The Miracle Fruit Plant, sometimes known as Miraculous Berry, (Synsepalum dulcificum) is a plant first documented by an explorer named Des Marchais during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa.
Although the berry itself is not sweet, it contains an active glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing changes to gustation - in particular bitter and sour foods (such as lemons and limes) consumed later to taste sweet. This effect lasts up to two hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Miracle Fruit safe?
The simple answer is yes. Miracle Fruit has been widely used across many different countries by millions of people with no confirmed reports of any adverse or allergic reactions. Whilst we must accept the possibility that some people may be allergic to it consumption is of such small quantities that any unexpected reaction would be very limited.
We are currently leading the appraisal process of Miracle Fruit with the Food Standards Agency to get the fruit classified as safe for human consumption within the EU. We fully expect the Fruit to be classified as such very soon but until then customers within the EU purchase the fruit on the understanding that any consumption of the fruit is done at your own risk. If you'd like to know when the status of Miracle Fruit changes please join our Mailing List.
How do I achieve the best results?
Firstly ensure your palette is cleansed by rinsing your mouth out with water, also refrain from consuming alcohol or tobacco products before experimenting. Take a pinch of the freeze dried powder and place it on the centre of your tongue, proceed to swirl it around your whole mouth for around a minute, you may notice various sensations ranging from sweet to bitter. Then begin your taste trip - assemble a wide variety of foodstuffs and try them all! We recommend starting with a lemon or lime but remember its all going to end up in your stomach so try and avoid eating too much acidic food or anything else which may disagree with you.
How long does it last?
Your Taste Trip should last between half an hour and two hours, the length depends on the strength of the individual Miracle Fruit which you consume as well as your tastebuds and the quantity of food you eat during the trip.
Can it help with Chemotherapy?
When we first began researching Miracle Fruit we found occasional references to its use by Chemotherapy patients to alleviate the unpleasant effects the treatment can have on the gustatory system. Many patients find they develop a metallic taste in their mouths and that normal food can taste foul - apparently this effect is temporarily helped by consuming some Miracle Fruit. We are in discussions with a major Cancer organisation who are looking into creating a tailor made solution for chemotherapy patients and whilst we wouldn't want to make any unsubstantiated medical claims we can at least give you the following testimonial we recieved recently -
"Dear Miracle Fruit UK, It works! I'm so thankful I found out about this, because as you might know, in the past chemotherapy patients have gotten severely dehydrated and malnourished due to the combined effects of nausea and familiar foods and drinks (even water) tasting horrible. Anyway, I was looking for ways to help my mother, and thought we should try some miracle fruit. She just tried it today, and while things don't taste sweet to her, they are back to tasting normal. Last night, for instance, she tried a raspberry popsicle, and it tasted like codliver oil-- absolutely horrible, and she couldn't choke it down. But after she tried some miracle fruit, the popcicle was back to tasting normal. I'm very thankful, because chemotherapy is hard enough, and she's going through a very severe regimen of it. So it's great that we found something that can relieve a bit of the suffering. I'm off to your website to order some more, and please feel free to advertise this for other chemotherapy patients -- I haven't heard of this use for it before or from any of the doctors, and I would love for more people to be able to take advantage of it. Please let people know! With warm and thankful regards,
Tait Chamberlain, Michigan, United States.Sun Dried Vs. Freeze Dried?
We always want to give our customers the very best experience with Miracle Fruit as we know only too well how much fun it can be. After much research and product testing we have decided to change from selling sun dried fruit to freeze dried fruit. Some customers noticed that sun dried fruit had varying effects from berry to berry, some were effective, some were not. So in the interests of uniformity we have opted for freeze drying, a process which preserves the Miraculin in the fruit 100% of the time. Yes it is more expensive but we will be absorbing the cost and not passing it on to you the consumer in the form of higher prices.
