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Other Names : Siraitia grosvenorii, Momordica grosvenorii, Arhat fruit, Buddha fruit, monk fruit; luo han kuo, lo ho guo<br>Siraitia grosvenorii is a herbaceous perennial vine of the Cucurbitaceae (gourd) family, native to southern China and northern Thailand. The plant is valued mainly for its fruit which has also been known as the ‘longevity fruit’. The fruit has been used to cool drinks and in Chinese medicine. It is round and smooth and can be yellowish-brown or greenish brown in color. It contains a sweet, fleshy edible pulp. Useful Parts of the Plant: Fruit. The fruit extract is used as a sweetener, since this is known to be almost 300 times sweeter as compared to sugar. It has been used for centuries by the Chinese as a low calorie sweetener to treat obesity and diabetes. Luo Han Guo is usually dried before being used. This is due to the fact that the fresh fruit is difficult to store and ferments easily, developing a decomposed taste. They are dried slowly in ovens which helps to get rid of the unwanted smell and also help to preserve them. The drawback of this technique is that it may lead to the formation of bitter aromas. These aromas limit its use to the preparation of tea and as a sweetener. The process of manufacturing the sweetener includes removal of all the unwanted aromas to make the sweetener suitable for general applications. In this process, the immature fruit is harvested and left to mature in storage. Once the maturity process is completed, the shell and seeds are removed and the fruit is ground into a pulp. The pulped fruit is then made into a concentrate and solvents and other chemicals are used to remove the unwanted aromas.