lemons into sweetness? Well, you are in luck  cuz it actually exists! So today we're going  

to talk about Miracle Berry - a fruit that's  as miraculous as its name suggests! With PAA  

Hi, I am Shao Chieh Lo, welcome to what people  also ask, where I search something seemingly  

obvious and share with you some of its PAA, aka  People Also Ask, which is a feature telling you  

what other people are searching on Google that  relates to your query Today's query is “miracle  

berry”. We will explore what it is and how  it works as well as some lesser-known fun  

facts about it. so What is a miracle berry? This  question can be answered by wikipedia's Synsepalum  

dulcificum entry and Encyclopedia Brittannica's  Miracle Fruit's entry. The Miracle Berry, also  

known as Synsepalum dulcificum, is a plant native  to tropical Africa. It belongs to the Sapotaceae  

family and is scientifically classified under  the kingdom Plantae, in the order Ericales. Its  

other common names include the miraculous berry,  Miracle Fruit, and sweet berry. The Miracle Berry  

is renowned for its unique property of altering  the taste of sour foods to sweet. This is possible  

due to a glycoprotein molecule found in the berry  called miraculin, which binds to the tongue's  

taste buds when the fleshy part of the fruit is  eaten. At neutral pH, miraculin binds and blocks  

the receptors, but when sour foods are consumed,  resulting in a lower pH, miraculin binds proteins  

and activates the sweet receptors, leading to the  perception of a sweet taste. This taste-altering  

effect can last up to about 30 minutes until  the protein is washed away by saliva. However,  

it's worth noting that the berry itself has a low  sugar content and only a mildly sweet tang. The  

berry has been used for centuries, particularly  in West Africa. It was first documented in the  

18th century by European explorer, the Chevalier  des Marchais. More recently, in the United States,  

there was an attempt to commercialize the fruit  for its unique ability to make non-sweet foods  

taste sweet without a caloric cost. However,  the Food and Drug Administration classified the  

berry as a food additive and required evidence  of safety, which has limited its commercial  

use. Today, in tropical West Africa, the fruit  pulp is used to sweeten palm wine and improve  

the flavor of soured cornbread. It's also used  as a sweetener and flavoring agent for diverse  

beverages and foods, like beer, cocktails,  vinegar, and pickles. However, importing  

Synsepalum dulcificum (specifically, 'miraculin')  from Taiwan has been banned in the United States  

since 2011, as the FDA declared it an "illegal  undeclared sweetener". In contrast, in 2021,  

Baïa Food Co. in Spain was granted permission  to put Dried Miracle Berry on the EU market.  

It's worth to mention that other species such as  Gymnema sylvestre and Thaumatococcus daniellii  

are also sometimes referred to as miracle fruit  or miracle berry due to their ability to alter  

the perceived sweetness of foods. Furthermore,  in scientific research, transgenic tomato plants  

have been developed that produce miraculin.  One example is a research titled “Production  

of recombinant miraculin using transgenic tomatoes  in a closed cultivation system” published in the  

Journal of Agricultural and food chemistry  in 2010. In this research ,the researchers  

built a special system to grow genetically  modified tomatoes that produce miraculin,  

a protein that can make sour foods taste sweet.  They controlled the amount of light, temperature,  

and carbon dioxide to help the tomatoes grow well.  The tomatoes thrived under these conditions and  

produced a lot of fruit - over 270 grams of fresh  weight per plant. The researchers found that these  

tomatoes could produce up to 90 micrograms of  miraculin for every gram of fresh-weight of  

the tomatoes. The team compared the amount  of miraculin produced by tomatoes grown in  

this special system to those grown in a netted  greenhouse, which is another common way to grow  

tomatoes. They found that the genetically modified  tomatoes grown in the controlled system produced a  

more consistent amount of miraculin, suggesting  that this method is a better way to grow these  

tomatoes. Finally, the researchers calculated that  in one year, they could harvest around 45 tons of  

fresh-weight tomatoes and about 4 kilograms  of miraculin from a 1,000-square-meter area  

using this cultivation system. In simpler terms,  this method can be used to produce a large amount  

of miraculin reliably and consistently. As you  might have noticed miracle berry is interesting,  

and governments like to ban interesting things.  So Are miracle berries illegal? This question  

can be answered by an article titled “Miracle  berry – developing its promise” published by New  

Food Magazine, which is a digital publication  that features content on a range of topics in  

the global food and beverage industry, including  food safety, new technologies, regulatory updates,  

scientific research, and product innovations.  According to this article, In the United States,  

miraculin is considered a food additive and does  not have GRAS status (aka Generally Recognised  

As Safe) due to insufficient safety data. The US  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously  

denied attempts to gain legal approval for miracle  berry products. However, cultivation and sale  

of miracle berries are permitted, and events  utilizing their flavor-altering properties are  

increasingly popular in bars, restaurants, and  hotels. In the European Union, miraculin does  

not have a specific legal status. However, the  miracle berry is on the EU list of novel foods.  

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel  on Nutrition, Novel Foods, and Food Allergens  

concluded that the lyophilized fruits (aka Freeze  dried fruit) of S. dulcificum are safe for use as  

or in food supplements at a maximum intake level  of 0.7 g/day, excluding pregnant and lactating  

women. This is due to insufficient scientific  data available for these subgroups. In Japan,  

there are no restrictions on selling miracle  berries. Despite these regional regulations,  

miracle berries are not universally approved  as a food additive due to a lack of extensive  

scientific studies. Nonetheless, they are grown  extensively in Asia, the US, and Latin America,  

and are available in various forms including  fresh and dried fruits, juices, fruit seed oils,  

freeze-dried powders, canned fruits, and tablets  containing miraculin. Do miracle berries have  

side effects? This question can be answered by  an article titled “Miracle Berry Side Effects”  

published by Livestrong.com which is a health  and wellness website. According to this article,  

Miracle berries are generally considered safe with  minimal side effects. However, some potential side  

effects may occur including: Overconsumption of  acidic foods: The active ingredient in Miracle  

Berries, miraculin, alters the perception of  taste, making sour foods taste sweet. This might  

encourage people to consume these foods in larger  quantities than usual. This could potentially be  

harmful, leading to issues like stomach upset or  heartburn, especially if high-acidity foods are  

consumed in excess. Long-lasting taste alteration:  Some people have reported that the taste-altering  

effect of miraculin lasted longer than expected,  in rare cases up to 18 hours. This could cause  

anxiety in some individuals, although the effect  is temporary. Unexpected flavor enhancement:  

There have also been instances where other  flavors, such as saltiness, were enhanced,  

which could be problematic for people  who weren't anticipating this effect.  

Potential risks for children: While miraculin does  not mask the bitter taste of harmful substances,  

there's a concern that the fruit's taste-altering  effect could potentially put children at risk of  

consuming harmful substances, misunderstanding  their real taste due to the sweet perception  

induced by the berries. Overall, while the  Miracle Berry is generally considered safe,  

these potential side effects should be taken  into account, especially when consuming foods  

with strong flavors or potentially harmful  substances. If you made it to the end of the  

video, chances are that you enjoy learning what  people also ask on Google. But let's face it,  

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