🍒 Miracle Fruit – The berry that makes sour taste sweet

Miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) produces berries rich in miraculin, a glycoprotein that makes sour foods taste sweet for 15–60 minutes after you eat the berry (lemon, lime, grapefruit, plain yogurt, etc.). A compact tropical shrub that thrives in containers/greenhouses.

Highlights

• Show-stopper: unique flavor experience (tastings, demos, creative cooking).
• Compact habit: 2–5 ft in pots; glossy foliage, fragrant white blooms.
• Extended cropping: can flower/fruit multiple times per year with heat/light.

Care (container/greenhouse)

• Light: very bright to full sun 6–8+ hrs (filter in extreme heat).
• Temps: 64–86 °F (18–30 °C); avoid < 50–54 °F (10–12 °C); frost-free.
• Water: use rainwater or RO; keep slightly moist, never waterlogged.
• pH & medium: acidic pH 4.5–5.5 (azalea mix: peat/coco + perlite + pine bark); hates hard, alkaline water.
• Feeding: acid-loving fertilizer (azalea/rhodo) at low, frequent doses in season.
• Container: 3–10 gal with excellent drainage; repot in spring as needed.
• Pollination: generally self-fertile; gentle flower shaking helps indoors.

Harvest & use

• Pick fully red berries; eat fresh (thin pulp around a single seed).
• For the sweetening effect, rub pulp on the tongue, then taste something sour.
• Ideas: lemon/lime platters, mildly sweet strawberries, fresh cheeses, lemon drinks.

Tip: If your tap water is alkaline, stick to rainwater and refresh the mix with peat/pine bark to maintain acidity.