Miracle Fruit

It’s cool to see a revival of interest of what people call the Miracle Fruit – it even made it to Digg’s front page

I was amused because I remember tasting the said fruit months ago; it is indeed just like the article says.

To give you an idea of the size of the berry, here’s a picture I took of it with a Calamansi (Philippine Lemon):

Here’s the science behind it (via WikiPedia).

The berry is sweet, and contains an active glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue’s taste buds, causing bitter and sour foods (such as lemons and limes) consumed later to taste sweet. This effect lasts between thirty minutes and two hours. It is not a sweetener, as its effects depend on what is eaten afterwards, but has been used to sweeten bitter medicines.

I’d have to disagree with the 30 minute period though, more like a minute or two if you ask me, maybe it depends on how many of these berries you chew down (I only did one that last time, and you already know how small these suckers are)