Hamilton-based biotech entrepreneur BioVittoria is considering whether to sell shares in New Zealand to raise the $20 million it needs to commercialise a sweetener extracted from a Chinese fruit crop.

The non-caloric fruit concentrate sweetener called PureLo is made from Chinese-grown luo han fruit and the company expects to process 3000 tonnes of fruit from Miao and Yao hill tribe growers in mountainous areas of Guangxi province, southern China.

The resulting white powder is the first naturally-occurring sweetener to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.