Sweet taste induced by miracle fruit ( Synsepalum dulcificum)

Abstract

Topical application of miracle fruit ( Synsepalum dulcificum) caused subsequently tasted hydrochloric and citric acids to taste less sour than normal and as if they had been sweetened. Gymnema sylvestre abolished this sweetness and returned the sourness of both acids to approximately their normal intensities although Gymnema sylvestre alone did not significantly affect the taste of the acids. This suggests that miracle fruit adds sweetness to acids without directly blocking sour receptor sites. When sugar was added to citric acid to make it about as sweet as it was after miracle fruit, then the sourness was suppressed in the mixture just as sourness was suppressed by miracle fruit. This suggests that the reduction in sourness after miracle fruit resulted from mixture suppression, i.e., the mutual suppression usually observed between different qualities in a mixture. When several acids were matched in sourness they did not become equally sweet after miracle fruit.