The Coolest Fruit On Earth

4 years ago Lifestyle

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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Comments

Old Comments

Miracle Fruit Fan says

Jul 23rd, 2009 at 12am
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.

CLEYDE says

Apr 19th, 2009 at 12am
wow..really amazing...like to try some day...

Smith says

Apr 16th, 2009 at 12am
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.

Mike P says

Mar 5th, 2009 at 12am
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.

Ray from Campusfork says

Jan 3rd, 2009 at 12am
My vote, star fruit found mostly in Asia. Fleshy meet with dash of tartness.

sabina says

Oct 3rd, 2008 at 12am
it looks so good,I hope it taste as good.

Jones says

Sep 30th, 2008 at 12am
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.

Linda says

Sep 29th, 2008 at 12am
@why As the article says, the berries are called Miracle Fruit.

Stomphoof says

Sep 29th, 2008 at 12am
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!

JoshL says

Sep 28th, 2008 at 12am
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 :)