Gives a new meaning to sweet pickles!

I first heard about miracle fruit a few months ago in an NPR story. Miracle fruit, Sideroxylon dulcificum, is a pretty amazing little berry that is native to West Africa. There is a compound in miracle fruit that desensitizes the bitter and sour taste buds, making foods taste surprisingly sweet. The claim is that if you eat a miracle fruit berry and then suck a lemon, it will taste like lemonade!

This is a pretty awesome property, especially for people who need to reduce sugar for medical reasons or just a health interest in reducing processed sugar. Some companies are working on a way to mass produce the compound, miraculin, as a food additive. I am looking forward to when this becomes available -- another natural sweetener. It may take some time for this to happen; miracle fruit is somewhat delicate and can take 10 years to grow to fruit-producing maturity. Also, the fruit only lasts a day or two after being picked, making it hard for the fruit to get to market.

Here's the thing I didn't know -- Miracle fruit has been around for more than 30 years. In fact, it was developed as a tablet in the 1970s. However, there was a big setback when the FDA ruled that miraculin was a food additive and needed extensive testing before being included in food. Facing a several year testing process, the company abandoned the project. I can only hope that a similar setback won't prevent miracle fruit from coming to the market sometime soon. I can't wait to try it!