Author Topic: Question about effects of miracle fruit  (Read 7588 times)

bsbullie

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #25 on: January 23, 2017, 12:28:12 AM »
I have had a couple of really good Bordeaux blends from South Africa but most I have tried have been mediocre to lousy.

South Africa has many world class wines and hundreds of excellent vineyards in the cape wine route, but S.A is unique in Africa with a strange history.  Many other African countries dont have the climate or the money and infrastructure for this, I can imagine selection being very poor.

I still cant wait to try miracle fruit better than adding sugar at least im sure!

De Toren makes the best in my opinion.   Their Fusion V is their best but their Z is not bad either.   I find it far better than the pricier Ernie Els.
- Rob

LivingParadise

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #26 on: January 23, 2017, 09:27:50 AM »
To add a different perspective to this, I think there are a number of things that make it worth growing.

I personally am not huge on the taste, but it is certainly a novelty. I'm not a huge sugar person though, and it makes things taste so sweet that it alters their fundamental flavor altogether. Like, dumping a full cup of white sugar on top of it sweet. That was my experience of it anyway, which might vary per person.

I have heard that others do not respond to it. So this is individual, but I think the vast majority of people do...

If you want to try it ahead of time, you can purchase tabs online in places like Amazon.com that are very expensive, but should give you the general experience. If you are one of those who don't respond to the tabs of a well-reviewed brand, you might not respond to the fruit either.

On the plus side:
It's a small plant that can easily grow a lot of fruit. That alone can make it worth growing for many who have limited space for warm-climate plants.

If you are a sugar addict and/or diabetic, it certainly can be a "miracle" for you.

You can grow it for the medicinal properties alone.

It's worth a good amount of money. Consider that even if you're not into it, it will be popular with many people, and will be something people will continuously want to purchase - you can sell plants online/by craigslist, to your local nursery, and sell fruit at a local farmer's market if you have enough, or again online. Miracle fruit plants also make welcome gifts for most people.

It's fun to try purely for the novelty of growing, and is a reasonably attractive plant.

CAUTIONS:
The temptation to eat miracle berry with highly acidic foods purely to try out the novelty over and over, can harm both your stomach and teeth. Just because it tastes sweet, does not mean it is. Some people take this overboard without considering consequences, and will guzzle a bottle of vinegar or chew on lemons every day, and that can damage the tissues in your mouth, your tooth enamel, as well as your stomach lining/esophagus. It's kind of like if your skin lost the ability to detect the difference between hot and cold - doesn't mean you should hold your hand over a fire, simply because it doesn't hurt initially. Common sense is still needed.


I find it worth growing, but then again, I have enough space, and a favorable climate, and there's very little I don't find worth growing. If you're not a sugar addict and only had the space for 1 plant, I wouldn't think Miracle Berry should be the choice. But, if you have a little extra room or extra cash, definitely I think it's worth having in a collection, if only because if you grow it successfully it can make back the money you paid for it in the long run, and then some.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2017, 09:29:24 AM by LivingParadise »

Daintree

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #27 on: January 23, 2017, 01:33:35 PM »
I took some miracle fruit berries to work, and we all played around with them.  In spite of sucking the berries very hard, and chewing them up and swishing them around in our mouths, two people had very little sweetness response, and still thought the lemon juice and vinegar tasted very sour.  Others were chugging the lemon juice like crazy, and the rest of us were sort of in the middle.
I am wondering if there is something to the genetic makeup of people, where it works or it doesn't, sort of like being able to taste PTC or not.
But, it was fun, and broke up an otherwise tedious work day!
I have had poor luck growing miracle fruit in my greenhouse.  The leaves always get all brown and crispy, even though the humidity is pretty high.  Have the same problem with lychee.  Go figure.

Carolyn

Jct

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #28 on: January 23, 2017, 02:56:07 PM »
It can be fun to experiment with the fruit.  I my experience, the fruits themselves are a bit sweet, but not everyone that had them agreed. My nephew must have thought them sweet enough as he ate two of them in rapid succession. 

We tried a number of different fruits: lemon, lime, & grapefruit.  One thing I noticed was that the first fruit I tried was the best.  One day lemon was super good when I tried it first and the lime was just ok.  Another day, I tried the lime first and it was great, but the lemon was just ok.  In the future I'll need to see if this was just coincidence.

I did make one mistake, about 45 minutes after our taste test I opened a bottle of IPA beer.  I do not like sweet beer (or wasting beer), so it was a bit of a challenge to finish it.

