Miracle Berry: The Food of the Future?

A recent discovery of an ancient berry native to West Africa has sparked the interest of Chef Cantu in Chicago and has received widespread attention with his use of the berries becoming popular and ground-breaking.  This berry is organic and contains a specific protein known as miraculin which has been shown to attach to sour receptors in the mouth that temporarily change the flavors of what you are eating.  This new fruit has created quite a stir with its unique ways to add flavor to particular foods, and as a super food to potentially be added into your menus.

The potential benefits of this “miracle berry” are…

Helps to Reduce and Eliminate Sugar:  Because the special protein in these berries tends to make sour tastes sweet, this can help to reduce the amount of refined sugar intake because you can eat foods low in sugar and they will still seem sweet.

Alters the flavor of foods:  When Chef Cantu gave a presentation to a recent audience, he first had them consume a pill-form of the fruit which is nicknamed the “miracle fruit”, and then eat a slice of lemon. While lemon is usually bitter and extremely sour, the miraculin altered the taste receptors and made the lemon taste sweet like lemonade, not sour.  It also claims to change the flavor of plain Greek Yogurt with a squeeze of lime juice to taste like cheesecake!

Adds fun with cooking and experimenting:  It’s purported that after eating this berry or taking the pill-form, limes will taste like oranges and hot peppers will be sweet and mild.  This kind of flavor change can help to create more fun and testing in the kitchen for new ideas you may never have tried before!

While this new berry is still new to the market, Chef Cantu as well as others believe that this can be a wave of the future; not only promoting the miracle berry as a health food, but also using the power of these altered tastes to create delicious foods that otherwise might not be thought of as flavorful.  However like all “miracles” that pop up in the consumer market, more testing is required to know the effects this fruit has on the body before jumping in to make it a staple in your eating.

Would you try the “miracle berry”?

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