Written on April 5, 2009 at 4:16 pm by Patrick McDowell

Turning Sour Things Sweet, the “Miracle Fruit”

Filed under Diet, Health News

Ever heard of a small fruit that alters your taste buds, making all sour things sweet? Synsepalum dulcificum, also known as the “Miracle Fruit” is a West African native berry that has been enjoying a recent refresh in American interest. Chewing the fruit, or letting one of the commercial tablets dissolve in your mouth, will turn anything bitter or sour you eat sweet for approximately ten minutes.

The little berry has been getting a lot of media attention lately due to recent success with cancer patients. After chemotherapy, patients taste buds are often dulled, giving all foods a very bland taste. After a while, patients have no desire to eat anymore, and can go through rapid weight loss. Dr. Mike Cusnir, a leading researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center, says that the majority of his patients utilizing the berry have experienced improved taste buds.

Although many people have never heard of them, they are by no means new. In fact in the 70’s there was a failed attempt to commercialize them, with a lot of controversy. When submitted to the FDA, it was supposed to be labeled as a sweetener, because there was not a caloric penalty involved. Instead the FDA labeled it as a “dietary supplement”, pretty much destroying any chance of success it may have had. Many believe that the FDA was trying to protect the sugar industry at the time.