Features of LHG SweetNatural

• Reliable Source.
  • The Luo Han Guo Fruits are from the GAP (Good Agriculture Practice) farms

• Freshness and good taste
  • Only carefully picked, fresh Luo Han Guo Fruits are used for extraction
  • An innovative process is employed for separation, filtration and purification at low temperature, and the off-flavours removed.
  • LHG SweetNatural retains the fresh flavour of the fruit.

• High Solubility: Completely soluble in cool water without sediments
• Solvent Residue-Free: The fresh fruits are extracted with only pure water.

Luo Han Guo (LHG) is the sweet fruit of the plant Momordica grosvenorii Swingle, a vine which grows in certain regions of China – South China, mostly in Guangxi and Hunan. The sweet character of the LHG fruit arises from the presence of extremely sweet terpene glycoside noncaloric compounds (called Mogrosides), which are natural components of the fruit.

Traditional UseThe LHG fruit has a long history of use in China and South East Asia as a food, beverage and a traditional medicine for more than 300 years. According to The Encyclopaedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Jiangsu New Medical College, 1977), the fruits were reported as frequently used as the main ingredient in “cooling drinks” or “cooling tea”, and these drinks have been used as a common household treatment for colds, sore throats and congestion of the lungs. The Chinese Book Fruits as Medicines (Dai and Liu, 1986) reports that the fruits are used for heart stroke with thirst, acute and chronic throat inflammation, aphonia, chronic cough, constipation in the aged and as a sugar substitute for diabetics.

Current Use – Natural Sweetener and Food Additives
While the LHG fruit has been consumed for many years, it was not until recently that a process was developed to allow production of a stable, good tasting LHG fruit juice concentrate and Powder extracts. Botaniex’s process removes many of the off-flavors that may be found in fresh LHG fruit, such as earthy, beany, vegetable and/or bitter flavor notes. As a result, a LHG concentrate is produced that can be readily incorporated into a broad range of food and beverage products, and the powder extracts can be used as flavour enhancement and/or food additives. It is an ideal substitute of artificial sweeteners and other herbal sweeteners because of its intense sweetness but low caloric content.Luohanguo is collected as a round green fruit that turns brown upon drying. The sweet taste of Luohanguo comes primarily from Mogrosides, a group of terpene glycosides, present at the level of about 1% of the fleshy part of the fruit. Both the fresh and dried fruits are extracted to yield a powder that is 80% or more Mogrosides. The Mogrosides have been numbered, I-V, and the main component is called Mogroside V, previously known as esgoside (see chemical structure diagram below). Other, similar compounds from Luohanguo have been labelled siamenoside and neomogroside. The mixed Mogrosides are estimated to be about 300 times as sweet as sugar by weight, so that 80% Mogrosides of the extracts are nearly 250 times sweeter than sugar. The pure Mogrosides IV and V may be 400 times as sweet as sugar by weight.

Safety

• Luo Han Guo is safe and used as food/beverages and medicine in China for over 300 years. No side effects are found.
• It was introduced in the US in the 1900’s, and the US FDA considers the fruit and its extract a food.
• LD 50 (lethal dose that reduces the test population by 50%) testing on mice using a freeze-dried extracts – Mogroside was greater than 10 g/kg, and no death is found.
• Using the maximum concentration (60%) and maximum volume (0.4 ml/ log wt) poured the solution (equivalent to 24 g/ kg body weight) down the throat, and observed the activity of the animal and found no fatalities. The animals were under observation for two weeks after the dosage and there was no abnormal behavior and no fatalities observed.

Luo Han Guo Features & Benefits

• Intense sweet but non- caloric
• Weight loss
• Low glycemic index.
• Anti-inflammation
• Safe and No side effects
• Immune enhancement
• Fully water-soluble
• Anti-oxidant
• Heat and PH stable
• Anti-cancer
• Anti-diabetic

Selling Proposition

• Consumers are concerned about obesity and some are even blaming beverages such as those containing high fructose corn syrup as one of the key causes of obesity in America.
• Many consumers view artificial sweeteners as unhealthy and poor tasting.
• Consumers want to be able to enjoy the same sweet taste intensity, with less calorie content.

Luo Han Guo Extracts allow formulators to produce a good tasting, all natural, food or beverage products without artificial sweeteners, containing less sugar and fewer calories to meet the needs of a large segment of health conscious consumers.