Miracle fruit is a fascinating berry that can completely transform how you experience acidic foods. Below, you’ll find answers to the most common questions about it, so you can start your own taste-tripping adventure!

• What is Miracle Berry? How Does It Work?
  Miracle fruit is a berry (plant Synsepalum dulcificum or Richardella dulcifica) that contains a protein called miraculin. Miraculin does not taste sweet, but it binds with sweet receptors on the tongue and enhances up to 800 times the sweetness of acidic foods. So, when miraculin comes into contact with acids found in foods, it "acts" as a sweetener. ​Lemon juice will taste like lemonade. Pineapple and grapefruit feel like candy. Balsamic vinegar turns into a sweet syrup.​
   

• How Can You Buy Miracle Fruit?
  Look at the images above to see the products sold in stores in 2025. Miraculin is extracted from the fruit's pulp, freeze-dried, and sold in tablet form. Each tablet has 3 to 5 berries. You can buy tablets made in the USA and Taiwan. The plant is grown in Florida, and the fruit can be purchased freshly picked (overnight shipping) or freeze-dried. Soon, you'll also be able to buy synthetic miraculin produced via fermentation, as discussed here. 
   

• How Do Miracle Berries Taste and Look Like?
  The whole berry has an elliptical shape and bright red color. It looks like cranberry and has a very mild sweetness. The tablets have almost no taste.
   

• ​How Do You Use Miracle Fruit?
  The sweetening effect works best on a clean tongue, so before starting, swish your mouth with water to remove any food or beverage residues. If using the dried or frozen fruit, simply remove the seed and consume the berry. If you are using the dried fruit, chew the miracle berry with your front teeth for 30 seconds. Move the pulp of the fruit around the front and back of your tongue. If you have a tablet, suck on it like a cough drop without chewing it. Let it dissolve and coat your tongue's surface for about 2 minutes. Now, you are ready to taste foods. 
   

• What Can You Eat With Miracle Berries?
  You have to try it with acidic (including some sour) foods and beverages. The best foods to try are citric fruits or juices, strawberries, vinegar, and sour candies. Check out The Miracle Berry Diet Cookbook by deceased American chef Homaro Cantu. It has almost 200 recipes, including breakfast dishes, muffins, quick bread, starters, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, jams, sauces, frostings, and cocktails (with vodka, rum, and whiskey).
   

• ​Does Miracle Berry Make Everything Sweet?
  No, it does not make everything taste sweet because it's not a sweetener. As said before, it "acts" as a sweetener [but it is actually a taste modifier] when in contact with acidic foods and beverages only. If a food you want to sweeten is not acidic, you can squeeze a little lemon juice into it, and you will taste the sweetening effect.
   

• ​How long Does The Miracle Fruit Last?
  It varies from person to person. According to a dried fruit seller, if you take one piece (half of a fruit), you get 15 to 20 minutes of flavor-changing effect. If you take 2 pieces, you get 20 to 40 minutes. A tablet's effect lasts 15 minutes to 2 hours. The sweetening effect fades away as time passes and depends on how much food you eat, the temperature, and the concentration of extract in the tablet.
   

• ​What Are Taste Tripping Parties?
  The whole berries and tablets are very popular for the so-called "flavor-tripping parties." It's simply a party anyone can organize to taste miracle fruit (melting tablets or dried fruit) with various foods. 
   

• ​Do Miracle Berries Actually Work?
  The experience with miracle fruit can be inconsistent. Some people report little to no effect and that it does not work for everyone. Skeptics argue that in nature, foods taste the way they do for a reason —  to guide us on what to consume in moderation and it may be nature’s way of discouraging overconsumption.
  
  Two common foods that people try but miracle fruit has no effect include coffee and dark chocolate.
   

• ​Where Do You Get Miracle Fruit?
  I listed above miracle berries products—melting tablets and the fruit itself—available on Amazon. In melting tablets, the concentration of miracle fruit extract varies from 200 to 600 mg per tablet. Most brands of tablets have more ingredients (fillers, anti-caking agents, natural flavor & color), such as potato or corn starch, mannitol, xylitol, modified cellulose, maltodextrin, silica, magnesium vegetable stearate.
   

• ​Is Miracle Fruit Illegal? Is it FDA-approved? Is it Safe?
  Miracle fruit is safe to eat but the Food and Drug Administration does not approve the use of miraculin as a sweetener. It can't be an ingredient in foods. However, it's legal to buy or sell whole berries (frozen or dried) and tablets.
   

• ​Can Miracle Fruit Help Cancer Patients Eat Better?
  Miracle fruit is often promoted for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy as miraculin may help mask the metallic taste these patients experience in their mouths, causing them to become averse to eating. For firsthand experiences, check out the Miracle Fruit Farm LLC website with some testimonials.