The Fruits of Siraitia grosvenorii: A Review of a Chinese Food-Medicine

Abstract

Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) C. Jeffrey, a member of the family Cucurbitaceae, is a unique economic and medicinal plant grown in China. For more than 300 years, S. grosvenorii has been used as a natural sweetener and as a traditional medicine for the treatment of pharyngitis, pharyngeal pain, as well as an anti-tussive remedy in China. It is one of the first approved medicine food homology species in China. It has been widely studied as a natural product with high development potential. Therefore, the present paper provides a review of the botanical characterization, traditional uses and ethnopharmacology, food and nutritional values, chemical constituents, pharmacological effects, toxicology, and development direction for the future of S. grosvenorii. Phytochemical studies have revealed that the chemical composition of this plant mainly includes iridoid and phenylpropanoid glycosides. Several compounds such as triterpenoids, flavonoids, and amino acids have been isolated from the plant. S. grosvenorii and its active constituents possess broad pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, hypoglycemic, immunologic, anti-tussive and sputum-reducing, hepatoprotective, and antimicrobial activities, etc. By documenting the comprehensive information of S. grosvenorii, we hope to establishes the groundwork for further research on the mechanism of action of S. grosvenorii and its development as a new health food in the future.

The Role of Oxidative Stress and Natural Antioxidants in Ovarian Aging

“…Mogroside V (MV) is the most abundant form of triterpenoid compound isolated from Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) C.Jeffrey ex A.M.Lu & Zhi Y.Zhang ( Liu H et al, 2018 ; Gong et al, 2019 ). Numerous studies have demonstrated that MV possesses broad pharmacological characteristics and properties, including antioxidant, anti-tussive, immunoregulatory, and anti-inflammatory effects ( Di et al, 2011 ; Itkin et al, 2016 ; Liu C et al, 2018 ).…”

Sugar Reduction in Dairy Food: An Overview with Flavoured Milk as an Example

“…Furthermore, this fruit has been used as a natural sweetener [ 206 ] and as a traditional medicine for the treatment of pharyngitis, pharyngeal pain, cough, cold, sore throat, constipation, and dire thirst in China [ 207 , 208 ]. Mogroside in monk fruit has shown beneficial health effects against diabetes, malignant tumor, and inflammation in animal models [ 209 , 210 ] and could be used as a low-calorie sweetener for diabetic patients [ 206 ].…”

Prediction of the sweetening effect of Siraitia grosvenorii (luo han guo) fruits by two-dimensional quantitative NMR

“…Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) C.Jeffrey ex A.M.Lu & Zhi Y.Zhang, also referred to as Momordica grosvenorii or Thladiantha grosvenorii, is a perennial vine of the Cucurbitaceae family (Pawar, Krynitsky, & Rader, 2016). Commonly known as "monk fruit" or "luo han guo", S. grosvenorii is native to the southern part of China, where it has been used as a food ingredient and herbal medicine for more than 300 years (Gong et al, 2019;Soejarto, Addo, & Kinghorn, 2019). S. grosvenorii is applied in typical ethnomedical treatments of ailments such as coughs, lung congestion, and sore throats and was one of the first food homology species approved for medical use in China (Gong et al, 2019).…”