The Berry Miracle: Sugar Without Calories
This little red fruit is aptly called the "miracle berry." Because it has the ability to transform a bitter or tangy flavor, as if by magic, into a sweet one! An incredible phenomenon that can disturb the market for sweeteners and slimming foods.
Like all viewers who watched the excellent investigative magazine "Already Tomorrow" on D8 last Sunday (March 27, 2016), we were amazed. During his investigation, journalist Guy Lagache made us discover a fruit of unexpected virtue because it modifies the perception of food taste. Its name echoes like a promise: Miracle Bay. On the screen, the energetic reporter consumes first a small red raspberry, then immediately a piece of lemon. And there's a surprise: "It looks like lemonade!" He cried out in complete surprise. But how is that possible?
This little red fruit from Ghana has an incredible peculiarity. Its core hides a treasure trove, a specific protein (miraculin) that is able to trick the brain by attaching itself to the sugar-sensitive receptors in the mouth. Schematically, instead of receiving the signal “The food I eat is acidic,” the brain picks up the opposite message of “What I eat is sweet.” The result: everything you eat, after biting off the berries, will taste real sweetness. The duration of this hallucinogenic effect: from one to two hours, depending on the sensitivity of each.
Head to Africa where the berries are eaten like candy. The report takes us to meet Ghanaian children who, on their way to school, pick the small (2 to 3 cm) oval fruit to taste the white pulp. Miracle Berry actually grows on a tree, Synsepalum dulcificum which is part of the Sapotaceae family. There is an
ordinary fruit that is part of the decor. But, realizing its economic potential, the entrepreneur begins to plant it en masse. However, the magical fruit saw its first real success in the United States. It's even become a fashionable ingredient in flavor parties and trendy restaurants. During the selected evenings, the cost of a new tasting experience is about 20 euros. at the entrance you are given the desired berries and on the tables arranged lemon and banana with mustard,
In Chicago, Chef Homaro Cantu is the first to have a passion for this fruit that can be tested in his flagship restaurant. This pioneer has been looking for a way to incorporate the powdered fruit into food for ten years. And people come from afar to enjoy ice cream and cupcakes...without the calories or the guilt. This famous chef has even dedicated a cookbook, "The Miracle Berry Diet Cookbook" to him.
In France, there is no need to look for fresh berries in our markets! However, the plants can be obtained from online garden centers such as Alsagarden. Given the amazing potential of the fruit, one wonders why it is not being tapped into in a world where obesity is accelerating? First, because this fruit is rare and fragile: it spoils quickly so it is not easy to transport or store. Plus, it's not easy to use in the kitchen because miraculin isn't heat stable... Secondo, because sugar and artificial sweetener lobbies don't favorably see the arrival of a product that's likely to overwhelm them.
In the 1970s, an American researcher wanted to develop the commercialization of miraculin. In vain ... the company quickly shut down, victim of a conspiracy by the sugar lobby according to a former manager. Strange ... Just like the information revealed at the end of the show "Already Tomorrow" by journalist Guy Lagache: "Homaru Kanto died tragically ....
Anyway, we didn't finish hearing about this famous miracle berry. In Japan, its pulp has been used for years in the production of foods for diabetics. Like what, it's possible! Studies are underway with the aim of making better use of the amazing property of miraculin. We can't wait...