Synsepalum dulcificum
| Miracle fruit | |
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| Species: | S. dulcificum
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| Binomial name | |
| Synsepalum dulcificum | |
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Bakeriella dulcifica (Schumach. & Thonn.) Dubard | |
The miracle fruit, or miracle berry plant (Synsepalum dulcificum), produces berries that, when eaten, cause sour foods (such as lemons and limes) subsequently consumed to taste sweet. The berry was first documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais[2], who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa. Marchais noticed that local tribes picked the berry from shrubs and chewed it before meals. The plant grows in bushes up to 20 feet (6.1 m) high in its native habitat, but does not usually grow higher than ten feet in cultivation, and it produces two crops per year, after the end of the rainy season. It is an evergreen plant that produces small red berries, with flowers that are white and are produced for many months of the year. The seeds are about the size of coffee beans.
The berry itself has a low sugar content[3] and a mildly sweet tang. It contains a glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin.[4][5] When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. While the exact cause for this change is unknown, one theory is that the effect may be caused if miraculin works by distorting the shape of sweetness receptors "so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things".[6] This effect lasts 15–60 minutes.[7]
History
An attempt was made in the 1970s to commercialize the ability of the fruit to turn non-sweet foods into sweet foods without a caloric penalty but ended in failure when the FDA classified the berry as a food additive.[3] There were controversial circumstances with accusations that the project was sabotaged and the research burgled by the sugar industry to prevent loss of business caused by a drop in the need for sugar.[8] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has always denied that pressure was put on it by the sugar industry but refused to release any files on the subject.[9] Similar arguments are noted for the FDA's regulation on Stevia now labeled as a "dietary supplement" instead of a "sweetener".
For a time in the 1970s, US dieters could purchase a pill form of miraculin.[6] It was at this time that the idea of the "miraculin party"[6] was conceived. Recently, this phenomenon has enjoyed some revival in food-tasting events, referred to as "flavor-tripping parties" by some.[10] The tasters consume sour and bitter foods, such as lemons, radishes, pickles, hot sauce, and beer, to experience the taste changes that occur.
General information and cultivation
The plant grows best at a pH as low as 4.5 to 5.8, in an environment free from frost and in partial shade with high humidity. Without the use of plant hormones or electricity, the seeds have a 24% sprouting success rate. The plants first bear fruit after growing for approximately 2–3 years.[citation needed]
Attempts have been made to create an artificial sweetener from the fruit, with an idea of developing this for diabetics.[2] Fruit cultivators also report a small demand from cancer patients, because the fruit allegedly counteracts a metallic taste in the mouth that may be one of the many side effects of chemotherapy.[2] This claim has not been researched scientifically,[2] though in late 2008, an oncologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida, began a study and, by March 2009, had filed an investigational new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.[7]
In Japan, miracle fruit is popular among diabetics and dieters.[4][5]
In 2006, researchers at the University of Tsukuba genetically engineered lettuce to produce large amounts of miraculin.[2][6] The scientists' crops resulted in 40 micrograms of miraculin per gram of lettuce leaves, which was considered a large amount.[6] Two grams of lettuce leaves produced roughly the same amount of miraculin as in one miracle fruit berry.[2] The researchers said that others had unsuccessfully used bacteria, yeast and tobacco plants.
Freeze-dried form
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Pulp from the berry is available is freeze-dried granules or in tablets — this form has a shelf-life of 10 to 18 months, whereas the shelf-life of the fresh fruit is only 2-3 days[11]. Tablets are made from compressed freeze-dried fruit, which causes the texture to be clearly visible even in tablet form.
Freeze-dried miracle fruit is now widely available on the Internet.
Limitations
Miraculin is a non-heat-stable protein, subject to denaturation from heating, and thus miracle berries are not taste-bud active when cooked.[6]
While miraculin changes the perception of taste, it does not change the food's chemistry, leaving the mouth and stomach vulnerable to the high acidity of some foods, such as lemon juice, that may cause irritation if eaten in large quantities.[6]
Gallery
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Fresh fruit measurement in centimeters -
A bunch of miracle fruit berries
See also
- Thaumatococcus daniellii, a tropical plant that is also sometimes called "Miracle Fruit"
References
- ^ "Synsepalum dulcificum (Schumach. & Thonn.) Daniell". African Flowering Plants Database. Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville Genève - South African Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ^ a b c d e f "To Make Lemons Into Lemonade, Try 'Miracle Fruit'". Wall Street Journal. 2007-03-30. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
Two American entrepreneurs, Robert Harvey and Don Emery, tried this route back in the 1970s but the venture ended in heartbreak.[specify] Their initial focus was on products for diabetics, but some of their financial backers, which included Reynolds Metals Co. and Barclays Bank PLC, had a loftier goal.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Levin, Rachel B. (June 23, 2009). "Ancient Berry, Modern Miracle: The Sweet Benefits of Miracle Fruit". thefoodpaper.com. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
- ^ a b McCurry, Justin (2005-11-25). "Miracle berry lets Japanese dieters get sweet from sour". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
The berries contain miraculin, a rogue glycoprotein that tricks the tongue's taste-bud receptors into believing a sour food is actually sweet. People in parts of west Africa have been using the berries to sweeten sour food and drink for centuries, but it is only recently that the global food industry has cottoned on.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Balko, Radley (2007-02-08). "Free the Miracle Fruit!". Reason Magazine. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g Rowe, Aaron (2006-12-07). "Super Lettuce Turns Sour Sweet". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
Sweet receptors sit on taste buds and wait for sweet molecules to come along and set them off," explained Göran Hellekant, a miraculin researcher and professor of physiology and pharmacology at the University of Minnesota. "Normally, they can only be set off by chemicals that are legitimately sweet, but miraculin may distort their shape a bit so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things." ... "We used the miraculin tablets, then started trying every sour thing we could find. I remember straight lemon juice as being pretty good. I also tried vinegar and sauerkraut juice. [...] The next morning we awakened with ulcers in our mouths, barely able to talk. Sure, these things tasted sweet, but they were still highly acidic.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Park, Madison (March 25, 2009). "'Miracle fruit' turns sour things sweet". CNN. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- ^ "Sweet and sour tale of the miracle berry". The First Post. 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "The miracle berry". BBC. 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
I honestly believe that we were done in by some industrial interest that did not want to see us survive because we were a threat. Somebody influenced somebody in the FDA to cause the regulatory action that was taken against us.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Farrell, Patrick (2008-05-28). "A Tiny Fruit That Tricks the Tongue". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Miracle Fruit Man Return Policy". MiracleFruitMan.
Miracle Fruit has a fresh shelf life of 2-3 days.
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External links
- "Miracle fruit facts". Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. from the California Rare Fruit Growers
- "The Fruit Hunters: Author Adam Leith Gollner on the Politics of Fruit and the Secret History of the "Miracle Berry"". Democracy Now!. July 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-25.