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Miracle Fruit - Makes Sour Taste Sweet

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hokum6

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http://www.jacobgrier.com/blog/archives/632.html

A few days ago I received an invitation from my friend and EatFoo co-blogger David Barzelay to try some “miracle fruit.” According to rumor, this unusual fruit possesses an amazing property. Eating one temporarily alters one’s sense of taste, making sour, bitter foods taste sweet and delicious. People in West Africa, native home to miracle fruit, have reportedely used it for centuries to make their diets more palatable.

It’s also a literally forbidden fruit. Attempts to market it and its active protein miraculin to diabetics were mysteriously thwarted by the FDA in the 1970s, relegating miracle fruit to underground cult status. David, however, had found a source willing to ship a supply next day air to DC from Florida.

Given David’s history of practical jokes, I was skeptical at first. Miracle fruit? Works with “miraculin?” Sounded like just the kind of crazy thing he would make up. But if it was a joke, the Athananius Kircher Society was in on it too. So with barely a touch of trepidation, I told David I was in. Besides, if worst came to worst, “libertarian foodie dies eating fruit banned by the FDA” is about the most appropriate obituary headline I could ever imagine for myself, so there was really nothing to lose.

The miracle fruit party was last night. I arrived to find a group of twenty-five or so curious people, a spread of citrus items, and, wrapped up in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator, a bunch of little red fruits: the understated star of the show, miracle fruit.

They’re bright red, about the size of an olive, odorless, and just a little bit soft. The center is mostly pit. To get the most of them, David explained that we should chew the pulpy part for about a minute and coat as much of our mouth as possible with it. Then we’d be free to spit or swallow and experience the magic of miraculin.

We started out by taking a quick taste of lime, just to get a fresh impression of what lime tastes like. Then we passed around a plate of miracle fruits, all of us taking one like eager cultists taking punch. A minute went by as we swirled the stuff around in our mouths.

The fruit itself is mostly tasteless, though slightly sweet. The pit is surrounded by a weird, slick layer of pulp. It’s not bad to eat, but one would get bored with it pretty quickly. The true test came next, as we again sampled the lime. The result? Utter astonishment. The very same lime we’d tried moments before suddenly tasted like it had been dipped in sugar. All the stinging acidity was gone, leaving only the pleasing citrus and an amazing sensation of sweetness that left us craving more.

Our sense of taste completely transformed, we orgiastically began sampling everything we could get our hands on. Lemons tasted like lemonade. Meyer lemons tasted like the sweetest oranges. Grapefruits tasted awesome, and I don’t even like grapefruit. Goat cheese tasted like candy. Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout tasted bigger and sweeter than ever. (One of us had never had a stout before. After drinking stout with miraculin, every other will probably be doomed to disappoint.)

My own contributions were a beer and a coffee. The beer was Magic Hat’s Roxy Rolles seasonal ale, which kept its intriguing flavor while losing its normally hoppy bite. For my friend who doesn’t like hoppy American beers, the miracle fruit “fixed” it.

The coffee was Counter Culture’s Rwanda Karaba, which is well-balanced and boasts some rich fruit notes. This was the one thing that the miracle fruit didn’t seem to change much for me, except perhaps for a very slight increase in sweetness. One of the other guys was amazed that he was able to drink it black, but I’m not sure if that was the result of the miracle fruit or if he just wasn’t used to drinking really good coffee.

The bottom line: miracle fruit is amazing. Imagine a party of people chomping into lemons and limes with abandon, and you’ve got an idea of its power.

As miracle fruit devotees have noted, this produce ought to be more than just a foodie’s underground novelty item. Aside from being interesting on its own merits, it has practical applications. Before the FDA stepped in it received a warm reception among diabetics who were able to enjoy sweet flavors without worrying about their sugar intake. Dieters could use it to avoid items high in calories, which is how one dessert spot in Japan markets the stuff. In Japan it’s even being sold in tablet form now. In the US, I bet innovative restaurants would do well with a dessert course of miracle fruit, citrus, and cheese.

