Miracle Fruit - Miracle Berry (Synsepalum Dulcificum Daniell)-Basic Aspects for Contextualization

Abstract

Among the wide range of exotic fruits there are many belonging to the group of berries, as mentioned in specialized books due their attributes, they are fruits which give or provide to the human body a series of important nutritional benefits, like: providing a low-calorie intake, zero-cholesterol, and a lot of fiber per serving; supplying significant amounts of C vitamin and folic acid, several antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. For all these reasons and more, it is highly recommend their inclusion in the daily diet of humans. Miracle fruit or miracle berry (Synsepalum dulcificum Daniell), as cited in specialized studies revealed representative rates of vitamin C compared to other fruits and vegetables, those rates are almost as important as certain varieties of lemons, making from sweet berries as also called, fruits to study within the group of possible foods improving life quality in humans, besides their possible anti-cancer effect by having a great percent of important antioxidants; until now it is all speculation, because there is only one known significant attribute in this kind of berry: to change bitter or acid flavors in a more pleasant taste. Miraculin is the agent that has the effect of changing taste buds to give the feeling of sweet and acidic foods is caused by masking acid glycoprotein. Miracle fruit is a simple tree or a shrub native to Africa from two to five meters high and not so pleasant appearance, these particularities and its name, miracle fruit, makes this shrub practically unknown in the Colombian scientific and agricultural communities, nothing or not much is known about it and several of its attributes are known in our country, nowadays, due to studies from other countries. This fruit is included within the so-called promising fruits classification; their special characteristics described above achieves a special attention to fulfil an important role with a great assortment of possible applications in products development and its implications in the commercial context due to reduced field of industrial researches on this plant. Is here where product development can give a hand to the knowledge of what could be a diversification of raw materials in the world's only known the properties given by the glycoprotein, this is where you enter in fields where the investigative process is incipient so it is necessary to resort to exploratory methodology of how they could make the process of getting a product from purely industrial product development and as you will get a base or principle for an agro-industrial product based on a fruit little studied and known, which needs support from industry for research and development, so that the project in terms of the research presented is only in the planning of a possible scenario a fruit that has a large agribusiness potential.