A Miracle Fruit Party?

Daughter Sarah suggested I talk about the Miracle Fruit on this blog. Being a microbiologist, the berries of the Miracle Fruit really interest her.

The Miracle Fruit plant (Synsepalum dulcificum) produces berries that, when eaten, cause sour foods (such as lemons and limes) consumed later to taste sweet. The berry, also known as Miracle Berry, Magic Berry, Miraculous Berry or Flavour Berry, was first documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to 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 which are produced for many months of the year. The seeds are about the size of coffee beans.

This is a Sarah explanation - many of us can not easily visulize the chemical structure as described. The berry 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 sour foods to taste sweet. While the exact cause for this change is unknown, one hypothesis 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". This effect lasts between thirty minutes and two hours.

Throwing a miracle fruit party may make for a very interesting evening. Here are a few suggstions. It is best to have a wide variety of food and fruit juices available for everyone to sample. Charging at the door is optional. Yes, the Miracle Fruit tablets can be purchased on the internet. They cost around one dollar per pill.

So what are the best things to enjoy? You can decide, but here are a compilation of favorites. Usually use 2 miracle fruit tabs each for one night of testing.

Lemons and limes (try them thin sliced!) are a must. Oranges , Strawberries, Sorbet, Grapefruit, goat cheese, and green mangoes taste like a candy version of each fruit, it is very sweet and refreshing. You can also get demonstrate the effect of miracle fruit on other foods that are less appealing. Especially after drinking. Brussell sprouts, Mustard, Tabasco, Vinegar (especially balsamic) and pickles.

If interested, you may like to read the party that was described in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html.