What is Luo Han Guo
Guilin, a scenic area with steep mountains layered one after another, is a tourist city located in the northeast of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
Located about 1900km from Beijing, the capital of China (a distance comparable to "Tokyo to Taipei"), blessed with clean air and water free from air pollution, it spreads over a karst plateau 200 meters above sea level with a landscape like an ink painting, and is recognized as "one of the most beautiful cities in the world."
About Luo Han Guo
Luo Han Guo is a perennial vine herb of the gourd family native to Guilin, cultivated by making trellises like grapes.
Growing in a harsh environment with large temperature differences between day and night and strong ultraviolet rays, it absorbs nutrients from mineral-rich soil and accumulates various substances in its fruit. During the Qing Dynasty, it was discovered as a herbal medicine ingredient by the physician "Luo Han" and has been cherished by the people of Guilin ever since.
The fruit is almost spherical with a diameter of about 4 to 6 cm, and is dark green. It has a strong sweetness and a rich, unique flavor.
It blooms from June to August, bears fruit from August to October, and the harvest season is from September to November.
Since Luo Han Guo cannot be pollinated by insects, all pollination work is done manually by hand-pollination over two months.
Luo Han Guo is considered optimal to grow in Guilin, designated as a key protected plant by the Chinese government, and the export of seeds and fresh fruit is strictly controlled. Therefore, only dried fruit or extract Liquid is available in Japan.
What is High Purity Luo Han Guo Extract?
For over 20 years, Saraya has established manufacturing technology for "High Purity Luo Han Guo Extract," which is about 300 times sweeter than sugar, with the cooperation of local research institutions. It is a precious component that can be extracted only 10 grams from 1 kilogram of Luo Han Guo. While presenting various effects of this component at academic conferences, it was listed in the Japanese Food Additives Codex after safety confirmation tests by the government as a patented ingredient.
Until high purity Luo Han Guo Extract is produced
-
Washing fresh Luo Han Guo delivered from contracted farmers with water
-
Crushing Luo Han Guo and extracting over time with purified water
-
Separating extract Liquid, skins, and seeds with a centrifuge
(Separated skins and seeds are crushed and reused as fermented fertilizer.) -
Removing proteins from the separated extract Liquid
-
Concentrating the refined extract Liquid
Lakanto S uses "Luo Han Guo High Purity Extract," which is about 300 times sweeter than sugar, produced through such processes. Lakanto S adjusts sweetness to be comparable to sugar by combining erythritol, a sweetener made by fermenting corn, with high purity Luo Han Guo Extract. Generally sold "Luo Han Guo Extract" that is only boiled has sweetness several tens of times that of sugar, contains fructose, and has calories. As awareness of Lakanto S grows, the number of Luo Han Guo Extracts and Lakanto-like products has increased. Please be aware that some of these similar products differ from the high purity extract that meets national safety standards.
Thorough quality control
In recent years, due to the increased demand for Luo Han Guo, there has been a rise in Luo Han Guo with quality concerns, such as those cultivated using pesticides by some farmers. Therefore, from a quality control perspective, Saraya uses only Luo Han Guo cultivated under strict pesticide management by contracted farmers. Furthermore, quality control is conducted at the factory, processing the raw materials to meet all standards.