Video：Synsepalum Dulcificum:What is The Miracle Berry that Turns Sour Food Sweet for Flavor Tripping.
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Have you ever wished for a magical berry that could transform the sour taste of lemons into sweetness for flavor tripping? Well, you are in luck cuz it actually exists!
So today we’re going to talk about Miracle Berry – a fruit that’s as miraculous as its name suggests! With PAA
Hi, I am Shao Chieh Lo, welcome to what people also ask, where I search something seemingly obvious and share with you some of its PAA, aka People Also Ask, which is a feature telling you what other people are searching on Google that relates to your query
Today’s query is “miracle berry”. We will explore what it is and how it works as well as some lesser-known fun facts about it.
so
What are Miracle Berries and What Do Miracle Berries Do?
This question can be answered by wikipedia’s Synsepalum dulcificum entry and Encyclopedia Brittannica’s Miracle Fruit’s entry.
The Miracle Berry, also known as Synsepalum dulcificum, is a plant native to tropical Africa. It belongs to the Sapotaceae family and is scientifically classified under the kingdom Plantae, in the order Ericales. Its other common names include the miraculous berry, Miracle Fruit, and sweet berry.
The Miracle Berry is renowned for its unique property of altering the taste of sour foods to sweet which referring to as flavor-tripping. This is possible due to a glycoprotein molecule found in the berry called miraculin, which binds to the tongue’s taste buds when the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten.
At neutral pH, miraculin binds and blocks the receptors, but when sour foods are consumed, resulting in a lower pH, miraculin binds proteins and activates the sweet receptors, leading to the perception of a sweet taste. This taste-altering effect can last up to about 30 minutes until the protein is washed away by saliva. However, it’s worth noting that the berry itself has a low sugar content and only a mildly sweet tang.
The berry has been used for centuries, particularly in West Africa. It was first documented in the 18th century by European explorer, the Chevalier des Marchais. More recently, in the United States, there was an attempt to commercialize the fruit for its unique ability to make non-sweet foods taste sweet without a caloric cost. However, the Food and Drug Administration classified the berry as a food additive and required evidence of safety, which has limited its commercial use.
Today, in tropical West Africa, the fruit pulp is used to sweeten palm wine and improve the flavor of soured cornbread.
It’s also used as a sweetener and flavoring agent for diverse beverages and foods, like beer, cocktails, vinegar, and pickles.
However, importing Synsepalum dulcificum (specifically, ‘miraculin’) from Taiwan has been banned in the United States since 2011, as the FDA declared it an “illegal undeclared sweetener“. In contrast, in 2021, Baïa Food Co. in Spain was granted permission to put Dried Miracle Berry on the EU market.
It’s worth to mention that other species such as Gymnema sylvestre and Thaumatococcus daniellii are also sometimes referred to as miracle fruit or miracle berry due to their ability to alter the perceived sweetness of foods.
Furthermore, in scientific research, transgenic tomato plants have been developed that produce miraculin.
One example is research titled “Production of recombinant miraculin using transgenic tomatoes in a closed cultivation system” published in the Journal of Agricultural and food chemistry in 2010.
In this research,the researchers built a special system to grow genetically modified tomatoes that produce miraculin, a protein that can make sour foods taste sweet. They controlled the amount of light, temperature, and carbon dioxide to help the tomatoes grow well.
The tomatoes thrived under these conditions and produced a lot of fruit – over 270 grams of fresh weight per plant. The researchers found that these tomatoes could produce up to 90 micrograms of miraculin for every gram of fresh-weight of the tomatoes.
The team compared the amount of miraculin produced by tomatoes grown in this special system to those grown in a netted greenhouse, which is another common way to grow tomatoes. They found that the genetically modified tomatoes grown in the controlled system produced a more consistent amount of miraculin, suggesting that this method is a better way to grow these tomatoes.
Finally, the researchers calculated that in one year, they could harvest around 45 tons of fresh-weight tomatoes and about 4 kilograms of miraculin from a 1,000-square-meter area using this cultivation system.
In simpler terms, this method can be used to produce a large amount of miraculin reliably and consistently.
As you might have noticed miracle berry is interesting, and governments like to ban interesting things. So
Are Miracle Berries Illegal?
This question can be answered by an article titled “Miracle berry – developing its promise” published by New Food Magazine, which is a digital publication that features content on a range of topics in the global food and beverage industry, including food safety, new technologies, regulatory updates, scientific research, and product innovations.
According to this article, In the United States, miraculin is considered a food additive and does not have GRAS status (aka Generally Recognised As Safe) due to insufficient safety data.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously denied attempts to gain legal approval for miracle berry products. However, cultivation and sale of miracle berries are permitted, and events utilizing their flavor-altering properties are increasingly popular in bars, restaurants, and hotels
In the European Union, miraculin does not have a specific legal status. However, the miracle berry is on the EU list of novel foods. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods, and Food Allergens concluded that the lyophilized fruits (aka Freeze dried fruit) of S. dulcificum are safe for use as or in food supplements at a maximum intake level of 0.7 g/day, excluding pregnant and lactating women.
This is due to insufficient scientific data available for these subgroups.
In Japan, there are no restrictions on selling miracle berries.
Despite these regional regulations, miracle berries are not universally approved as a food additive due to a lack of extensive scientific studies.
Nonetheless, they are grown extensively in Asia, the US, and Latin America, and are available in various forms including fresh and dried fruits, juices, fruit seed oils, freeze-dried powders, canned fruits, and synsepalum dulcificum tablets containing miraculin.
Do Miracle Berries Have Side Effects?
This question can be answered by an article titled “Miracle Berry Side Effects” published by Livestrong.com which is a health and wellness website.
According to this article, Miracle berries are generally considered safe with minimal side effects. However, some potential side effects may occur including:
- Overconsumption of acidic foods: The active ingredient in Miracle Berries, miraculin, alters the perception of taste, making sour foods taste sweet. This might encourage people to consume these foods in larger quantities than usual. This could potentially be harmful, leading to issues like stomach upset or heartburn, especially if high-acidity foods are consumed in excess.
- Long-lasting taste alteration: Some people have reported that the taste-altering effect of miraculin lasted longer than expected, in rare cases up to 18 hours. This could cause anxiety in some individuals, although the effect is temporary.
- Unexpected flavor enhancement: There have also been instances where other flavors, such as saltiness, were enhanced, which could be problematic for people who weren’t anticipating this effect.
- Potential risks for children: While miraculin does not mask the bitter taste of harmful substances, there’s a concern that the fruit’s taste-altering effect could potentially put children at risk of consuming harmful substances, misunderstanding their real taste due to the sweet perception induced by the berries.
Overall, while the Miracle Berry is generally considered safe, these potential side effects should be taken into account, especially when consuming foods with strong flavors or potentially harmful substances.