Alas, the FDA’s refusal to allow marketing of miracle fruit has kept it an unknown treasure. The exact reasons for the ban are unknown. Perhaps lobbyists from the sugar industry blocked its approval. Or perhaps it was for the children; the FDA feared miraculin would mask the taste of aspirin and other things that are toxic in high quanities, causing kids under its influence to chow down on them. This lengthy article on miracle fruit says that miracle fruit doesn’t actually have that effect. Aspirin wasn’t on our tasting menu last night, but I believe it. The article also presents a lot of other evidence that the fruit is completely safe.

But who cares about the sugar industry? Who cares about the children? I’m not sure exactly what the FDA ban entails, whether it’s on all sales, all marketing, or just marketing as a sugar substitute. In any case, miracle fruit is awesome. Everyone should be able to try the stuff. A fruit this fun deserves a wider audience.
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This sounds brilliant. Anyone tried it?
 
No, not tried it, or ever heard of it before. Do you reccon it's real? If it's not a hoax it would be a 'miracle!'
I imagine, if it s true, the main reason it wouldn't be approved is because of ecconomics. Not only would the sugar indusrty lose out but the multi-million pound diet and fitness industry. And possibly, to a point, dentists. (Sorry going off on a bit of a tangent here - Have you read those reports that occationally pop up in the press that claims in five years time dentists will have developed a method that will protect your teeth, and you'll only need to brush them for freshness? Well they already have. My brother is 28, when he went for one of his first dental check ups our mum was asked if she'd like for him to take part in a trial. They explained that it wouldn't hurt my brother at all. It was just a plastic coating, brushed/painted onto the teeth that would protect them from decay. My mum agreed and they went ahead. Well like most kids my brother stuffed his face with sweets and dodged teeth brushing when he could. Not one of his baby teeth ever needed any kind of work. Since getting his adult teeth he has. So the coating worked. Can you imagine though, if they offered it to everyone only cosmetic dentists would be needed, there would be too many jobs lost and loss of earnings. [ I don't mind, I'll take it! ;) ] Maybe that's why this fruit isn't being approved? )
I wonder if any trials have been done on this fruit, for instance, the long term effect on the teeth, and taste buds?
 
Thanks for those links. :) To be honest I'm sold, where do I buy them?! :D I'm not a great fruit lover and need to eat more. It's the taste I don't like but these berries sound like they'd do the trick. The only cocern I'd have is this:
As a result, the sweet receptors are activated by acids, which are sour in general.
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I'm not so sure about the teeth acid combo. I mean I know citrus fruits conatian acids of course, but I also know a bit about them, the pros and cons.
 
Hah! I've heard of the dentist experiment... because they did it to me! I remember when I was very small, they painted my teeth. I was always astonished when going to the dentist, they would tell me what a wonderful job I did, brushing my teeth regularly. Yeah, right! :roll:
 
Do you know what the dental process is called? Sounds like it's worth following up.

Wintermoon, you can buy seeds off Ebay, but I'm not aware of anyone selling fresh fruit in the UK. Apparently it doesn't last long so international shipping isn't an option.
There's a business opportunity there...
 
Why should the sugar companies get together and suppress it? They could just add it to their lineup, like the oil companies branching out into biodiesel etc.
 
It's effectively just another artificial sweetener - and I haven't noticed Tate & Lyle trying to suppress those.
 
wembley8 said:
It's effectively just another artificial sweetener - and I haven't noticed Tate & Lyle trying to suppress those.
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I dunno, sounds like more than that to me. Have you ever tried artificial sweetners? They're foul, and they do taste artificial. :cross eye I was thinking along the lines too, of getting more kiddies to eat fruit too. Most people use AS as quite rightly, as sugar substitute, like in tea, coffee, etc. I haven't heard of too many people adding sugar to fruit (Except of course strawberries.) to make it more palitable (Unless I need to get out more! ;) ) but even then, it doesn't take the bitterness away where as this fruit does.

hokum6, I've asked my mum before but she said if they did give her a name for this process she can't remember it now, it was about 20 years plus ago. Thanks for the tip about the seeds. :) I'll look later.

