Miraculin
Information on chemical composition and its applications




Miraculin

Miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) is the botanical source of miraculin and an understudied tropical fruit species with potential as a natural, noncaloric sweetener. Miraculin changes the perception of sour (acidic) foods and beverages to sweet by temporarily modifying taste receptors on the tongue. 1

At Florida State University in Tallahassee, a professor of biophysics. Dr. Lloyd Beidler, began his studies of miracle fruit in the late 1950's. Together with Dr. Kenzo Kurihara, he successfully isolated the active principle, publishing their results in "Science", Vol. 161, September 20, 1968. Research performed independently in the Netherlands under the sponsorship of the Unilever Company culminated in the same year. It was found that a glycoprotein causes the taste-modification effect, a giant, 'macro-molecule' with a molecular weight of 44/000. The size of this molecule made it difficult, if not impossible, to synthesize it. This was one of the reasons I. M. C. had determined that the miracle fruit had no real commercial potential; vast plantations would have been necessary to supply enough fruit for the large scale production they envisioned. 2

Drs. Beidler and Kurihara had access to a sufficient number of fresh berries, which were grown in a greenhouse at the university. The miracle fruits were stored in the deep freeze until needed; 300 at a time were used to make a potent solution through standard scientific procedures. Through their thorough tests, they discovered that the taste-modifying activity was destroyed by heat, or when exposed to organic solvents, and was greatly reduced by exposure to pH above 12.0 or below 2.5 at room temperature. Situations with a pH of 3.7 and temperature of 4°C caused the activity to remain stable for one month. 2

It was also concluded that the protein was basic, and contains no other protein within the active component. It does have bound to it two sugar molecules; the active principle therefore contains a small amount of sugar—6.7%, which was determined not to be an impurity. This is what makes the active principle of S. dulcificum a glycoprotein. Glycoproteins are known to be completely innocent of any toxicity and are readily metabolized by the body. 2

Noncaloric, natural sweeteners are increasing in popularity as a means to reduce sugar content in foods and beverages. These natural sweeteners have distinct flavor characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses including metallic or other off flavors. Miraculin from miracle fruit is a protein noncaloric, natural sweetener. The protein interacts with sweet taste receptors on the tongue and increases the perception of sweetness in the presence of an acid. Therefore, the perceived sweetness of foods like lemons and strawberries is greatly increased without additional sugar. The major strength of the miraculin as a noncaloric sweetener is that its flavor profile is the closest to sugar when compared to other natural sweeteners, and it is free from metallic off flavors. 1

Miraculin has been well studied for its sweet-inducing properties. The overall sweetening sensory impact is ~400,000 times that of sugar, though a direct comparison is challenging. Miracle fruit and miraculin are available through online vendors in multiple formats, including live plants, fresh fruit, and freeze-dried fruit powder. Miraculin has also been reported to reduce sugar without reducing the perception of sweetness, improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce the metallic taste of foods during administration of chemotherapy treatments. These reports should be interpreted cautiously because many of these studies included either small sample sizes or did not measure impacts in human subjects.Therefore, miracle fruit should not be considered as a treatment for disease and should not replace consultation with competent medical professionals for legitimate health concerns. 1

Today, miracle fruit can be sold as a natural product, but miraculin requires additional safety assessment before it can be sold as a food or a food additive. Purified miraculin is a relatively new product, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status is pending in the United States. Preliminary attempts to obtain GRAS status for miraculin from the FDA in the 1970s were denied due to lack of safety information (lack of “substantial history of consumption of the substances by a significant number of consumers in the United States,” US FDA 1977 Federal Register 42, 26467–26468). The rejection of GRAS status for miraculin has become the subject of conspiracy theories and a number of popular press stories pitting special-interest commodity groups against miracle fruit. 1

The berry has been used in West Africa since at least the 18th century, when a European explorer, the Chevalier des Marchais, provided an account of its use there. Des Marchais, who was searching West Africa for many different fruits in a 1725 excursion, noticed that local people picked the berry from shrubs and chewed it before meals. 3

The Miracle Fruit Cubes are now available through the pharmacy of the Miami Cancer Institute Baptist Health Sout Florida. They are the first and only dietary supplement ever approved by Baptist for sale and distribution to their patients within their entire network of hospitals. 4

Further Reading
Complete Purification and Characterization of the Taste-modifying Protein, Miraculin, from Miracle Fruit, Journal of Biological Chemistry 1988 pdf
Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Potential of Miraculin and Miracle Berry, Tropical Journal of Natural Product 2018 pdf
Safety of dried fruits of Synsepalum dulcificum as a novelfood pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, Scientific Opinion, 2021
Nutritional benefits, phytochemical constituents, ethnomedicinal uses and biological properties of Miracle fruit plant (Synsepalum dulcificum Shumach. & Thonn. Daniell), PubMed Central, National Library of Medecine, 2020 pdf
Sysephalum dulcificum: the miracle behind the miracle fruit!, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 2022 pdf
Consumer Likings of Different Miracle Fruit Products on Different Sour Foods, PubMed Central, National Library of Medecine, 2020 pdf
Synsepalum dulcificum, Memorial Sloan Kerrering Cancer Center ext. link

Bibliography

1 Demesyeux, Lynhe, et al. "Growing Miracle Fruit for Specialty Crop Production in Florida." Horticultural Sciences Dept., UF/IFAS Extension, Original pub. Sept. 2022, AskIFAS, doi.org/10.32473/edis-HS1449-2022, edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/HS/HS1449/HS1449-Dkx27syonb.pdf. Accessed 26 Nov. 2022.
2 McVicar Cannon, Donna. "The Old Sweet Lime Trick." Quisqualis Rare Fruit, Tropical Fruit and Rare Plant Information, 1992, 2006, www.quisqualis.com. Accessed 1 Mar. 2015.
3 "Sysephalum dulcificum." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum. Accessed 5 Dec. 2022.
4 "Miracle Fruit." Miracle Fruit Farm, www.miraclefruitfarm.com/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

Published 3 Jan. 2017 LR. Last update 5 Dec. 2022 LR
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