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Introduction
Monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii) is an indigenous Chinese endemic plant which is commonly referred as “Luo Han Guo”. It is a member of Cucurbitaceae family and predominantly farmed in a Chinese province Guangxi for more than 200 years (Liu et al., 2016b). It is a perennial vine characterized by dark black-brown glandular scales, yellow to brown pubescence, robust branches and ovate to cordate leaf blades with fruits mainly oblong or globose having velvety brown to yellow color and enormous ovate yellow seeds (Chen et al., 2019) with fruiting season from July to late September (Wang et al., 2019). Chinese Health Ministry documented monk fruit as edible and medicinal species for its productive potential as an ethnomedical remedy for the common cold, sore throat, lung congestion and cough (Chun et al., 2014; Chen et al., 2019). It attained attention during 20th century when dried fruits were considered as functional ingredient of folk preparations including beverages such as tea and cooling drinks and pork-based recipes against common health disorders (Soejarto et al., 2019). Attributing to excellent phytochemical profile comprising of polyphenols, flavonoids, essential oils, triterpenoids and bioactive polysaccharides, monk fruit has been reported to play a pivotal role against several chronic complications (Chun et al., 2014).
The principal compounds in monk fruit contributing to sweetness are a group of compounds containing siamenoside I, 11-oxo-mogroside V and mogrosides IV, V and VI (Pandey and Chauhan, 2019). Interestingly, ripe fruits have remarkable sweetness attributing to mogroside V while unripe fruits which are visually indistinguishable from ripe fruits contain mogroside III and IIE that have bitter taste (Li et al., 2007a). Owing to high intensity sweetness, it has been suggested as a potent sugar alternate for diabetic and obese subjects as it was found to be 300 times sweeter than sucrose and thus contributed to reduced calorific value (Fang et al., 2017). It has now been given the status of GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) in the USA and thus observed a significant upsurge in the consumption pattern as a sugar-free food additive for industrial applications and table-top sweetener after Stevia rebaudiana (Çiçek et al., 2020).
Despite of confirmed pharmacological properties of monk fruit including anti-oxidant, anti-tissue damage,...