Monk Fruit

Botanical name

Siraitia grosvenorii

Other common names

Luo han, Luo han Guo, La han qua, Longevity fruit

What is The History of Monkl Fruit?

There are many legends and tales about the origins and uses of Monk Fruit. The most popular stories say that it originated in the fabled mountains of Guilin, in Guangxi Province, China. Monk fruit belongs to the Cucurbitaceae (gourd) family, along with pumpkin, squash, melons, and cucumbers.

Many legends tell of the fruit being named after the Buddhists Monks that first cultivated and used it back in the 13th century. It was prized for its sweetness and healing properties and was brewed into tonics to use to treat symptoms of congestion, inflammation, coughing, sore throat, reducing fever, and stomach ailments.

The botanical name honours Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, who was the president of the National Geographic Society in 1930’s and funded an expedition to China to find where the plant was being grown and cultivated. Research started on the medicinal properties, but it wasn’t until the 1980’s that research began to focus on the sweetness and longevity properties of the fruit. Amazingly, monk fruit is more than 200 times sweeter than sugar and has virtually zero calories making it ideal to sweeten food and drinks and suitable for diabetics to consume.

RECOGNISED TARGETS AND MECHANISMS OF ACTION

Laboratory studies of monk fruit (S. grosvenorii) have identified the presence and actions of a group of triterpene glycosides known as mogrosides. They have been found to provide powerful antioxidant activity and health benefits.

These mogrosides are numbered I-VI with mogroside V being the most abundant and the sweetest. The other bioactive mogrosides are mogrosides IA1 and IIE, mogroside IIIE, mogroside IVa, iso-mogroside V, 11-oxomogroside V, and siamenoside I.

SKIN ACTIVITY

• Slows down the transformation of normal cells into skin cancer cells by antagonising carcinogens providing a preventive effect against skin cancer. 

ANTI-CANCER ACTIVITY

• Inhibits excessive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which promotes tumour cell apoptosis, which in turn upregulates the expression of p21 and p27 and arrests cell development from the G1 phase to the S phase of the cell cycle. This leads to cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, thereby contributing to the inhibition of tumour cell proliferation.
• Down regulates antiapoptotic proteins B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-extra-large protein (Bcl-xl), which promotes tumour cell apoptosis (death).
• Increases transcriptional effects of MAPK signalling as indicated by strong suppression on TPA-induced activation of extracellular signal regulate kinase (ERK)1/2, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt.
• Found to be potent AMPK activators in the HepG2 cell line.
• Mogroside IVe shows suppressive activity towards colorectal and throat cancers and the underlying mechanisms of these cancers.

CARDIOVASCULAR ACTIVITY

• Mogroside V and VI extract prevents increases in body, abdominal, and epididymal fat weights.
• Studies show lowered serum total cholesterol and triglyceride content and improved high-density lipoprotein cholesterol content in diabetic mice, thereby normalising blood lipid levels.

DIABETES ACTIVITY

• Significantly stimulates the secretion of insulin in pancreatic beta cells.
• Has the capacity to inhibiting hyperglycaemia induced by diabetes.
• Administration of mogrosides may be helpful in the prevention of diabetic complications associated with oxidative stress and hyperlipidaemia.
• Prevents complications and attenuates pathological conditions for type 2 diabetes.
• Reduces the catabolic decomposition of protein for energy.
• Significantly decreases blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels.
• Improves fatigue by increasing liver and muscle glycogen contents.
• Decreases blood lactic acid. 

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY

• Significantly inhibits the release of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) and mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in murine macrophages.
• Possesses strong oxygen free radical scavenging activities.
• Leads to the reduction of TPA-induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NFκB) subunits.
• Causes phosphorylation of IκBα and p65, subsequently reducing IκBα degradation.

IMMUNE ACITVITY

• Promotes phagocytosis and T lymphocyte proliferation in immunosuppressed subjects.

ANTI-AGEING ACTIVITY

• Regulates adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
• Increases serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in diabetic hyperlipidemic mice and significantly reduces serum malondialdehyde levels.
• Stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis and promotes the remodelling of muscle tissue via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) gene activation.
• Increases AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and reduces glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity.

 

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA or TGA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease

Future Medicinal Chemistry VOL. 10. Pharmacological activities of mogrosides. Can Liu, Longhai Dai, Yueping Liu, Dequan Dou, Yuanxia Sun & Lanqing Ma. Published Online:12 Feb 2018 https://doi.org/10.4155/fmc-2017-0255

Mogrosides extract from Siraitia grosvenori scavenges free radicals in vitro and lowers oxidative stress, serum glucose, and lipid levels in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. April 2008 Nutrition Research 28(4):278-84 DOI:10.1016/j.nut res.2008.02.008. Source PubMed

Yao Xue Xue Bao. 2009 Nov;44(11):1252-7. Insulin secretion stimulating effects of mogroside V and fruit extract of luo han kuo (Siraitia grosvenori Swingle) fruit extract. Ying Zhou, Yan Zheng, Jeff Ebersole, Chi-fu Huang. College of Life Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.

HerbalGram Issue #103 Page 1-5. Luo Han Guo (Monk Fruit) Siraitia grosvenorii Family: Cucurbitaceae. By Gayle Engels and Josef Brinckmann.

Zhong Yao Cai. 2001 Nov;24(11):811-2. Regulation on the immunological effect of mogrosides in mice Q Wang 1, K Wang, S Dai, Y Yang, Y Chen, Z Mo. Guangxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530001.

LoS One. 2016 Sep 1;11(9): e0162252. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162252. eCollection 2016.

Mogrol Derived from Siraitia grosvenorii Mogrosides Suppresses 3T3-L1 Adipocyte Differentiation by Reducing cAMP-Response Element-Binding Protein Phosphorylation and Increasing AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Phosphorylation. Naoki Harada, Mikako Ishihara, Hiroko Horiuchi, Yuta Ito, Hiromitsu Tabata, Yasushi A Suzuki, Yoshihisa Nakano, Ryoichi Yamaji, Hiroshi Inui. PMID: 27583359 PMCID: PMC5008739 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162252

Ioorg Med Chem. 2011 Oct 1;19(19):5776-81. doi:10.1016/j.bmc.2011.08.030. Epub 2011 Aug 22. Potential AMPK activators of cucurbitane triterpenoids from Siraitia grosvenorii swingle. Xu-bing Chen, Jing-jing Zhuang, Jun-hua Liu, Min Lei, Lei Ma, Jing Chen, Xu Shen, Li-hong Hu. PMID: 21893415 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2011.08.030

Nutrients. 2016 Jun 13;8(6):360. doi: 10.3390/nu8060360. Antiproliferative Activity of Triterpene Glycoside Nutrient from Monk Fruit in Colorectal Cancer and Throat Cancer. Can Liu, Longhai Dai, Yueping Liu, Long Rong, Dequan Dou, Yuanxia Sun, Lanqing Ma. PMID: 27304964 PMCID: PMC4924201 DOI: 10.3390/nu8060360

Iran J Pharm Res. 2013 Winter; 12(1): 115–121. PMCID:PMC3813191 PMID:24250579 Effects of Siraitia grosvenorii Fruits Extracts on Physical Fatigue in Mice. Da-Duo Liu, Xue-Wu Ji, Rong-Wei Lib