Gemaki, lucky you! :D I'm glad someone else has heard of it too, you're the only other person I know of. Maybe they offered it to a select few in each area?
 
When I was about 7ish I had something similar done to my teeth. This would have been around 1982. At the time I thought it was called Fisher filling, but it probably makes more sense that it was called Fissure filling. I think it was fairly common - I don't remember being told it was a trial. It was done to my adult molars (would I have had them when I was 7? maybe I was a bit older) and it must have worked because I don't have a single filling and have never had a problem with my teeth.

As for the miracle fruit, I'd love to try it but I'd be a bit worried that I'd eat something really dangerous without realising. After all, it isn't healthy to eat too much acid fruit and if the miracle stuff was making you think it was sweet you could easily have too much.
 
Sorry, seem to be hijacking the thread with teeth! I Googled Minda and there is a process called fissure filling. It says that they wash and dry the tooth, apply a gel and then the plastic coating then laser it for 20 seconds to set. You'll also need regular checks to make sure it hasn't erroded or rubbed away. It sounds very similar but the other treatment, I'm sure Gemaki will tell us, sounded much more simple in it's application, and longer lasting?
 
Gee, I don't know what it was called, or how long it lasted. I didn't have to get any teeth worked on for a long time, I've had problems later on in life, though. I had the same dentist during my entire childhood, and he was surely recording the results of the treatment.

Sorry I couldn't be any more help. :?
 
mindalai said:
When I was about 7ish I had something similar done to my teeth. This would have been around 1982. At the time I thought it was called Fisher filling, but it probably makes more sense that it was called Fissure filling. I think it was fairly common - I don't remember being told it was a trial. It was done to my adult molars (would I have had them when I was 7? maybe I was a bit older) and it must have worked because I don't have a single filling and have never had a problem with my teeth.
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Yeah, I'm thirty now and as a yoof got what was called a fissure seal on my toothypegs, was nothing strange and as far as I know is still available for young 'uns. Just designed to fill any little cracks to avoid decay setting in.



Back OT - I dont think that the fruit could be used as an artificial sweetner as you need to consume it before eating sour/acidic stuff. It sounds like an active ingredient in the pulp numbs certain taste receptors. Sounds like fun though!!!!
 
fissure seal

how funny, while i was reading this a colleague of mine called her dentist to ask him about fissure seal for her 7 y.o. kid.
 
It's nothing like an artificial sweetener. The fruit contains a protein that tells your brain that something tastes sweet when it isn't.
 
Ok, it deffinatly wasn't fissure seal my brother had. I asked again, he had it done when he was 4. The sealant was in a small bottle that was sprayed directly onto the teeth. No precision aiming, polishing or drying of teeth, gels or lasers. Just spray, wait a few seconds, then all done. It also wasn't just on the surface of the teeth, it was the sides too.
Mind you, sorry to hijack the thread further, in the late 80s' early nineties, we also had a dental surgery open in Southampton that used lasers instead of drills. It was advertised in the local press and was so popular it was fully booked for six months solid. People were literally queing up outside when it opened even back then. However, I have contacted the BDHF on a couple of occasions to see if there were any practitioners in the area still that use this method. They always talk to me as if I'm mad! They say that laser usage is still years away as there isn't one fine enough to concentrait on just one tooth, and that it would also melt the surrounding teeth so couldn't be done. Also it has never been done. ?? Hmm, maybe Southampton is the place for trials of new dental techniques!
 
Can you remember where this surgery was? You could probably dig up some records and find out whether there was a surgery there, then get the name of the dentist.
 
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