25 November 2008

Serendipity berries work!

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Last night, I tried a real serendipity berry for the first time, and the result was amazing. I had a 'miracle fruit' tablet first, and I downed slice after slice of lime, lemon and grapefruit like they were candy. Salt and vinegar chips never tasted so sweet. I drank vinegar and enjoyed it. At our little miracle berry party, some people even said the lime and lemon slices were too sweet.

I tried the real berry later and was, unfortunately, not as impressed. This could, of course, be due to the fact that they were frozen in transit and delivered in dry ice. If I had any special properties, I'd probably have lost them after freezing and thawing, too.

The effect was supposed to last anywhere from half an hour to two hours, but for some people, it seemed to last an even shorter amount of time. And for $1+ a pop, it isn't something one would necessarily do that often. But wow, it is something to be experienced.

As the writer of the serendipity berries blog, I felt I had to share where one could purchase said little miracles. So, no, you won't find any in the international foods aisle of your local grocery store, but you can order them online here. Enjoy!

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for trying out our miracle fruit tabs and spreading the word :)

    Will G
    Miracle Fruit Express
    http://www.buy-miracle-fruit.com

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  2. Hi, I work in a research institute that looks at the chemical structure of the serendipity berry, which produces monellin, a protein that is far sweeter than sugar to humans. Is this picture of the serendipity berry yours? If so, could I borrow it to illustrate an article about monellin on our news site (www.news.ncbs.res.in)? Please do let me know at aathira@ncbs.res.in. Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Aathira,

      Thanks for visiting my blog. You can find the photo here:
      http://caribfruits.cirad.fr/fruits_des_antilles/fruit_miracle

      All good wishes,
      Jennifer

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    2. Hi Athira,
      Do you have any information about the serendipity berry, like how long it can be preserved without freezing or without chemical additives etc?

      Jonathan Djieagu

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  3. Hi, I was looking for a picure of a serendipidy berry for a presentation on sweeteners (I am a food technologist) but this is confusing me, because it seems like this is a picture of a miracle berry. You do realise that:
    - Serendipidy berry = Dioscoreophyllum volkensii/cumminsii, a tropical plant that produces Monellin, an intense sweetener
    - Miracle berry = Synsepalum dulcificum , a West-African plant that produces Miraculin, a taste-modifying protein
    I think you got those two mixed up...

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  4. Hi, justsaying,

    Thanks for your comment.

    This is the Random House dictionary definition I found when I started this blog:

    the serendipity berry, also known as miracle fruit.

    1. the berrylike fruit of either of two African shrubs, Synsepalum dulcificum or Thaumatococcus daniellii, that, when chewed, causes sour substances to taste sweet.
    2. the similar fruit of an African shrub, Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii. Also called miracle berry, miraculous fruit.
    (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc.)

    Perhaps it's more for layperson rather than scientific use.

    Hope that clarifies things a bit. :-)

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  5. Justsaying is correct, There are 4 different African berries of interest as sugar substutites. See this page. http://janeshealthykitchen.com/paleo-sweeteners/

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  6. Is this serendipity berry used in any sweeteners? I'm surprised I've never heard of it if it's so good and good for you.

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    Replies
    1. Good point. Maybe it'll be the wave of the future. :-)

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  7. I have known about the serendipity berry since I was a kid. That is almost 70 years ago.There was a serendipity tree planted in front of a household close to where I live and the owner was very kind enough to allow me and other children to pick a couple of the red miracle berries even without first asking.I love the fruit so much as a kid that I promised myself I was going to have my own plant when I grow up wherever I live in Ghana. This promise has been fulfilled when I was living and teaching in the University of Science & Technology Kumasi Ghana. between 1971 and 1982.I forgot about serendipity berry when I relocated to University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Strange as it may sound no body in my circle of friends and colleagues in the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria seems to know about the serendipity berry. I retired about 4 years ago and come back home to Ghana and the thought of serendipity berry came back to me again. I secured a young 🌿 plant and nursed it in my house and 3 years later precisely 21st September 2019 it only one fruit after growing up to half a metre. I'm fascinated about it now because Ghanaian are worried about eating sugar and diabetes and yet nobody seems to be excited about a sweetener without sugar. A Reverend Pastor told once that Serendipity Berry plant was last sweetest fruit plant God planted in the Garden of Eden that was meant to sweeten life after Adam and Eve messed it up.I want to believe him serendipitous kicks.Will send more pictures later.

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  8. What a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to hearing more about your adventures and discoveries with real serendipity berries. :-)

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