Plant of the Week 08/21/2006: Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum)

Plant of the Week 08/21/2006

Synsepalum dulcificum (Schumacher & Thonning) Daniell

Photographed by: Chelsie Vandaveer
Credits: Miracle fruit in personal collection.
Other Information: Olympus C-8080wz

The miracle or miraculous fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum (Schumacher & Thonning) Daniell) is a small tree/large shrub in the Sapotaceae, the sapodilla family. Native to West Africa, it grows in the acidic soils of tropical lowlands. The leaves are thin, papery-leathery, and evergreen. The flowers are tiny—less than a centimeter—and white, but produce remarkably large, inch long, bright red berries. In a pot on a patio, the plant appears festive.

The fruit is best known for its ability to 'tamper' with the taste buds. The single-seeded berry is bland, insipid, but contains a glycoprotein, miraculin. It is a large molecule, molecular weight 44,000, containing 189 amino acids and 5 carbohydrates. Miraculin offers a way to taste sweetness when acids (sour taste) are present in the food, but does not alter the tastes of sweet, salty, or bitter. See Weird Plants, March 4 2004.

Miracle fruit has been and is under study for use as an artificial sweetener. So far, it has defied commercial exploitation. The berry has a short shelf life—only a few days—making it difficult to get it to stores and sold before decay sets in. The seed is large so the actual amount of fruit is small. Extracting and refining enough miraculin for a commercial sweetener is prohibited by the huge amount of berries needed. But geneticists are attempting to get bacteria to produce the molecule.

Besides making sour foods taste better, Africa natives use the berry for medicinal purposes. Dr. Peter Oni of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria reports the fruit is given to reduce fevers and as a treatment for diabetes, malaria, piles, and acute coughs.

(Compiled from: Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, NY 1976; "Miracle Fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum Daniell", California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. 1996; "Complete Purification and Characterization of the Taste-modifying Protein, Miraculin, from Miracle Fruit", Sarroch Theerasilp and Yoshie Kurihara, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 263, No. 23, 1988; "Mailbox, Sweet by Nature", Spore, Issue 124, Aug. 2006)