Miracle fruit, native to South Africa, grows as an evergreen bush and produces small, bright red berries. These fruits are a third to a half an inch long, says Andreas W. Ebert in the book "Securing Our Future." Miracle fruit switches sour tastes into sweet tastes, reports the journal "Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications." The alteration can last as much as an hour if you hold a fruit in your mouth for about a minute, reports the "New York Times." A protein called miraculin causes this change when it binds with your taste buds. Have fun trying several foods after chewing this small berry.
Citrus
Limes taste candied when consumed after miracle fruit, according to a New York Times article by Patrick Farrell and Kassie Bracken. Lemon sorbet mixed with a stout beer can gain a taste that resembles a chocolate shake. According to the Wall Street Journal, the fruit can make lemon juice into lemonade. Wedges of citrus fruit are popular at tasting parties featuring miracle fruit, though oranges are often deemed too cloying or sweet after taste buds are altered. The fruit may appeal to dieters, reports Justin McCurry in The Guardian, because they are able to eat low-calorie foods like lemons and appease a sweet tooth at the same time.
Hot Sauce
After eating miracle fruit, hot sauce is easier to tolerate, as it tastes more like honey barbecue sauce than hot peppers, reports Madison Park for CNN. Others have described the new hot sauce taste as resembling doughnut glaze, state Farrell and Bracken. Be careful, however, because the sauce will produce heat as it goes down your throat, Park advises.
Other Foods
Vinegar acquires a taste similar to apple juice, report Farrell and Bracken. Aloe's bitterness simply disappears, notes Park. Goat cheese becomes cheesecake. Miraculin alters your taste via its sugar molecules, which bind to your tongue. When acid enters your mouth, these molecules press into your tongue's sweet receptors, changing your taste perception, says Park.
References
- PubMed: "Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications": Molecular modelling of miraculin: Structural Analyses and Functional Hypotheses; A. Paladino et al.; 2008
- The Guardian newspaper: Miracle Berry Lets Japanese Dieters Get Sweet From Sour; Justin McCurry; Nov. 25, 2005
- Wall Street Journal: "To Make Lemons into Lemonade, Try Miracle Fruit"; Joanna Slater; March 30, 2007
- The New York Times: "A Tiny Fruit that Tricks the Tongue"; Patrick Farrell and Kassie Bracken; May 28, 2008
- "Chemical Senses": Brazzein a Small, Sweet Protein: Discovery and Physiological Overview; Göran Hellekant and Vicktoria Danilova; 2005
