The monk fruit is extremely sweet, several hundred times sweeter than table sugar. That’s partly because it contains natural sugars like glucose and fructose. There’s more to the story, though.

Monk fruit is one of the only plants that contain antioxidant glycosides (simple sugar compounds) known as mogrosides. The most important and sweetest of them is called mogroside V. And mogrosides are important for several reasons.

First, they’re intensely sweet. Second, when they’re consumed they pass right through the gastrointestinal tract and are broken down in the colon, so the body absorbs no nutrients or calories from them. Finally, they’ve been shown not to increase blood glucose levels.

Processors turn monk fruit into sweetener by crushing it to create juice and then extracting the mogrosides. That way, there’s no glucose or fructose in the finished product. And when pure monk fruit extract is used as a sweetener it’s carb- and calorie-free.

We’ve established that monk fruit extract is a terrific natural sweetener. You’ve probably guessed that its extreme sweetness means that a little goes a very long way. And the FDA has designated the sweetener as safe.

Is that everything you need to know about monk fruit sweetener? Not at all. It also provides important health and wellness benefits.

• Mogrosides have impressive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which prevent or reduce the oxidative stress that can lead to illnesses and diseases like asthma, diabetes, inflammatory joint diseases, heart disease, and cancer.
• Speaking of diabetes, mogroside V appears to encourage the secretion of insulin and has been shown to lower blood glucose levels and cholesterol levels in preliminary testing with mice. That means it could potentially help prevent or treat type 2 diabetes caused by insulin resistance. 
• Monk fruit sweetener is a relatively new product, so there hasn’t yet been rigorous study of whether it can help people lose weight. The best indications from research into low- and no-calorie sweeteners, though, are that monk fruit sweetener can help with weight loss when a smart diet and exercise program is followed.
• Unlike sugar alcohols, monk fruit sweetener apparently doesn’t negatively affect gut health.   

You might think there could be no drawbacks to the use of monk fruit extract as a sweetener. That’s not 100% true. We’ll discuss that subject next.

Sugar is easy to purchase and use. Monk fruit sweetener can seem more difficult – until you understand exactly what to buy and how to use it.

Is Monk Fruit Extract Expensive – Or a Good Buy?

Monk fruit extract can seem rather pricey compared to sugar or artificial sweeteners. There are good reasons for that.

Monk fruit only thrives in very specific climates, so it can’t be grown in most parts of the world. Almost all commercial plantations are still in rural China, basically in the middle of nowhere.

Monk fruit plants have to be pollinated by hand, and since the fruit goes bad soon after being picked, it has to be processed quickly in nearby plants. Only then can it be shipped elsewhere to be packaged or used to sweeten products for sale. In short, monk fruit extract is very difficult – and expensive – to produce. That’s why it’s pricier than most other sugar substitutes.

Remember, however, that monk fruit sweetener is so sweet that a little goes a long way; a supply of monk fruit extract will last much longer than a bag of sugar.

That means monk fruit sweetener is really a bargain in the long run.

How Monk Fruit Extract is Packaged and Sold

Practicality is an important issue to consider because only a tiny amount of monk fruit extract is needed to equal the sweetness of sugar. End users are accustomed to using a teaspoon of sugar or a packet of sweetener in their coffee. If you added that much monk fruit sweetener to coffee, though, it would be undrinkable.

One way to solve the problem is to purchase pure monk fruit extract in liquid form and use a medicine dropper to measure it. Another is buying the granulated sweetener in bulk and using tiny spoons (you can buy them) to put a tiny amount into tea or coffee. Those solutions aren’t ideal, but they work.

What about using monk fruit sweetener in a convenient packet, just like sugar or artificial sweeteners? That’s where real problems develop.

Some manufacturers do put monk fruit extract into sugar-sized packets – but the amount of extract required to sweeten coffee only takes up a tiny portion of the packet. How do they fill up the rest of the space? They add bulk with another type of sweetener.

Most often they use the sugar alcohol erythritol. It’s safe for diabetics, only adds a few calories, and as a bonus, it disguises the slight aftertaste of monk fruit. It may cause stomach distress, though. Sometimes they use stevia, another non-nutritive, calorie-free sugar substitute that’s similar to monk fruit extract and is also OK for diabetics.

Unfortunately, many producers make worse choices. Some add maltodextrin, a sweet food additive with a high glycemic index. Others add molasses or even sugar; they bulk up the sweetener and cover the aftertaste, but are terrible for diabetics – and they’re clearly not what users are looking for when they choose monk fruit extract as a sugar substitute.

If you’re looking to buy pure monk fruit sweetener, buy it in bulk containers from brands like Purisure or Pure Monk Sweet. Both are primarily sold online. Be careful choosing other brands, though. For example, Lankato and Monk Fruit In The Raw add erythritol, and Nectress adds both molasses and sugar.

There’s a better answer.

Buying Products Pre-Sweetened With Monk Fruit Extract

Many food and beverage manufacturers have started using monk fruit sweetener in their products. They’re often sold as “keto-friendly” products.

The best choices are the ones that use only pure monk fruit extract (or monk fruit plus stevia) as sweeteners, along with ingredients that cover the slight aftertaste.

However, be sure to check the labels to be sure there aren’t any other “surprise” ingredients that might add unwanted calories or boost the product’s glycemic index. Super Coffee is one brand, for example, that uses pure monk fruit sweetener the right way in all of its products.

Using Monk Fruit Extract in the Kitchen

If you’re wondering whether monk fruit extract can be used for cooking or baking, the answer is “sort of.” It’s fine for sauces and marinades if used in the right proportions. But its consistency and overwhelming sweetness make it very difficult to use as a sugar substitute in recipes.

If you want to give monk fruit sweetener a try in your kitchen, your best bet is to find recipes specifically designed for the use of monk fruit extract.