Miracle Fruit

Ever heard of miracle fruit? People with insomnia do interesting things to pass the time. Ben thinks about what to plant in his garden in the Spring and searches the Internet for interesting ideas. His search about a month ago revealed a fruit he's never heard of.

In case it's new to you, miracle fruit is a berry, slightly larger than a cranberry, that is native to West Africa. It produces two crops each year, after the end of the rainy season. When the fruit is eaten, a certain molecule, known as miraculin (hence: miracle) binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing bitter and sour foods (i.e. lemons and limes) to taste sweet. The exact cause for this change is unknown, but one hypothesis is that miraculin works by distorting the shape of the tongues "sweetness receptors" so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things. The effect lasts between thirty minutes and two hours.

A few weeks ago, Ben ordered a few of miracle fruit berries at a whopping $4 per berry ($1 for each berry, plus $3 shipping PER BERRY). Ben ordered 20 berries! The berries arrived on dry ice, with instructions to store them in the freezer until consumption. Ben has tested the berry's effect on dozens of different foods and seems to enjoy its results. He's also recruited a few other curious testers.

Interesting experiment. But not enough for Ben.

A package arrive today from Thailand.

Ben ordered a miracle fruit tree.

He's off buying a pot to plant it in as a write this post. He's planning to cultivate the tree somewhere in our home. With a little luck (okay, a MIRACLE), he'll invite you all to experiment along with him. We'll be in touch -- sometime after the rainy season.

Two things come to mind that may mean something to a few readers familiar with Ben's fruit fetish.

1. This fruit is not efficient.

2. The passion fruit plants that occupied a considerable portion of our 450 square foot apartment for a year used plenty of electricity, but never bore fruit.