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Miracle Fruit and Flavor: An Experiment Performed at APS 2010
The results are in! At Convention last year APS Past-President Linda Bartoshuk led a miracle fruit experiment with the audience during the Presidential Symposium in Boston, MA. Audience members tasted ‘miracle fruit,’ a freeze-dried West African berry, that changed the way they tasted fruit they ate afterwards.
Bartoshuk shared the results with attendees in a poster presentation at the APS 23rd Annual Convention in Washington, DC.
Synsepalum dulcificum berries (miracle fruit) affect the tongue such that sweet taste is added to acids. In a study of 823 subjects (APS 2010), after eating miracle fruit, strawberries and lemons were sweetened as expected; what’s more, their flavors were also intensified. This effect has not previously been demonstrated.
The results were presented Saturday, May 28, 2011 from12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in Columbia Hall.
Linda Bartoshuk, University of Florida
John Bohannon, Contributing Correspondent for Science
Donal Cahill, Harvard University
Elizabeth Cogan, Montclair State University
Larisa Heiphetz, Harvard University
Kathryn Hobbs, Harvard University
Sonia Hudson, University of Florida
Sara Hope Lincoln, Harvard University
Tyler Lorig, Washington and Lee University
Renee Marton, Institute of Culinary Education
Harold McGee, New York Times
Scott Parker, American University
Charles Sims, University of Florida
Laura Tully, Harvard University
Deb Zellner, Montclair State University
Linda speaking at last year’s Presidential Symposium in Boston, MA:
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