As for the burned leaves, they do not like chlorinated water.  I fill a bucket and leave it outside for a few days to reduce the chlorine content before using.  That might help.
LaVerne Manila Mango; Pixie Crunch, Honeycrisp & Gala Apple Trees; Violette De Bordeaux & Black Mission Fig; Santa Rosa Plum & Snow Queen Nectarine; Nagami Kumquat, Pixie Tangerine, Lemon, Australian Finger Lime & Washington Navel Citrus; White & Red Dragon Fruit; Miracle Berry Plant

Central Floridave

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #29 on: January 23, 2017, 03:03:38 PM »
I've got 4 or 5 or 6 mature plants in my yard. I forget how many as they volunteer in my yard.  And/or, that is from sticking the seed directly in the dirt and forgetting about it. They sprout and grow without any intervention from me.  They do need water though.   My tallest bush is about 6 feet tall.  I'm always happy when the bush is full of fruit or just one.  I like them.  First one is sour then the rest or sweet!   I drink a lot of beer and it does affect the taste of beer negatively.  Coffee is good with it.  But, beer. ughh..ruins the taste.   It is a novelty and fun to give visitors the miracle bush challenge.   I would recommend growing them. Like mentioned they are also ornamental.  Worth it.

BigIslandGrower

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #30 on: January 23, 2017, 03:21:26 PM »
I took some miracle fruit berries to work, and we all played around with them.  In spite of sucking the berries very hard, and chewing them up and swishing them around in our mouths, two people had very little sweetness response, and still thought the lemon juice and vinegar tasted very sour.  Others were chugging the lemon juice like crazy, and the rest of us were sort of in the middle.
I am wondering if there is something to the genetic makeup of people, where it works or it doesn't, sort of like being able to taste PTC or not...Carolyn

There may be some berries that don't have enough ripe flesh to make much of an impression.  I'd give those people two or three fruits to insure they've been adequately dosed.   
There also may be varying degrees of response in people, depending on how accustomed they are to eating sweet things.  This is just speculation on my part.

 I enjoy the fruits with mediocre citrus, but otherwise don't find myself drawn to them.

fruitlovers

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #31 on: January 23, 2017, 07:01:37 PM »
I took some miracle fruit berries to work, and we all played around with them.  In spite of sucking the berries very hard, and chewing them up and swishing them around in our mouths, two people had very little sweetness response, and still thought the lemon juice and vinegar tasted very sour.  Others were chugging the lemon juice like crazy, and the rest of us were sort of in the middle.
I am wondering if there is something to the genetic makeup of people, where it works or it doesn't, sort of like being able to taste PTC or not.
But, it was fun, and broke up an otherwise tedious work day!
I have had poor luck growing miracle fruit in my greenhouse. The leaves always get all brown and crispy, even though the humidity is pretty high.  Have the same problem with lychee.  Go figure.

Carolyn
Try adding 50% peat moss into the soil mix. They like low pH soil. If your lychee plants are getting brown leaves other poster might be right and might be the chlorine, chloramine, or fluoride in your water.
Oscar

roblack

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #32 on: January 23, 2017, 10:21:34 PM »
Love my miracle fruit tree. Been eating off it for almost 2 years and still not bored. Small tree, easy to grow in container, very productive, and does well in mostly shade. The berries taste good, and change the flavor of just about anything you eat. Grapefruit tastes delicious without sugar. Passionfruit tastes sweet and not sour (I like sour, but sometimes want just sweet). An espresso tastes great with way less sugar. Beer even tastes different. Not everything tastes better, but nothing I have tried has tasted bad with miracle fruit. It's fun to experiment and show to other people. There are different cultivars, not all miracle fruit trees are the same and some are more effective.

sildanani

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Re: Question about effects of miracle fruit
« Reply #33 on: January 24, 2017, 12:03:38 AM »
I took some miracle fruit berries to work, and we all played around with them.  In spite of sucking the berries very hard, and chewing them up and swishing them around in our mouths, two people had very little sweetness response, and still thought the lemon juice and vinegar tasted very sour.  Others were chugging the lemon juice like crazy, and the rest of us were sort of in the middle.
I am wondering if there is something to the genetic makeup of people, where it works or it doesn't, sort of like being able to taste PTC or not.
But, it was fun, and broke up an otherwise tedious work day!
I have had poor luck growing miracle fruit in my greenhouse.  The leaves always get all brown and crispy, even though the humidity is pretty high.  Have the same problem with lychee.  Go figure.

Carolyn
Pretty sure it has something to do w/ genetic makeup. I did a similar lab in high school with special paper
strips. Most could not taste the "bitter" effect of the paper while about than 2 of 18 could! :o
Anisha