Monkfruit moves closer to European debut
11 Jun 2018 | Layn
Monk fruit is a fascinating ingredient that has got the industry talking. Layn has been working on the dossier for almost a year and according to the company, things are moving well. Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Luca Pennestri, Layn, says that Monkfruit is moving closer to its European debut. “We are hoping to give good news to the industry within the year. The feedback we've had so far is positive, in the US and China, it has already been certified. We do see potential in different industries, such as beverages, it has a good taste profile and sweetening power. We can also apply in ice cream and bakery.” Monkfruit comes from the south of China, it has been used for 600 years in Chinese medicine, and to make tea and juice. It has a sweet taste and flavor profile.
It's Rob Wires at Fer Foods Europe in Geneva and I'm here with Luca Penestri from Lane Europe.
Lucca, mug fruit, very interesting ingredient that everybody's kind of speaking about as as a kind of new natural sweetener.
How, how is it going on the, on the regulatory side and when can we kind of see a bit of progress happening from that regard?
We've been working on the dossier, as you know, for almost a year now.
So, things are moving very.
We're having good positive response.
We are very happy and positive, so we are hoping to give some good news to the industry within the year because I guess you must be quite optimistic, otherwise you wouldn't be promoting it here in Europe right now.
That's correct, yes, yes, the feedback we've been having is positive, as you know, in the US it's already been Certified in China, it is as it is in other countries, so we are positive and we're hoping to have a positive result.
Where do you see application potential for this ingredient, particularly in European markets?
Obviously it is a natural sweetener.
We do see potential in many different industries, the beverages.
Industry obviously is of great interest because of its very good taste profile and sweetening power.
We do see it applied in industries like bakery and like ice cream, for example, where maybe another product that we manufacture, stevia, does not perform.
For example, in bakery cannot be used.
We do see it pretty much work on a 360 degree basis in different industries.
Can you tell me a bit about about your products you're representing, you're showing here what the monk fruit looks like?
What what what what is it and where, what maybe just give it a little bit of background.
The monk fruit comes from the Guilin area, which is where we're based in the south of China.
It is called monk fruit, because the Chinese monks in Guilin have been using it for over 600 years in Chinese medicine.
It is used simply even to just make tea or any other types of beverages like monk fruit juice, and it does have this great sweetener taste and sweetening power.
So we have products that go up to 250, if not more, times sugar.
The particular thing about this product and very interesting is that we are the only company that has both the liquid and the powder form, so liquid form can be very interesting because of solubility.
It is a product that luckily is not used and eaten in nature, so pretty much it is only used for extraction or making, as I said, tea or Chinese medicine.
And yes, overall it is, it is a very interesting, interesting product.
Luca, thank you very much.
Thank you.
