Miracle fruit's flowering, fruiting behaviors revealed
Miracle berry (Synsepalum dulcificum), also known as miracle fruit, is a valuable horticultural species indigenous to West Africa. The authors of a study in the June 2016 issue of HortScience say that miracle fruit is "a very promising species" that has not been adequately studied. "Miracle fruit is a rare fruit crop with high economical value in the medical and food industry," they explained. The fleshy pulp of the miracle fruit contains miraculin, a glycoprotein that has an extraordinary effect on taste buds in the tongue: it makes sour or acidic food taste sweet. The authors said that miraculin could "possibly help diabetics to eat sweet food without taking in sugar," and they noted that the fruit has already been investigated as for its potential as a natural food sweetener.