (1-5) forming glycosidic bonds at the C3 and C24 positions. For example, Mogroside V has a molecular structure featuring two glucose units bonded to the C3 position and three glucose units bonded to the C24 position. These glycosidic bonds resist breakdown at conventional food processing temperatures (≤121°C) and retain over 95% of their sweetness after high-temperature sterilisation. This makes them suitable for a variety of food processing techniques. The human body lacks the specific enzymes required to break down monk fruit glycosides. Following ingestion, they are scarcely digested or absorbed and are primarily excreted via faeces and urine. They do not participate in blood glucose regulation or contribute calories, thus meeting the criteria for low GI foods.

■ Production technology characteristics

The industrial production of SWEETEST®Mogrosides uses ripe monk fruit as the raw material. The core processes are pre-treatment, extraction, purification, concentration, drying and refinement. After harvesting, the fruit is manually sorted to remove specimens that are rotten, insect-damaged or unripe, and then washed with clean water to eliminate surface impurities such as silt and fuzz. The cleaned fruit is cut into two to four segments and hot-air dried at 60-70°C until the moisture content falls below 12%, thus avoiding the high temperatures that would degrade the glycoside components.

The dried segments are then pulverised to a 20-40 mesh size to increase the surface area and enhance the efficiency of subsequent extractions. Extraction methods include the traditional hot water extraction technique, which uses hot water as the solvent. The crushed material is mixed with water at a weight ratio of 1:15 to 1:25, stirred, and extracted at 70-90°C. This leverages the polar solubility of glycosides in hot water. Due to its low cost and straightforward operation, this remains the predominant extraction method in the industry. Some enterprises use ultrasonic or microwave-assisted extraction to enhance extraction efficiency and reduce processing time. These methods can reduce extraction time by half to a third compared to the traditional approach, while minimising glycoside loss. For the production of high-purity products, solvent extraction uses 40% to 60% ethanol solutions as extractants at 50°C to 60°C. This method more efficiently separates glycosides from water-soluble impurities; however, subsequent solvent recovery steps increase the cost. The resulting extract contains impurities such as polysaccharides, proteins, pectin and pigments, necessitating multi-step purification to enhance glycoside purity. The purified eluate is then concentrated to remove the ethanol and water, yielding a concentrate containing 40-60% solids, thereby avoiding glycoside degradation caused by high temperatures. The concentrate can be spray-dried to produce a powdered product, or freeze-dried to preserve more active components. To meet premium market demands for high-purity steviol glycoside V, further refinement is required. This can be achieved using silica gel column chromatography or preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which separate and purify standard steviol glycoside products and enrich high-quality components such as steviol glycoside V, achieving a purity exceeding 90% and a glycyrrhizin V content surpassing 80%. It has a pure taste, free from off-flavours, making it suitable for use in food, beverages and pharmaceutical products where stringent flavour requirements apply.

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