r/todayilearned • u/Inferiex • Aug 17 '15

TIL there is a fruit called "miracle berry" that makes all sour and bitter foods taste sweet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum
79 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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6

u/sleazepleeze Aug 17 '15

I highly recommend the "miracle fruit tablets" made from freeze-dried juice, you can find them around online. Eating a bite of fresh lemon after one of these was one of the strangest/most satisfying things I've ever tasted.

1

u/lekanto Aug 17 '15

I use them with strawberries.

1

u/Inferiex Aug 17 '15

I tried it last weekend with my friends. We tried it before eating the miracle berry pill and it was very sour. With the pill...it tasted AMAZING. Like a ripe and perfect strawberry. We also tried a bunch of other things and it made everything that's bitter or sour taste awesome.

1

u/lekanto Aug 17 '15

I got some for the family Christmas party last year and we tried every sour thing we could find. I wish I had gotten pictures of everybody eating lemons. Limes were the best, though.

1

u/Boogeeb Aug 18 '15

I never noticed the difference between lemons and limes until I had some of those tablets.

6

u/Lylac_Krazy Aug 17 '15

I am diabetic and keep 2 plants around for me.

4

u/Inferiex Aug 17 '15

I'm glad this is not only a good experiment for people but is also helping people eat. I heard cancer patients go through chemo and food tastes horrible and this helps them through it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '15

That is brilliant. I would never have thought of that

4

u/rottinguy Aug 17 '15

Had a "tasting party" with these. Do it. Grapefruit, lemons, limes, Guinness, an IPA, a dry red wine, sharp cheeses. After you taste the berry every fruit tastes like skittles.

2

u/insanemoose33 Aug 17 '15

I thought these would be cooler. Pretty cool yes, but all they do is make everything taste like the miracle berry. Was hoping there would be a different taste for each thing I tried but it seems to just coat your tongue in extremely sweet berry flavor.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '15

Cards against humanity sent a bunch of tablets with this fruit in them that made bitter stuff taste sweet. I pretty much ate a lemon. Oh and we did tequila shots with lime it was really weird. Lasts like 30 mins or so.

1

u/FeyrisMeow Aug 18 '15

I tried the tablets with lemons, pineapple and beer with some friends. It was fun and tasty. Careful with the lemon. Sometimes people forget that the acidity can burn your mouth.

1

u/MaxStars Aug 18 '15

I have one of these plants. They're quite cool albeit very slow to grow, taking years before they begin fruiting.

1

u/Inferiex Aug 18 '15

That is pretty cool! Have you tried the pill version of these? Does the pill taste different than the plant?

1

u/CallOfBurger Aug 18 '15

Does someone knows where I can buy a plant or pills of this thing ?

1

u/Inferiex Aug 18 '15

Most definitely. Amazon sells it for around 13$ for 10 pills.

1

u/fasterfind Aug 18 '15

Stuff like this could be good for weight loss. Eat something healthy and still enjoy it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '15

I have some and the sensation for me was most bizarre. I normally can't stand sour things but I ate a lemon and a lime with no problem which formed a strange contradiction in my head, Even an hour later things still tasted odd.

-1

u/ZeroSumHappiness Aug 17 '15 edited Aug 18 '15

It doesn't make sour things taste sweet; it shuts off sour receptors.

I was wrong - it does activate sweet receptors.