NEW YORK – Soda industry experts believe the obscure monk fruit, which for centuries helped Buddhist monks in China sweeten tea, could help revive the $8 billion U.S. diet soda industry, Reuters reports. 

The naturally sweet fruit that contains zero calories would allay fears that consumers have about ingesting artificial ingredients. When "someone figures this out and gets a taste that is low-calorie and natural, it could really be a silver bullet that catapults that company ahead," said Ali Dibadj, an analyst at Bernstein who follows the soft drink industry.

Soft drink makers are desperately searching for such an ingredient. Diet soda consumption dropped roughly 7% this year and could fall by as much as 20% through 2020, according to Nielsen data.

Health conscious consumers, wary of the health risks of artificial sweeteners, are replacing diet sodas with juices, teas and naturally sweetened lemonades, according to a recent Wells Fargo analysis.

"We believe we are seeing a fundamental shift in consumption behavior as diet drinkers leave the category altogether," said Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities.

Some beverage manufacturers have begun hedging their beds on monk fruit, which is already used in protein shakes, snack bars and brownies.

This week, Zevia introduced a new recipe for its no-calorie sodas sweetened with a blend of monk fruit and stevia. The company's drinks were previously sweetened exclusively with stevia.

"We feel like we've really cracked the code," said Paddy Spence, chief executive officer of Zevia. ”Using the two side by side, we were able to get a higher level of sweetness without the bitterness.”

Monk fruit presents a number of challenges for beverage makers. It is twice as expensive as stevia and is grown only in some regions of China. It's also not yet approved by European regulators for consumption. Additionally, extracting sugar from the fruit is a difficult and expensive process.