Recent research shows that monk fruit has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

If you have never before enjoyed the sweet fruit that is said to be zero calories yet up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, you are in for quite a culinary journey. Is monk fruit accessible at your local supermarket? And, for that matter, what does monk fruit taste like? (Surely, the fruit tastes nothing like an actual human monk.)

You may be familiar with the sweetener that countless influencers tout on social media, but have you actually tried the fruit itself?

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Below, we discuss the health benefits and the taste of monk fruit, rather than how monk fruit has been presented to the public in its most popular form in recent years, as a powdered sweetener.

Continue reading to learn all about the health benefits and sweet taste of monk fruit.

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Monk fruit sweetener, which seems to be the most common form of monk fruit that consumers may be familiar with in recent years, is made from extracting the juice of crushed monk fruit.

The sugar compounds in monk fruit, which health experts refer to as mogrosides, are known for featuring "antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic properties," per the Health resource.

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Additionally, monk fruit's mogrosides support the maintenance of good gut health. "An in vitro (test tube) study found that gut bacteria can break down mogroside V into secondary mogrosides with antioxidant properties. They were shown to promote the growth of helpful gut bacteria and lower disease-causing bacteria," according to Health.

That's not all. According to a report in SELF, published research shows that monk fruit is chock full of benefits.

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It is no surprise that monk fruit features a very sweet taste that may be unfamiliar to consumers. It should be noted that sweet is not synonymous with sugary, in this sense.

As one TikTok user notes, the flavor of the actual monk fruit was "really sweet and bitter," though it was also described as "surprisingly really refreshing" at the same time.