‘Miracle Fruit’ Makes Sour Taste Sweet

It has the shape of an almond, the colour of a cranberry, the taste of nothing very much and the name “miracle fruit” -  because it has magical properties. Synsepalum dulcificum, to give it its proper name, originates from West Africa, is now found growing in Florida, and has the unique property of being able to alter the way human taste buds experience sour or bitter foods.  The “miracle fruit” berry, when chewed so that the pulp is exposed to the tongue and the juice released, dramatically alters whatever is tasted afterwards. The result is that for the next 15 to thirty minutes, all sour substances take on a deliciously sweet taste.

Bitter-flavoured fruit like lemons or limes lose their sharpness and taste like sweets. Naturally sweet fruits like oranges become sickeningly sweet. Hot chili and fiery barbecue sauces that normally burn the tongue turn honey sweet minutes after chewing a “miracle fruit” berry.  Some inquisitive tourists and insatiable foodies have been inspired to try out the berries experimentally. And some health food fanatics have been reported to use the berry to sweeten unpalatable juices like aloe vera. But more interesting is the medical research going on in a Miami hospital in Florida to investigate a genuinely therapeutic use for the little berries.

When cancer patients are undergoing chemotherapy, one of the side effects is that they lose their sense of taste; food no longer holds the appealing flavours that encourage appetite. 

"What happens in patients is the food tastes so metallic and bland, it becomes repulsive," said Dr. Mike Cusnir, leading researcher on the project and oncologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center. "Most of the patients undergoing chemotherapy have weight loss. Then they cut further into their diet and then this furthers the weight loss. It causes malnutrition, decreased function of the body and electrolyte imbalance."

The Miami hospital began its study about five months ago to discover whether the sweetening effects of the berry could help to restore the appetite of patients undergoing chemotherapy.  "If you can't eat because everything tastes bitter, and one berry gives you back your taste for a meal, what is it worth?” asks the wife of one patient.  “It's worth everything."
Cusnir filed for an investigational new drug application, which is required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in order to use an unapproved product in a new patient population. He needs 40 cancer patients for his investigation. Preliminary data has not been fully analyzed as yet: a few patients did not discern much of a difference to taste, but most patients have given positive responses,  that the “miracle fruit” berry does restore the sense of taste.

"The majority have given good feedback that it did improve taste," Cusnir said. "A few patients felt there wasn't much change. The feedback is mixed as it usually is in any situation. It's been encouraging." If the results reveal a promise of helping cancer patients to maintain a healthy body weight and appetite, there will be bigger studies, but the process is expected to take several years.

Linda Bartoshuk, a professor at the University of Florida's Center for Smell and Taste, has a previous interest in the berry.  In the 1970s, she studied the fruit while working for the U.S. Navy and Army laboratories.  It contains a natural protein, called miraculin, which has sugar molecules that bind to the tongue, she explains. When acid enters the mouth, the sugar molecules press into the sweet receptors.

Other scientists are investigating how the berries might help people with diabetes and obesity, because they sweeten the taste of food. The miracle fruit has the advantage over sugar of having very few calories and in contrast to artificial sweeteners, miracle berries grow naturally.
 
Bartoshuk said she hasn't seen any reports of dangers from eating the berries, but warned against premature health benefit claims. "Everyone's immediate response is it's an artificial sweetener, it'll help you lose weight," she said. "But the bad side is artificial sweeteners don't help you lose weight. Any real claims for health benefits are going to have to be supported by good research."

CNN