Taste Sweetness with Miracle Fruit Berries

[DyslexicHobo]

Has anyone tried these? They're called miracle fruit berries and make sour things taste extremely sweet. Apparently they make lemon water taste like super-sweet lemonade, and make vinegar taste like a mildly sweet juice.

I ordered some a week ago and they're waiting at my house now. I can't wait to get home and try them! I bought the tab forms because they were cheaper. The berries were about $5 each while the tabs were only $2.

http://dailycandor.com/flavor-tripping-with-the-miracle-fruit-miracle-berry/

 

[matthyaouw]

They look really interesting. I've wanted to try them for a while, but I'm a bit skeptical about them. They're probably safe to use, but I'm still a bit uneasy.

 

[WarPhalange]

They bought 30 for $3 a piece? Wow.

 

[hypatia]

I have a friend with cancer, who takes the fruit because it reportedly alleviates a metallic taste in his mouth. One of the side-effects of chemotherapy.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I tried them last night, and boy was it an awesome experience. My sister and I were drinking lemon water and it tasted just like lemonade. We tried vinegar, and it tasted like slightly sugared water, but once the fumes came back out through our noses it wasn't the most pleasant experience. I'm not usually a fan of grapefruit due to the bitterness of it, and when I do eat fresh grapefruit I load it up with sugar. I cut open a fresh grapefruit (which wasn't sweet at all, according to my step-dad) and ate it with no sugar; it was the most tasty citrus fruit I'd ever eaten. We also tried tomatoes, but it still tasted like a tomato to me. Limes were probably my favorite. The rind was still very bitter, so as long as I ate just the pulp it tasted like fresh limeade (which is one of my favorite drinks!). It was amazing to drink something so tasty and know that it had virtually no sugars, perservatives, or artificial sweeteners. It's not something I'm going to spend a lot of money on, but it was definitely worth the experience and shock factor. I'm going to use the other 8 tabs I bought to have a mini miracle fruit berry party. :) Lemon and lime h'orderves, strawberries, and vinegar cocktails. I wonder if the strong taste of alcohol would be dulled by these berries... but that's for another time!

These were awesome!

 

[Monique]

you are a real experimenter! I'd also like to try such a berry, when I can get my hands on it. The following thread might be of interest to you: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=245142

 

[Evo]

It's a well known fact that the chemical cynarin in artichokes makes the foods you eat after it taste sweet.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/178/4064/988

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I see they have tablets for sale too. I wonder if the whole berry is better or the tablet? Also if you order the berries by mail, how are they fresh?

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I see they have tablets for sale too. I wonder if the whole berry is better or the tablet? Also if you order the berries by mail, how are they fresh?

I bought the tablets, and they supposedly contain about 3 berries freeze-dried and pressed into tablet form. They are about 2mm wide and 3/4mm thick. It dissolved in my mouth in about a minute. The tablet didn't have much taste, but it kind of reminded me of a cranberry (but sweeter). The tablet had a very strong effect and lasted over an hour. I don't know how good the fresh berries are comparatively, but I imagine they can't be much more effective.

 

[hypatia]

My friend tells me the fresh berry's are shipped overnight express, on the day they are picked. His come from Florida. They last 3 to 4 days, and are about as costly as the pill form.

 

[Monique]

Does anyone have an idea why the berry was not approved by the FDA as a food additive?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

So I finally got my hands on some tablets. Tried one out and... it actually does work! I HATE plain yogurt, so I bought a tub. I popped in a tablet, let it dissolve and started eating the yogurt like it was pudding. WOW! Then I ate some blackberries and wow were they sweet. This is fantastic! Only thing was the effect lasted a short 10-15min for me. Still enjoyable and well worth it.

 

[LowlyPion]

From Wikipedia:
"Drawbacks
Because miraculin is a protein, it cannot be cooked as, when heated, proteins denature and lose their potency. Additionally, its effects might be considered dangerous as, though miraculin does change the perception of taste, it does not change the food's chemistry. Therefore, the mouth is still vulnerable to the high acidity of some foods, such as lemon juice, which may result in oral ulcers if eaten in large quantities."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

 

[Evo]

From Wikipedia:
"Drawbacks
Because miraculin is a protein, it cannot be cooked as, when heated, proteins denature and lose their potency. Additionally, its effects might be considered dangerous as, though miraculin does change the perception of taste, it does not change the food's chemistry. Therefore, the mouth is still vulnerable to the high acidity of some foods, such as lemon juice, which may result in oral ulcers if eaten in large quantities."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

Thanks LP, good to know.

 

[binzing]

Cool, but you still lose enamel...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Cool, but you still lose enamel...

Please explain

 

[Evo]

Please explain

Acid eats off tooth enamel.

 

[John Bosnich]

So I finally got my hands on some tablets. Tried one out and... it actually does work! I HATE plain yogurt, so I bought a tub. I popped in a tablet, let it dissolve and started eating the yogurt like it was pudding. WOW! Then I ate some blackberries and wow were they sweet. This is fantastic! Only thing was the effect lasted a short 10-15min for me. Still enjoyable and well worth it.

I tried my first MF tablet about a month ago (green packaging) >:-( . I didn't like the acid taste that much, but the effect was off the charts! :-/

 

[kingdomof]

Acid eats off tooth enamel.

Anions (such as a dissolved acid) will react with Ca+2.