MIRACLE FRUIT - Now In Australia

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Synsepalum dulcificum
FAMILY: Sapotaceae

Nearly everybody likes to eat or drink something sweet every day, but our growing awareness of the less pleasant effects of over-indulgence has led to a demand for alternative sweeteners.

A British surgeon, W.F. Daniell, reported in a Pharmaceutical Journal of 1855, the western world's first description of this "sweet tasting fruit" which, according to Mr Daniell, gave "an indescribable but intense degree of dulcidity to every species of unripe fruit, however acid or austere they may be, become transmuted into a pleasant and delicious sweetness, and so agreeable are the sensations induced that the stranger from the result, and without hesitation, confirms the award of that singular potency for which it has been so justly famed."

William F. Whitman, of Rare Fruit Council Florida, wrote of his first introduction to the miracle fruit after a visit to the Canal Zone Summit Gardens, Panama, in 1952:

"Under the guidance of Summit Gardens Director, W.R. Lindsay, we suddenly came upon a small, five-foot-high compact bush with bright red berries that contrasted with the dark green of the small-leaved foliage. A nod of the head from Lindsay confirmed my question as to whether they were edible. I then plucked one of the small, jellybean-size fruit, popping it into my mouth. At his recommendation I ate a second fruit and we then passed on to an adjacent Key lime, (Citrus aurantifolia) tree.

"The Director explained this was no ordinary Key lime, but a very special one with a wonderfully 'sweet' taste. An attempt to pass up sampling this fruit proved futile, and at his insistence I hesitatingly took the lime halves he had cut and carefully put one to my tongue. Not only was it sweet, it was delicious! After rapidly consuming several more of the supposedly 'sweet' limes, I caught my breath and requested an explanation.

"The explanation, Lindsay related, lies with the small red berries from the miracle fruit you ate just before we came to the lime tree. Such was my introduction to the Synsepalum dulcificum, the 'taste-twister' that causes a sour, acid fruit to appear to become sweet."

The miracle berry, miraculous fruit or miracle fruit, as it has variously been called, is indigenous to tropical West Africa where it can reach a height of 18 feet. Here the natives often use the ¾" long, ellipsoidal-shaped berries to make their maize bread more palatable and to give sweetness to their sour palm wine and beer.

For several years scientists have wrestled with the problem of dissolving the miracle fruit's active principle and obtaining it in pure form. This possible alternative to saccharin could fulfil a real need for dieters, diabetics, the sick, and" everyone who wants to take care of their teeth.

The possibilities for miracle fruit in North Queensland are many: as a tub specimen, dooryard planting, or in the field, these shrubs, under good conditions will fruit in four year or less. My own tree, part of a batch of seed introduced by Alan Carle in May 1978, produced its first flowers in February, 1980, of which one fruit set. The tree, growing under ideal conditions, has since had three more crops totalling nearly forty fruit.

From flower to fruit is a mere 3 to 4 weeks. The main crops come in winter, with larger plants tending to bear some fruit most of the year. Setting plants out in alkaline soil should be avoided, peat moss being one of the best mediums for potting up these acid-loving fruit. In spite of the fact that many miracle fruit have been consumed at one time, no ill effects have been observed. In my opinion, one fruit worked in the mouth long enough to remove the small amount of pulp from the smooth, shiny, single seed gives maximum results, and consuming additional berries does not tend to increase its potency. The sweet-inducing properties of this 'taste twister' can linger on for up to three hours and the flavour of fruit such as fresh strawberries can be greatly enhanced when delicate flavours, formerly masked by table sugar, are released and experienced for the first time.

Hopefully, miracle fruit will be made more available through the nursery trade and amateurs alike, as an interested public become more aware of the properties of this unusual and interesting West African introduction.

GEOFF PARKER

DATE: September 1980

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