Synsepalum dulcificum Danielle, the miracle fruit

Will the miracle fruit work miracles in our lives?

What does one do when farms are not producing as much as they should? Or when local farm produce does not earn as much against cheaper imports? Or when the prices of farm inputs spike beyond reach? How should UPLB as dispenser of agricultural knowledge cope with the needs of the times?

Niche farming may be one of the answers, and there just might be an opportunity to do this — by producing the remarkable miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum Danielle).

The miracle fruit debuted in the Philippine horticultural stage on Nov. 20 with the lecture of Dr. Domingo E. Angeles, dean of the UPLB-CA. The lecture is part of SEARCA Agriculture and Development Seminar Series.

Miracle fruit got its name from its ability to modify the taste of fruits, food and liquids that usually make us pucker and shudder for their unpleasant taste. Dr. Angeles reported that the fruit makes sour fruits taste sweet, and as pundits on the Internet claim, it makes all unsavory-tasting food delicious and pleasing to the taste buds. One just has to pop the thumb-sized red berry into the mouth and allow it to coat the taste buds for a few seconds before drinking or eating, for it to take effect.

The fruit originated from tropical West Africa and was first documented by explorer Chevalier de Marchais in 1725 when he noticed how local tribes would pick the berries and chew it before meals.

In the 1970s, many laboratories in Japan and the US attempted to isolate and further investigate the glycoprotein “miraculin” that is responsible for modifying taste. Soon, companies started to produce miracle fruit tablets and powder preparations.Today, the use of miraculin as a sweetener has been approved in Japan but not in the US.

The Japanese have successfully introduced into lettuce, a fast-growing crops, the gene responsible for producing miraculin. A US-based company created powdered and tablet forms of the extract, and even manufactured popsicles from it.

The potential use of the miracle fruit as a sweetener by diabetics is significant. It can also be used by everyone else, the health conscious especially, to reduce calorie intake and maintain weight. Dr. Angeles said that even cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy have claimed that miracle fruit has reduced, if not eliminated, the metallic taste in the food they eat.

Dr. Angeles added that there is no secret to propagating the miracle fruit. The plant can be propagated as seeds, rooted stem cuttings, and through marcotting. It adapts well to Philippine soil and climatic conditions. The plant favors acidic soil, only requires organic and commercial fertilizers, and none of insecticides or herbicides. The plant is watered only when necessary, using a power sprayer with a two-inch duct hose.

The plant is pruned regularly to increase light use and to control pests, improve fruit quality and increase yield. The fruits, which are borne in clusters, ripen two months after setting. Fruiting peaks from March to May and, in less quantity, from December to February.

One fruit pest that Dr. Angeles said he is even happy to share his miracle fruits with, are birds. Because the fruits grow in abundance, a few hundred fruits that get by the chirpy creatures do not really worry him that much. Dr. Angeles started growing a single miracle plant in 1994 and today he has at least 50,000 plants. In 2007, Dr. Angeles harvested close to two million fruits from his farms in Calauan and Bay.

But what does one do with this large volume of fruits? Dr. Angeles shared his way: he sorted the fruits and retaining only the red-colored berries. Green berries and those with wounds or are overly mature are not acceptable in the export market. He then had the choice picks washed in water, blot dried, lanced, and frozen. The fruits are then packed in plastic bags with moisture absorbent silical gel, sealed and freeze dried, ready for export to Japan. The miracle fruit has yet to find a market in the US, Europe, and other countries.

Indeed, miracle fruit production is a niche farming activity that holds great promise. Even as investors mull on growing it, its use for value-adding and for improving our way of life beckon for further research and development to help uncover its full potential.

Written by Josephine M. Bo, with information from web.extension.uiuc.edu and www.miracleberrypill.org

Source: UPLB