Sweet Sensation Luo Han Guo Fruit Syrup
Sweet Sensation is made from the whole fruit of Luo Han Guo, which is approximately two to three inches in diameter and grows on a vine with tendrils. Its fleshy, but edible pulp contains numerous seeds, which make it less palatable to eat. Traditionally, the harvested fruit is dried and then crushed into a powder or steeped in a tea for use as a sweetener or for medicinal benefits. Though the word, “guo” in Chinese means fruit, technically Luo Han is a cousin of the cucumber.

Production
Today, Luo Han Guo plants are so treasured that they are started in vitro in a growing facility in Guilin, China, the heart of Luo Han Guo country. When the little seedlings develop leaves, they are transferred outside. Here the plants thrive in the warm, mist-covered mountain region of Guilin. The fruit eventually hang from netting designed to support and protect the growing vines. Once the greenish-yellow fruit covered with fine hairs is harvested, it then is dried. Its thin, hard shell protects the soft fruit inside which consists mostly of a large quantity of seeds, all of which are very sweet. The Luo Han Guo then is readied for extraction processing and syrup production.

The Guilin area was a historic retreat for Buddhist monks for hundreds of years. Monks came here to the mountain region to meditate and achieve enlightenment. They also discovered and wrote about the small, gourd-like fruit with its intensely sweet taste. Mention of Luo Han Guo can be found in the manuscripts of these monks dating from the 13th century.

It was not until the 20th century, however, that Luo Han Guo became more recognized when Professor G.W. Groff, an American associated with Lingnan University in Canton, China, discovered that "lo han kuo" was used throughout southeastern China for remedies of colds, sore throats and other gastrointestinal ailments. Professor Groff identified the Luo Han Guo botanically as Siratia grosvenorii, a single species in the gourd family.

What Makes Luo Han Guo Sweet, Low Calorie and Diabetic Friendly?
The Luo Han Guo fruit produces an extract that is composed of unique substances called mogrosides. These substances are 300 times sweeter than sucrose, fructose or glucose. However, the sweet taste is not derived from sugar. These mogrosides are a group of triterpene-glycosides that make up approximately one percent of the flesh and seeds of the fruit supplying the sweet taste.

Through extraction, mogrosides can be isolated in a powder form containing about 80 percent mogrosides. Five different mogrosides have been identified and numbered from one to five. The primary mogroside is mogroside-5, which is one of the sweetest. Neway uses entire fruit – similar to Chinese tradition – to offer the best taste and retain Luo Han Guo’s full healing benefits.

The body handles mogrosides differently from sugar carbohydrates. Insulin levels do not rise in response to their consumption. Since they are not broken apart to produce energy, they are not absorbed, and do not add weight, despite their sweet taste. Low in calories, LHG also is diabetic friendly. That is why Neway’s Sweet Sensation is a great natural sweetener for beverages and food.

Currently, there are no reported incidents of negative side effects of Luo Han Guo that are known. It is considered a conventional fruit by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There are no restrictions on consuming the fruit or its whole fruit extracts.