Luo Han Guo's 'Counter Attack' Road

Not long ago, Italy notified a batch of unqualified Luo Han Guo originating in my country through the European Union’s Rapid Early Warning System for Food and Feed (RASFF). The reason was not because of quality, but unauthorized. In fact, the EU Food Additives and Flavoring Agents Group (FAF) has just passed the positive safety opinions on Luo Han Guo as a sweetener drafted by the Food Additives Working Group. The next step will be to evaluate the scope and amount of use, which is expected in 2020 In the fourth quarter of this year, it will be used as a sweetener in the EU, and the development of Luo Han Guo in the EU market is within reach.

Momordica grosvenori is the fruit of perennial vines in the Cucurbitaceae family. It is a unique medicinal and edible plant in China. Its distribution in my country is relatively concentrated. Guangxi is its main production area. It has a history of more than 300 years of folk consumption in Guangxi. Luo Han Guo has high nutritional value, rich in vitamin C and glycosides, fructose, glucose, protein, lipids, etc. It is known as the "fairy fruit". However, the reason why Luo Han Guo is currently being valued is because of its high sweetness.

The sweetness of Momordica grosvenori mainly comes from the general term of glycosides called "cucurbitacin triterpene saponins", of which mogroside V is the main one, and its sweetness is about 300 times that of sucrose. The advantage of mogroside is that it not only does not produce heat, but also can reduce blood sugar and blood sugar. It is a new type of functional sweetener, which is widely popular in China, Japan, the United States and other places.


Excellent alternative raw material for sucrose

Luo Han Guo has a long edible history and has been used as a sweetener for decades, and its safety is relatively high. Studies have pointed out that Luo Han Guo has no effect on normal blood sugar, but has a preventive and preventive effect on hyperglycemia in alloxan diabetic mice, and presents a significant dose effect. At the same time, Luo Han Guo extract can reduce free fatty acids in serum, reduce the oxidative stress response in the development of diabetes, and prevent the occurrence of diabetic syndrome. Luo Han Guo is used as a sweetener, not only can reduce the intake of sucrose, but also can give food "hyperglycemic" function, is an excellent sucrose substitute raw material.


Output limitation is the bottleneck

Luo Han Guo, as a medicinal and edible substance, has a rich downstream product line. Different forms of dried fruit, extracts, granules, concentrated juice, and extracts can meet different processing needs. The export volume of Luo Han Guo is gradually increasing. However, due to the relatively concentrated cultivation of Luo Han Guo, more than 90% of my country's output comes from Guilin. Its total output is difficult to meet market demand, and the prices of extracts, glycosides and other products processed by it are relatively high. Although there is no competition in the international market for Luo Han Guo, high prices have always hindered market expansion.


Pressure from stevia

Under the global trend of sugar reduction, sugar substitute products are emerging one after another, among which stevia is undoubtedly the most popular product. Stevia is a glycoside extracted from the leaves of the Compositae plant Stevia. Its sweetness is about 300 times that of sucrose. Since there is no enzyme in the body that can hydrolyze the steviol glycosidic bond, it produces almost no heat. It is a very ideal sugar substitute raw material.


Luo Han Guo is currently positioned similarly to stevia, and its development is bound to be squeezed by stevia.

1. The application history of stevia is longer. my country is currently one of the main producers and exporters of bulk stevia. The use of stevia was approved in 1984, while it was used in food earlier in Japan and in the United States in 2008 Approved for use; in 2010, the World Food and Health Organization Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives JECFA designated 9 steviol glycosides to be used in food and beverages; in 2011, the European Union approved stevioside as a sweetener. Since then, more and more countries have allowed the use of stevia. Although my country is the main producing area of momordica grosvenori, its application is lagging behind. In 1995, the U.S. FDA approved mogroside to be applied to food, but my country only approved it as a food additive in the following year, and most countries have not yet approved it. Luo Han Guo is used as a sweetener.

2. The imbalance between supply and demand of Luo Han Guo is the main cause of high prices. Luo Han Guo has no advantage in price. Luo Han Guo has a slight advantage in flavor. The taste of stevia is slightly bitter and astringent, while the taste of Luo Han Guo is more pure. However, in application, we rarely see the use of a certain sugar alone, most of which are compounded Circumstances, therefore, the amount of stevioside in its own small amount does not show insufficient. At the same time, in order to solve the problem of slow release of sweetness and long retention time of mogroside, mogroside prepared by interacting with erythritol has gradually attracted attention. Its sweetness is about 3 to 5 times that of sucrose, but its taste It is more similar to sucrose.

Chinese medicine believes that Luo Han Guo has the effects of relieving cough and expectorating, cooling blood, and moistening the bowel. Modern studies have shown that Luo Han Guo or its extracts have physiological effects such as relieving cough and expectorant, anti-fatigue, anti-oxidation, reducing fat and losing weight, so Luo Han Guo can be seen in many medicines and health products.

It may be a bit of burying value if you only use Luo Han Guo as a sweetener. If you fully explore the functions of Luo Han Guo and link the sweetness and function, you can better empower Luo Han Guo, so that it can have sustainable development motivation.

In addition to the flavor output of mogroside, more and more studies in recent years have confirmed that it also has other functions besides reducing blood sugar, such as liver protection, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant functions, providing it as a functional sweetener More theoretical basis.

However, the current research on mogroside is far from enough. The cross point of the problem is about its metabolic pathway. Some studies have pointed out that mogroside is not stable under acidic conditions and is prone to glycosylation, isomerization, and hydroxylation. Degradation reactions such as chemical reaction are different from the metabolism of rats, which makes the current in vitro simulation and animal experiments have many questions.


Diversification of sweetener development and application

Mogroside is a kind of food additive regulated by our country, but its use as a sweetener is not limited to glycosides. According to statistics, a dried mangosteen fruit (calculated at 15 grams on average) contains natural sweetness components equivalent to the sweetness produced by a pound of white sugar, of which there are only a small amount of natural sugars such as glucose and fructose, which means that mangosteen is as sweet. Flavoring agents can take different forms.

Luo Han Guo juice, Luo Han Guo powder, Luo Han Guo extract, etc. can all be used in the food industry, and take different forms according to the characteristics of the product. For example, in the beverage industry, the use of Luo Han Guo juice can greatly reduce the consumption of sucrose and other sweeteners, making labels Cleaner and more natural products. It can be said that Luo Han Guo has embarked on a "counter-attack" road.