Purchasers guide to BioVittoria’s PureLo®, Luo han guo concentrate

 Known as; 

Latin name: Siraitia grosvenorii, Momordica grosvenorii

Common name: Luo Han Guo, Lohan Kuo, Monk’s fruit, Rakanka (Japan) 

What is Luo Han Guo?  

       Luo Han Guo is a fruit grown exclusively in the southern mountains of the Guangxi Province in China. Luo han guo is the fruit of the Chinese plant Siraitia grosvenorii, a perennial vine in the Cucurbitaceae (cucumber or melon) family. Luo Han fruits are sold and used both inside and outside the People's Republic of China as a sweetener for foods and beverages, as well as for use in Chinese traditional medicine. The fruit derives its intense sweetness from the triterpene components, known as mogrosides.  Luo Han Guo has been cultivated and utilized for hundreds of years in China. 

PureLo®,  BioVittoria’s Luo han guo concentrate is a proprietary ingredient.  

·         PureLo® is derived from fruit cultivated using BioVittoria’s patented plant varieties .

·         BioVittoria  has a patent pending on the processing method for PureLo®.

·         BioVittoria has a patent pending on the PureLo® product itself.  

Important issues to understand when purchasing a Luo Han Guo material: 

PureLo® is a truly natural, zero calorie, high intensity sweetener.

Taste is the key characteristic for utilizing Luo Han Guo in an application.  Before purchasing any Luo Han Guo material it is imperative to taste the “commercial” product, and not a “bench top” sample. If it has off flavors, you will have significant challenges when formulating.

Sweetness: Luo Han Guo’s sweetness comes from the Mogroside V molecule found naturally in the fruit. Mogroside V is the standard that BioVittoria uses for characterising PureLo®. It has been scientifically substantiated that sweetness intensity in Luo Han Guo extracts is directly proportional to Mogroside V content, and Mogroside V is the only mogroside for which there is an analytical standard. There is therefore an accurate HPLC protocol for testing which BioVittoria uses. Total Mogroside values are misleading as the UV-VIS testing protocol used significantly inflates the total mogrosides figure due to overlapping interference from other compounds.  Also, some of the mogrosides are not sweet at all.  Mogroside V is therefore the only useful measure.  The PureLo® Mogroside V specification is a true 41-46% Mogroside V.  Most other Luo Han products on the market are in the 25% or less range, and as with many products in the market, it is important to test your ingredients, as there are many products misrepresented. The higher the Mogroside V the sweeter the material, and the less you will need to use. PureLo®, because of these proprietary attributes, is a sweeter, cleaner tasting, and purer ingredient than its competition. These characteristics allow PureLo®, to be utilized in more applications, and because of the purity, at a lower cost. 

Supply:

BioVittoria controls the entire supply chain from seedling through to finished product. Through our relations with local and regional governments and the growers themselves, we have strict control of the quality and quantity of our raw material. We have batch traceability from orchard through to finished product. Below are key factors in this control;

• We produce our own seedlings for our patented plant varieties using proprietary tissue culturing methods.  These plants varieties are valuable because they are virus and drought resistant, grow well, and produce high Mogroside V content.
   
• BioVittoria has established the PureLo® Luo Han Association in cooperation with the Chinese government, regional universities, and growers from four different regions in the most productive Luo Han Guo growing areas of China. This cooperation ensures high quality training for growers, continued research, monitoring of the cultivation process, fosters good community involvement, and ensures a quality product.This Association is a key part of the agronomic model which supports a sustainable scaling up of fruit production.
   

• We have built state of the art controlled atmosphere storage facilities that allow for year long processing from fresh fruit, and we are the only company to do so.
   

• We will have operational for this current harvest a state of the art GMP processing facility using our proprietary technology which will have an initial  processing capacity of up to 100 tonnes of finished product.  We adhere to all FDA standards for processing and food contact agents.
   
• BioVittoria will guarantee your supply when you confirm your needs in a purchase agreement.

Product Control: 

BioVittoria takes the following steps to ensure our product is at all times carefully monitored and controlled during all aspects of processing. 

·         BioVittoria controls the production and cultivation of PureLo®, including batch traceability from farm through to final packaging.

