Miracle fruit facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Miracle fruit |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Synsepalum
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| Species: |
dulcificum
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| Synonyms | |
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Bakeriella dulcifica (Schumach. & Thonn.) Dubard |
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The miracle fruit is a special berry from a plant called Synsepalum dulcificum. This plant grows naturally in West Africa. What makes this fruit truly amazing is a chemical inside it called miraculin. Miraculin has the power to make other foods taste sweet, even if they are usually sour! It is a type of glycoprotein, which means it's a molecule made of protein with some sugar parts attached.
How Miracle Fruit Works
The miracle berry itself has very little sugar. It tastes only mildly sweet. But when you eat the fruit, the miraculin chemical sticks to the taste buds on your tongue.
Normally, your taste buds send signals to your brain about different tastes, like sour or sweet. When miraculin is on your tongue, it changes how your taste buds work. If you then eat something sour, the miraculin makes your taste buds send a "sweet" signal to your brain instead! This is why sour foods suddenly taste sweet. This cool effect can last for about 60 minutes, until your saliva washes the miraculin away.
Growing Miracle Fruit
Scientists have found a way to produce miraculin using special tomato plants. These plants are changed so they can create the miraculin chemical. This means we might be able to get more miraculin without needing to grow lots of miracle fruit plants.
Images for kids
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A small miracle fruit plant in a botanic garden.
See also
In Spanish: Fruta milagrosa para niños
