Layn “adopts” monk fruit under American Botanical Council program

16 Oct 2017 --- Layn, a natural ingredients company headquartered in Shanghai, China, has adopted monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii) through the American Botanical Council’s (ABC’s) Adopt-an-Herb Program. Through its adoption, Layn says it helps ABC expand its nonprofit educational mission and keep its unique HerbMedPro database updated with the latest scientific and clinical research on monk fruit.

HerbMedPro is a comprehensive, interactive online database that provides access to important scientific and clinical research data on the uses and health effects of approximately 250 medicinal and aromatic plants, the ABC press release notes. Another recent example of a herb being adopted by a company was Jiaherb’s adoption of rhodiola.

“Important botanical”
Monk fruit, or luo han guo in Chinese, is a perennial vine in the Cucurbitaceae (gourd) botanical family that is grown primarily in the autonomous region of Guangxi in southern China, mostly in the mountains near the city of Guilin. The plant is prized for its fruits, which are used for medicinal purposes and contain compounds used as natural, low-calorie sweetening agents.

“We are honored to adopt monk fruit through the Adopt-an-Herb Program,” says Shaun Richmond, vice president of Layn USA, which is based in Newport Beach, California. “We look forward to working with ABC to help advance the research and provide more education about this important botanical.”

“Monk fruit has been used for centuries both for its sweet flavor and for its medicinal properties,” Richmond continues. “We are excited to help bring more information to light about its unique compounds, applications, benefits, and sustainable agricultural practices.”

“At a time when consumers are seeking safe, natural, non-caloric sweeteners, monk fruit has entered the market as an additional option to help satisfy the large public demand,” ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal says.

“ABC is grateful to Layn for its adoption of monk fruit on ABC’s HerbMedPro database,” adds Blumenthal. “Layn’s adoption provides the funding to help ABC keep up with the published scientific literature, thereby helping to make the science on this botanical more readily available to researchers and the public.”

Monk fruit has been noted as a natural sweetener on the move for some time. For example, a study of sweeteners last year showed that the body reacts to monk fruit in the same way as sugar, stating that in the end, it had the same effect in terms of overall energy intake and the levels of glucose and insulin in the blood.