·         PureLo® is produced from BioVittoria’s patented plant varieties which produce the highest quality fresh fruit, and are grown by our contracted farmers.

·         BioVittoria’s farmers adhere to strict Standard Operating Procedures for cultivation and harvesting.

·         We have an extensive team of farm advisers working with our farmers to ensure our Standard Operating Procedures are followed

·         Every batch of PureLo® is tested prior to packaging which further ensures there is no contamination or adulteration

·         Our production process is supervised by our own employees and uses only FDA approved processing aids

·         We are Kosher certified 

Freedom to Operate:  

Proctor and Gamble own certain use and process patents relating to Luo Han Guo.  BioVittoria has licensed these patents from P & G so that our customers have certainty as to their freedom to operate.

Regulatory: 

PureLo® is the only Luo Han Guo that is GRAS as a sweetener and as a flavor modifier.  In order to be GRAS, a supplier must be able to provide a signed GRAS declaration from an expert panel relating specifically to the material which the GRAS claim relates to.  GRAS findings are only applicable to the material considered by the panel, and only for the uses mentioned.  A GRAS finding for a low mogroside V content Luo Han juice will not for example apply to a high mogroside V content powder, unless the expert panel specifically addresses this.  Be sure the supplier has the expert panel declaration for the exact material you are considering using.  You must have GRAS status to incorporate Luo Han Guo as an ingredient into foods and beverages in the US.

Expertise: 

 Our team includes China’s most respected and knowledgeable authorities in the growing of Luo Han Guo. Dr. Lan Fusheng, a principal in BioVittoria, is China’s recognized expert in Luo Han Guo cultivation. Dr. Garth Smith, BioVittoria’s co-founder, recently received from the President of China the “Fellowship” award, the highest award given in China to foreign experts for his work in the Luo Han Guo industry. 

Other Initiatives: 

BioVittoria has created the PureLo® Foundation which sets aside a percentage of our fruit purchases each year to fund projects in support of the indigenous communities that grow for us. 

Summary: 

With PureLo® BioVittoria offers its customers: 

• The highest purity, best tasting, best value Luo Han Guo available
• Regulatory compliance
• Freedom to operate
• Security of supply
• Guaranteed quality standards

Product Characteristics

Appearance:  Very fine and uniform powder, off-white in color 

Taste:  Pure and clean sweet taste

Sweetness:  up to 200  times as sweet as table sugar [sucrose] 

Solubility:  100% soluble in water 

Heat Stability:   125 ° Celsius, no effect 

Moisture:  < 5.0% by analysis

PH:  6.5  

Shelf Life:  Three years at room temperature  

Safety Data: No known adverse reactions, traditional food, test results available  

FDA Status: GRAS as a food ingredient, sweetener and flavor modifier, Admitted to US as a "food" No restrictions.  

Applications: Non nutritive Sweetener and Flavor Enhancer. Use in flavors, foods, beverages, gums, baked goods, dietary supplements, powdered drinks, nutritional bars, and chocolates, etc. masks “off” tastes 

Basic nutritional benefits with references: Non-caloric, non-diabetogenic, non-cariogenic, non-nutritive. No known allergenic responses.  

Product Formats: pure 80 mesh powder available

Features and Benefits

The following series of photographs shows the development of Luo Han plants from the seedling stage, through fruiting, harvesting, and finally the extraction of the fruit, resulting in the production of PureLo® .

Click here for further information of the process

Tissue cultured Luo Han plants selected from proprietary mother plants. These superior mogroside producing Luo Han plants are protected by Plant Variety Rights owned by our subsidiary company in China.	Luo Han seedlings transplanted from tissue culture flasks prior to being planted in the field.
A typical Luo Han orchard growing our proprietary selected plants near PuLu township in northen Guangxi Province, China.	Luo Han plants with flowers and developing fruit in early spring. Typically all flowers are hand pollinated. Plants can remain productive for up to 8 years. Mature Luo Han fruit just prior to harvest in late autumn. (below)
Harvested Luo Han fruit  in late Autumn.	Cross section of Luo Han fruit showing the white flesh and large seeds which is a feature of this plant. Mogroside is found in the skin and flesh of the fruit.
The registered trademark of our Luo Han product.