Miracle Fruit Flavor Berry:
The Crazy, Flavor-Changing "Miracle" Fruit
by Josh Day
It's scientific name is Synsepalum dulcificum, and it hails from West Africa. Thanks to a featurette on CNN online, millions of people are learning about this crazy fruit that has a "miraculously" unique ability.
CNN:
After chewing the fruit and rubbing the pulp against the tongue, the berry, known by a promising name -- "miracle fruit" or Synsepalum dulcificum -- releases a sweetening potency that alters the taste buds.
For about 15 to 30 minutes, everything sour is sweet.
Lemons lose their zing and taste like candy. Oranges become sickeningly sweet. Hot sauce that usually burns the tongue tastes like honey barbecue sauce that scorches as it trickles down the throat.
Through word of mouth, these miracle fruits have inspired "taste tripping" parties, where foodies and curious eaters pay $10 to $35 to try the berries. (CNN online)
The fruit sounds like something out of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.
Interestingly enough, this fruit has a history of controversy, due to the fruit's ability to alter taste perception. Once again, as with stevia, the good ole FDA was involved...
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 in 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. The FDA has always denied that pressure was put on it by the sugar industry, but refused to release any files on the subject. Similar arguments are noted for FDA's regulation on stevia now labeled as a "dietary supplement" instead of a "sweetener." (Wikipedia)
A Florida hospital has opened research into the fruit and its effect on improving taste for chemo patients, whose sense of taste have been diminished due to chemotherapy (CNN online).
More researchers are interested in the fruit:
"This new resurgence of interest is fascinating," said Linda Bartoshuk, a professor at the University of Florida's Center for Smell and Taste. "It popped on the scene and people are having fun with it. It motivated us to go back and do research."
Bartoshuk seeks to better understand how the berry works. In the 1970s, she studied the fruit while working for the U.S. Navy and Army labs.
The miracle fruit contains a natural protein, called miraculin, which has sugar molecules that bind to the tongue, she said. When acid enters the mouth, the sugar molecules press into the sweet receptors.
Some of her colleagues are looking into how the berries could help people with diabetes and obesity, because they sweeten the taste of food. Unlike sugar, the miracle fruit has very few calories and unlike artificial sweeteners, the berries are natural.
Bartoshuk said she hasn't seen any reports of dangers from eating the berries, but warned against premature health benefit claims.
"Everyone's immediate response is it's an artificial sweetener, it'll help you lose weight," she said. "But the bad side is artificial sweeteners don't help you lose weight. Any real claims for health benefits are going to have to be supported by good research." (CNN Online)
Works cited:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/25/miracle.berries.weightloss/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit
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