There are not many people familiar with miracle fruits and why they are called miracle fruits. The fruits are oval-shaped and small in size with bright red color skin when ripened, closely look like melinjo fruits (gnetum gnemon). They taste bland plus a little bit sour. There are two types of known miracle fruits; they are Synsepalum dulcificum and Synsepalum subcordatum. The significant differences between the two are Synsepalum subcordatum has larger leaves and fruits plus products fruits more frequently compared to Synsepalum dulcificum.
What makes the fruits Miracle Fruits is their ability to turn sour into sweet. Extremely sour fruits such as limes or tamarinds will instantly taste sweet if consumed after biting into these miracle fruits. According to the study, miracle fruits contain a chemical compound called miraculin, the agent involved in changing the taste. In principle, miraculin works by coating the nerves responsible for recognizing sour taste in the tongue. Miraculin covers the tongue so that the certain part of the tongue is made 'numb' and is ‘deceived’, sensing acids as sugar. As a result, after we eat (chew) this magical fruit the water we drink or any sour fruit we eat will certainly taste sweet.
Accordingly, the role of miraculin is only to change the taste perception, or once more 'deceive' the tongue. In actual fact, miraculin does not turn acidic compounds into sugar. Our digestive system will still respond to sour fruits as sour fruits; limes will be recognized as limes, tamarinds will be recognized as tamarinds, and so forth. The effect lasts about 30 minutes. After that, the tongue will go back to normal, sour taste will once more be perceived sour.
Beyond the two miracle fruits, there is also a fruit with a very similar effect. It is called Marasi (curculigo latifolia). Marasi is small in size, elongates (about 1 to 2 cm length), and contains lots of black tiny seeds. The substance which causes the change in taste is curculin. Akin to miraculin, curculin manipulates the taste by turn flavored drinks and foods we consume into sweet. However, different to miraculin, curculin effect lasts only about 4 minutes. In addition, curculin in Marasi is the only protein that tastes sweet so that curculin is believed to be a potential substitute for sugar to prevent diabetes.
The small number of their cultivation and the fact that they can turn sour into sweet plus provide medical usefulness make miracle fruits undeniably miraculous, attracting many world scientists to conduct further research on the fruits.
What makes the fruits Miracle Fruits is their ability to turn sour into sweet. Extremely sour fruits such as limes or tamarinds will instantly taste sweet if consumed after biting into these miracle fruits. According to the study, miracle fruits contain a chemical compound called miraculin, the agent involved in changing the taste. In principle, miraculin works by coating the nerves responsible for recognizing sour taste in the tongue. Miraculin covers the tongue so that the certain part of the tongue is made 'numb' and is ‘deceived’, sensing acids as sugar. As a result, after we eat (chew) this magical fruit the water we drink or any sour fruit we eat will certainly taste sweet.
Accordingly, the role of miraculin is only to change the taste perception, or once more 'deceive' the tongue. In actual fact, miraculin does not turn acidic compounds into sugar. Our digestive system will still respond to sour fruits as sour fruits; limes will be recognized as limes, tamarinds will be recognized as tamarinds, and so forth. The effect lasts about 30 minutes. After that, the tongue will go back to normal, sour taste will once more be perceived sour.
Beyond the two miracle fruits, there is also a fruit with a very similar effect. It is called Marasi (curculigo latifolia). Marasi is small in size, elongates (about 1 to 2 cm length), and contains lots of black tiny seeds. The substance which causes the change in taste is curculin. Akin to miraculin, curculin manipulates the taste by turn flavored drinks and foods we consume into sweet. However, different to miraculin, curculin effect lasts only about 4 minutes. In addition, curculin in Marasi is the only protein that tastes sweet so that curculin is believed to be a potential substitute for sugar to prevent diabetes.
The small number of their cultivation and the fact that they can turn sour into sweet plus provide medical usefulness make miracle fruits undeniably miraculous, attracting many world scientists to conduct further research on the fruits.
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