Miracles of the Tongue

If somebody had told me that there was a substance called miraculin, I would have laughed: it sounds too much like third-rate science fiction, complete with pidgin-Latin pharmaceutical lingo.

Apparently, it does exist. And it is called so because of its "miraculous" effect on the taste buds.
It turns the taste of Tabasco sauce into the taste of "hot donut glaze"; and lemons "sweet as candy".

It isn't a healing fruit - not that we know, that is - and yet I can see how it could turn out to be nothing short of a miracle in many people's lives.

Imagine a person who is addicted to sweets and wants to stop or reduce their intake.
Unless s/he stops eating sweets, s/he won't succeed.
But sweets are hard to ditch, unless you have a very good "replacement" - or very strong motivation.
This "miracle fruit" could be both. Our sweet-toothed person wouldn't have to eat sweets anymore: after having a berry or two, s/he could just bite a lemon - and it would taste "sweet as candy".

What else could you possibly want?
Oh, the facts about the nutritional value...?

Here are the fruit facts for you.





And here's an excerpt from the FAQ article above, that shows you the working - and the shortcomings - of the pharma-driven research data:

"Commercial Potential: The plant is not important as a food crop. Attempts to exploit the striking effect on perception of sour flavors in development of artificial sweeteners have not been successful but are continuing."

Oh really...?
Who the heck wants yet another artificial sweetener, when the fruit could clearly be "exploited" to enhance the flavours of otherwise sour or just plain disagreeable edibles (yes, sometimes we all have to ingest them) and make them FUN?

Here's another excerpt, from the NYT article from the links above (for those who are too lazy to click):

"During the 1970s, a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration dashed hopes that an extract of miraculin could be sold as a sugar substitute. In the absence of any plausible commercial application, the miracle fruit has acquired a bit of a cult following."

Well, all I can say is... that sounds like a "cult" worth joining. ;)


Anyway, you be the judge.
Try it on your own here.
Or buy it here.