MIRACLE FRUIT
SYNSEPALUM DULCIFICUM. Family: SAPOTACEAE Other names include miracle berry, sweet berry, miraculous berry.
This tiny berry has very quickly become one of our favorites. Not because the berry itself, but because of what it does to your mouth.
It contains a glycoprotein molecule, with carbohydrate chains called miraculin. What happens after eating one of these berries, is that for about 30 minutes, everything sour you eat will taste sweet. We have tried it before eating passion fruit, jobos and even before drinking pure lemon juice. And it works! It's amazing. Even pure lemon juice tastes sweet after eating one of these berries. The molecule in the berries binds to the tongue's taste buds.
This quality makes it an amazing asset for anyone wanting to use less sugar. The berry itself has little sugar, and is also tiny, and has a large seed in the middle, so there isn't much "flesh" on it. So this wouldn't be a good option for juicing, but this taste-altering quality makes it incredibly useful still.
Having said that, we do think the berry is tasty. It tastes a little like vanilla candy, maybe with a slight artificial sweetener undertone.
The berry has been used in Africa for a very long time. In the 1980's attempts were made at commercializing the berry in the U.S. but this was halted by the FDA, claiming it as a food additive and demanding evidence of its safety. It is more likely that the reason for this was that the quality of this fruit would shatter profits for many out there, profiting from various artificial sweeteners and additives to sweeten foods, while lowering calories.
A few fun facts about the miracle berry:
The plant will grow to about 6-15 feet tall and fruits after about 3-4 years, when planted from seed. It grows a shrub with dense foliage. It fruits about twice per year, usually after heavy rains and a slight cooling of the weather, which happens about that often, here in Puerto Rico.
The fun literally doesn't stop with this berry, and we continue to eat one before tasting a variety of sour things. And in case you were wondering, it doesn't alter the taste of things that are already sweet.
The berry and any extracts from it, is considered controversial in many parts of the world, because of the "concern" that its safeties haven't been properly tested. This has been going on since the 1980's and we can only speculate as to why it is so hard to properly legalize in many parts of the world.
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In Ghana, the fruit is used to sweeten sour foods and beverages, like kenkey, koko and palm wine. In many parts of Africa, the entire plant plays an important part of their traditional medicine. In Benin, the leaves are used to treat diabetes, hyperthermia as well as enuresis. In Nigeria, they are used to manage diabetes, asthma and weight, as well as help treat cancer and male infertility.
In Tanzania and Malaysia, the leaves are used in postnatal care and in several African countries, the roots are used to treat tuberculosis and cough, as well as a treatment against gonorrhea. Branches are also used as a natural toothbrush.
As is the case with so many fruits, more research is needed, but studies in rats suggest that both the leaves and the fruit may increase insulin production and sensitivity, hereby improving blood sugar management. Rats treated with miracle fruit experienced improved blood sugar management and immune response.
Parts of the plant are rich in flavonoids and terpenoids, which may have cancer-preventing properties. Studies suggest that these antioxidants may help reduce the spread of malignant cancer cells. In addition, parts of the plant are rich in episyringaresinol, an antioxidant that seems to help slow the aging process and may help prevent skin cancer.
Other studies on animals suggest that extracts may help improve blood uric acid levels, which can cause gout when they are too high. In fact, miracle fruit may help improve blood uric acid levels more efficiently than allopurinol, a drug commonly prescribed to treat gout.
A controlled study investigating the anticonvulsant potential of miracle fruit suggested that antioxidant-rich parts of the seed may protect against death and reduce recovery time after a seizure.
So with all this, and despite its small size, this truly has the potential of being a real miracle fruit, and not just because it makes sour things taste sweet. We hope to help do further research on this amazing berry and its plant in the future.
