My reaction/confusion after eating a miracle fruit and then being given a key lime to taste... (video is 1 min. 30 sec.)
Many people enjoy growing edible plants indoors, and you probably know someone who has at one time offered you some basil or a tomato from their windowsill plants. If anyone ever offers you a berry from a miracle plant, however, you will never forget the experience. Byron (of Logee's), with a look of mischief in his eyes, took advantage of my having never before heard of the miracle fruit...
After plucking a berry and having me eat it he then handed me a SUPER sour-smelling lime. You can see my confusion in the video above or read about it here.
While I expected the lime's sour taste, it never came. I had that sensation when one thinks they are sipping coffee but instead get a sip of Pepsi. The lime was so flavorful and sweet, though, I popped the whole wedge in my mouth like popcorn after the initial shock wore off.
It turns out the berry has a protein in it called miraculin, which masks your ability to taste sour foods, resulting in a very sweet flavor. A sour lime, pickles, bitter ale. All become sweet. The effects of the one berry can last up to half an hour.
This plant can be grown indoors and is happy being grown in a pot, but it does need a good amount of sun to be happy. It was featured along with Byron on the Martha Stewart show earlier this year and will even be the subject of a forthcoming book. The more I looked on the web for information, the more interesting the story of this plant became. There are special cafes in Japan that sell foods with modified recipes to only become sweet after ingesting this berry. And if the accounts on the web are true, this berry was also at one time poised to topple the sugar market.
posted by
Rog
on September 22nd 2007 at 10:56am view
Rog's
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They are amazing! I tried one of this while visiting Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras. They make limes taste so sweet and delicious....not a hint bitterness. If anyone knows any way to obtain these in the United States I would absolutely love to have one--I've found a couple overseas dealers who would only accept massive bulk orders of the plants/seeds (like a gross or more). The actual plant is Synsepalum dulcificum if anyone is curious.
posted by
Msmo423
on September 22nd 2007 at 12:40pm view
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Oh...woops I didn't see the link. I'll be buying one of those :)
posted by
Msmo423
on September 22nd 2007 at 12:45pm view
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How safe are they in longterm consumption?
posted by
Stratos
on September 24th 2007 at 1:54am view
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It seems by the accounts I have read to be safe in both small and large quantities by those who have ingested them. For me it was like eating any other sweet berry. Here is an article that was referenced in the Miracle Plant forums:
Of course one would have to try them for themselves - there always is a possibility for an allergic reaction. Otherwise doesn't seems to have any adverse effects other than the masking of sour tastes for a limited amount of time. And you could also call up Logee's and see what they have to say, since they list it as an edible plant along with trees that have edible citrus fruits, etc;
posted by
mattplantguy
on September 24th 2007 at 9:08am view
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Msmo423 - you should be able to buy them through that site too - just email the owners to check...
posted by
Tom UK
on December 4th 2007 at 4:05pm view
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Just grabbed a few from these guys in New York. You can email them at miracleconnect@Gmail.com, they were really sweet (the guys, ha ha). Mmm, pickels!
posted by
houndoog
on January 17th 2008 at 9:13am view
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I just had a flavor tripping party with lemons, limes, strawberries and other foods and it was crazy! I doubted this would work but sure enough it does. We tried the tablet form instead of the berry I got it from. I just listened to the NPR podcast linked by Rog.
www.MiracleFruitPill.com
They got the best prices and FREE SHIPPING.
posted by
asdf3001
on June 23rd 2009 at 2:02am view
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I'd never heard of this before. As a sugar fiend, I am intrigued...
view J's profile
I heard about this fruit on an NPR segment, pretty cool. Check it out here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9264829
view Rog's profile
They are amazing! I tried one of this while visiting Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras. They make limes taste so sweet and delicious....not a hint bitterness. If anyone knows any way to obtain these in the United States I would absolutely love to have one--I've found a couple overseas dealers who would only accept massive bulk orders of the plants/seeds (like a gross or more). The actual plant is Synsepalum dulcificum if anyone is curious.
view Msmo423's profile
Oh...woops I didn't see the link. I'll be buying one of those :)
view Msmo423's profile
How safe are they in longterm consumption?
view Stratos's profile
It seems by the accounts I have read to be safe in both small and large quantities by those who have ingested them. For me it was like eating any other sweet berry. Here is an article that was referenced in the Miracle Plant forums:
http://www.quisqualis.com/mirfrtdmc1a.html
Of course one would have to try them for themselves - there always is a possibility for an allergic reaction. Otherwise doesn't seems to have any adverse effects other than the masking of sour tastes for a limited amount of time. And you could also call up Logee's and see what they have to say, since they list it as an edible plant along with trees that have edible citrus fruits, etc;
view mattplantguy's profile
Yeah, they are completely safe. See the FAQ at http://miracleUK.info/faq/
Msmo423 - you should be able to buy them through that site too - just email the owners to check...
view Tom UK's profile
Just grabbed a few from these guys in New York. You can email them at miracleconnect@Gmail.com, they were really sweet (the guys, ha ha). Mmm, pickels!
view houndoog's profile
I just had a flavor tripping party with lemons, limes, strawberries and other foods and it was crazy! I doubted this would work but sure enough it does. We tried the tablet form instead of the berry I got it from. I just listened to the NPR podcast linked by Rog.
www.MiracleFruitPill.com
They got the best prices and FREE SHIPPING.
view asdf3001's profile