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  • Have you ever wished for a magical berry  that could transform the sour taste of  

  • 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 ismiracle  

  • 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 berryMiracle 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 consumedresulting 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. Howeverthe 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, cocktailsvinegar, 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. Furthermorein scientific research, transgenic tomato plants  

  • have been developed that produce miraculinOne example is a research titledProduction  

  • of recombinant miraculin using transgenic tomatoes  in a closed cultivation systempublished 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 sweetThey controlled the amount of light, temperature,  

  • and carbon dioxide to help the tomatoes grow wellThe 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 termsthis 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 thingsSo Are miracle berries illegal? This question  

  • can be answered by an article titledMiracle  berrydeveloping its promisepublished 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 innovationsAccording 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 titledMiracle 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 alterationSome people have reported that the taste-altering  

  • effect of miraculin lasted longer than expectedin 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  

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Have you ever wished for a magical berry  that could transform the sour taste of  

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