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.

ABC ADVISORY AUSTIN, Texas (October 12, 2017) — Through its adoption, Layn 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. “We are honored to adopt monk fruit through the Adopt-an-Herb Program,” said 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 continued. “We are excited to help bring more information to light about its unique compounds, applications, benefits, and sustainable agricultural practices.” ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal added: “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 is grateful to Layn for its adoption of monk fruit on ABC’s HerbMedPro database. 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.” About Monk Fruit 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. The sweet taste of monk fruit comes primarily from mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides. (The compound mogroside V is approximately 250 times sweeter than sucrose, or common table sugar.) Monk fruit also contains high amounts of amino acids, fructose, vitamins, and minerals. In traditional Chinese medicine, the dried fruit and leaf of monk fruit are used to treat a variety of respiratory conditions. Monk fruit’s adoption page can be found here. The HerbMedPro record on monk fruit is available here. About Layn Layn is a global leader in the vertically integrated production of premium-quality natural sweeteners, flavors, and botanicals. For more than two decades, Layn has led the natural sweetener industry with innovative ingredients designed to meet the specific needs of global food, beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Layn’s portfolio of monk fruit, stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) extracts, and other functional botanicals delivers superior taste profiles, according to the company, with a focus on sustainability and proprietary formulations to best satisfy a broad range of customer-specific applications. Layn’s long-term relationships with its farmers and its support for local communities are an integral part of the company’s success. More information is available at www.layncorp.com. About Adopt-an-Herb and HerbMedPro Layn is one of 50 companies that have supported ABC’s educational efforts to collect, organize, and disseminate reliable, traditional, science-based, and clinical information on herbs, medicinal plants, and other botanical- and fungal-based ingredients through the Adopt-an-Herb Program. This program encourages companies, organizations, and individuals to “adopt” one or more specific herbs for inclusion and ongoing maintenance in the HerbMedPro database. To date, 56 herbs have been adopted. Each adopted herb is continuously researched for new articles and studies, ensuring that its HerbMedPro record stays current and robust. The result is an unparalleled resource not only for researchers, health professionals, industry, and consumers, but for all members of the herbal and dietary supplements community. HerbMedPro is available to ABC members at the Academic level and higher. Its “sister” site, HerbMed, is free and available to the general public. In keeping with the ABC’s position as an independent research and education organization, herb adopters do not influence the scientific information that is compiled for their respective adopted herbs.