Stevia vs Monkfruit

Monkfruit, the fruit of perennial vines in the Cucurbitaceae family, is known as the "fairy fruit". Its leaves are heart-shaped and dioecious. They bloom in summer and bear fruit in autumn. Mainly produced in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Monkfruit is a precious native product in Guilin, and one of the first batch of approved medicinal and food materials by the country. Its main effect is to relieve cough and reduce phlegm. The fruit has high nutritional value, rich in vitamin C (400 mg to 500 mg per 100 g of fresh fruit), glycosides, fructose, glucose, protein, lipids, etc.

Stevia (scientific name: Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Hemsl.) is a perennial herb of the Asteraceae family and the genus Stevia. It is native to the alpine grassland on the border of Paraguay and Brazil in South America. Since 1977, Beijing, Hebei, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Yunnan and other places in China have been introduced and cultivated. This species likes to grow in a warm and humid environment and is sensitive to light. The leaves contain 6-12% inulin glycosides. The fine product is white powder. It is a low-calorie, high-sweetness natural sweetener, and one of the raw materials for the food and pharmaceutical industry. The main ingredient in dried stevia leaves is steviol glycosides, which not only have high sweetness and low calories, but also have certain pharmacological effects. Stevia sugar mainly has the effects of treating diabetes, controlling blood sugar, lowering blood pressure, anti-tumor, anti-diarrhea, improving immunity, promoting metabolism, etc. It has a good effect on controlling obesity, regulating gastric acid, and restoring nerve fatigue. Children's dental caries also have significant effects, and the most important thing is that it can eliminate the side effects of sucrose.

Although these two plants can replace sucrose and are widely used in the fields of food and medicine and health products, there are also certain differences between them.

Monkfruit is currently the best natural sweetener on the market, but due to the harsh planting conditions, the yield is not large, the price is high, and the cost is high, so it has not been put into use in large quantities. In contrast, stevia has high yield and low cost, and it is more widely used commercially.

In terms of efficacy, both do not participate in human metabolism, do not cause blood sugar rise, are not used by bacteria, and do not cause dental caries.

As far as practicality is concerned, Monkfruit sugar can be directly used in daily meals, but stevia is too sweet and has bitterness afterwards, so it is not suitable for direct consumption.