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The Coolest Fruit On Earth

miracle fruitPhoto:
Image by roboppy

Written by new contributor, Sonia Dong

The wonders of the natural world never cease to amaze. Imagine: a fruit that when eaten, renders sour foods sweet. It’s like the Midas touch of food, and it actually exists.

miracle berriesPhoto:
wikimedia commons

Dubbed Miracle Fruit, this small red berry hailing from West Africa is the star performer at 'flavour tripping parties' organized by Franz Aliquo in the United States. Bartenders have also been experimenting with the fruit to create new cocktails, and UK art magazine Cabinet has included it on the menu at their events.

At the 'flavour tripping' events, partygoers pop a red berry in their mouths, and for the next hour, limes taste like candy and vinegar like apple juice. Other choice eats at these parties include bananas, mustard, cheese, dark beer and cheap tequila.

taste testPhoto:
Image by Andrew Yang

The flavour-altering berry (or Synsepalum dulcificum, if you want to be technical), contains a protein called miraculin. When miraculin comes into contact with acids, the result is a sweet, sweet taste in your mouth. We want.

Source: NY Times

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22 comments

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muz khan (not verified) says:

That fruit is sooo awesome!!!!!!!!!!! i want it!

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Rob (not verified) says:

Thinkgeek has tablets made from the berries for sale: http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/candy/ab3f/.

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JoshL (not verified) says:

Hey, this amazing berry really works, haha. I just received my package ( http://www.MiracleFruitWorld.com ) and we were amazed how sweet lemons and oranges can be. Rhubarb was amazing as well and I would bet pineapple was covered with sugar... Haha, I am definately throwing a party for my friends next week to try sugar free cocktails and desserts... I just hope FDA does not mind me using it :)

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web (not verified) says:

"limes taste like candy and vinegar like apple juice."

Finally. I'm sick of eating things that don't taste like other things.

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Linda says:

@why
As the article says, the berries are called Miracle Fruit.

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Stomphoof (not verified) says:

That is freaking COOL! I want one. Then I could eat all the freaking sour crap I could eat and it would tasty like candy!

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Jones (not verified) says:

I wonder if you could grow this plant in your home. That'd be the coolest plant ever. Can we get a follow up blog on how to grow your own taste bud altering plants? :P

P.S. @why

There's always gotta be one bitter tasting berry amongst the sweet ones.

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sabina (not verified) says:

it looks so good,I hope it taste as good.

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Smith (not verified) says:

Well it worked great for me. And it's also great for diabetics i can ssure you that. A friend of mine never leaves home without her Miracle frooties tablets. Nd i kind of like them myself it helped me to eat a bit more healthy since i can easyly cut down on sugar.

0

Ray from Campusfork (not verified) says:

My vote,
star fruit found mostly in Asia.

Fleshy meet with dash of tartness.

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Mike P (not verified) says:

I've tried the tablet form of these, and they didn't work for me as I thought they should have.

It simply left me with a bitter yet fruity after taste. Everything I ate or drank after was only dampened in flavor, not sweeten.

Again though, this might not be the case for everyone, or perhaps the tablets don't work as well as the fruit does.

0

CLEYDE (not verified) says:

wow..really amazing...like to try some day...

0

Miracle Fruit Fan (not verified) says:

I'm putting together a list of flavor tripping parties around the world. So if you know of one let me know at http://miraclefruitfans.org.

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ThaiMed (not verified) says:

Wow, what wonders the natural world does hold for us!

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huh (not verified) says:

Taste tripping parties!!!

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Orin Zebest (not verified) says:

Here's a fun fact about miraculin: it's banned in the United States. Now, you might say: "that's an odd thing to ban." Well, the addictive qualities of chugging mustard-laced vinegar beer aside, there's a good reason. Sugar refiners hate it. They see it as a threat to their product and lobbied to make refining it illegal, thus cutting off the competition. You can have miracle fruit, legally, just don't try to get the good stuff out. Now is a good point to reference the Simpsons episode where they discover that ducks are legally required to wear pants.

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miracleman (not verified) says:

We offer these in both berry and tablet form. They are great for parties or just to try out with a few friends. Check out my website miraclefruitexpress.com

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First (not verified) says:

That's just plain awesome.

Do you know any markets that carry them?

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Alex (not verified) says:

Hey There,
They do sell the fruit in pill form or to be precise, the miraculim is freeze dried then put into pill form. I've tried it myself and lemons are delicious. Though I'd rather try the real fruit, this is all I could settle for and it really does work!

Here's a link to the site I bought it on:
http://www.miracleberrypill.org/

Alrighty, have a good one!
-Alex

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Jiff Mason (not verified) says:

Now that is pretty cool. Much beter than apples! LOL

Jiff
www.privacy-center.ru.tc

0

Ryan (not verified) says:

Nice article but I'd like to know what the berry is called or where some of us in North America might be able to purchase some. Thanks.

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why (not verified) says:

what a lame ass article at least you gave the technical name of the topic dugg down for no name berry unless you want to call it the flavor-altering bs.