Synsepalum dulcificum

[WimB]

Does anybody here know where I might obtain a plant or some seeds of this species?

[maggiepie]

Wim, I had to google it to see what it is, very interesting fruit.

If you can't find someone who has seeds then you can buy seed here.


http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/miracle_fruit.htm

Oops, after clicking on seeds available I got a not found, sorry Wim

[Lesley Cox]

I was just going to ask what on earth is that?

[WimB]

Hi Maggi & Lesley,

It's not exactly a rock garden plant but you never know if someone has it in his or her garden. I'm just interested in what it does with your taste, maybe I can give a berry to some friends without them knowing what it is    

[Giles]

They've got it at a German seed company: http://www.exot-nutz-zier.de/
The website isn't really that easy to cope with unless you know the language though.

[WimB]

Hi Giles,

Thanks for the link. I didn't know that company. I'll order some seeds from them. German is not really a problem; it's quite similar to Dutch and I had to learn German in high school as it is the third official language of Belgium..

[Giles]

Dear Wim,
- there's a publication called 'The Seed Search' by Karen Platt, which lists the seed suppliers (anywhere in the world) which stock a particular plant.
It used to be produced as a paperback book about once a year, but now comes only as an 'e-Book'.
It's very useful for tracking down weird plants.
It comes as an individualised copy password protected, but I would be happy to look things up for people if they wanted.
Giles

[Maggi Young]

That's interesting, Giles... is that Karen "Black Plants" Platt?

[Giles]

Yes. 

[Hjalmar]

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. While the exact cause for this change is unknown, one hypothesis is that the effect may be caused if miraculin works by distorting the shape of sweetness receptors "so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things".[6] This effect lasts 15-60 minutes.

Seems quite interesting.

[Paul T]

Fascinating.  I want to try one now.