The Miracle Fruit or Miracle Berry is a West African fruit that can change any bitter or sour taste to sickly sweet for a period of time after eating it, and it could change how we think of sugar forever. Even the sourest lemons and limes are magically transformed. It’s called the Synsepalum dulcificum, and it's now available to buy in seed, plant and fruit form in the United States, and even in capsule form, from Japan.
Frenchman Des Marchais first encountered the Miracle Fruit in the 16th century in West Africa, when he encountered a group of tribesmen who used the magic berry to pep up their astonishingly bitter and sour diets of beer, oats, and bitter plants. In the 19th century, it finally got a proper Latin name, Synsepalum Dulcifum, thanks to Dr. W.F. Daniell, and Miracle Fruit slowly seeped its way into the consciousness of the Western world, culminating in a mid-70s push to get FDA approval for a sweetener produced by the Mirlin Corporation derived from the active ingredient. The active ingredient that turns sour sweet is called miraculin, and it's a glycoprotein. Things looked good, but thanks to a confluence of interests, namely Big Sugar, the FDA summarily didn't approve it, and cultivation was left to a small but dedicated group of exotic fruit enthusiasts. (Canadian author Adam Gollner covers some of the intrigue in his book, "The Fruit Hunters," which I would highly recommend you pick up, especially if you have any interest in fruit at all.) It could have proved a real boon to many diabetics. Considering all we know about the damage caused by corn syrup, America's obesity levels might be at a more reasonable rate.
A Japanese businessman and fruit lover named Mitsuhara Shimamura has recently created a Miracle Fruit tablet that produces the same reaction as eating the fruit, and all across North America, small outcroppings of fruit enthusiasts and green thumbs are starting to sell the plants and berries of the Miracle Fruit. Below are a list of companies from which you can order Miracle Fruit, in either seed, plant, berry and even tablet form.
(Article Continues Below)
Sponsored Links
Perfect for any Occasion! Hand Packed & Guaranteed to Please.
Fresh Produce From Mexico. We Ship Anywhere! Place Your Order Today.
Same day delivery on fresh fruit baskets scultped like flowers.
USA Suppliers
California
Papaya Tree Nursery Located in California, PTN offers plant sales (pick-up only) and sales of the Miracle Fruit Berries. Customers can place advance orders, or order dried fruits. The general price is around $35 for 20 fruits, and includes shipping.
Connecticut
Logee’s Greenhouse Logee’s are in Connecticut, and offer a unique service. They’ll “Custom Grow” a Miracle Fruit plant – a process that takes as little as 3 months or as long as 9-12 months, depending on time of year, availability and so on. They then ship the plant.
Florida
Curtis Mozie Mr. Mozie sells plants, fruit, and seeds, if you’re feeling ambitious.
Gardino Nursery Gardino only sells Miracle Fruit Plants.
Jene’s Tropicals Plants
Pine Island Nursery Plants
Top Tropicals Plants
Texas
River’s End Nursery and Farm River’s End sell both the Miracle Fruit plants and the fruit in berry form.
Japan
Miracle Fruit
The infamous Mitsuharu Shimamura developed tablets, sold at $3.50 per tablet. ½ a tablet is more than enough to produce the Miracle Berry’s famous sweetening sensation for a couple of hours.
Heat will destroy the active ingredient in the berry, so you can't can it, make jam or preserves, bake anything or use dried berries and expect the same effects. Refrigerating or freezing the berry will preserve the effect for a while, however.
