Talk:Miraculin

FDA denial

Are there any details about the FDA denial straight from the primary source? I can find a few sources which hint that the main reason for the denial is the fact that miraculin causes all sour things (not just the target food) to taste sweet for a time (including harmfully acidic things). But the reliability of these sources are a little shaky (though more pro-miraculin; here's one site). —AySz88\^-^ 05:02, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

I just checked over the FDA site. It's not in there listed as banned for use or anything. But it's also not listed as "Generally recognized as safe". I think the claims of it being banned in the US are somewhat exaggerated. What I did find on other sites regarding its legality were more to the extent of this:

The company that was attempting to get it legalized, Miralin, was told at the last minute almost that they were going to have to get it classified as a Food Additive instead of whatever they were trying to get it classified as before hand. This couldn't be done by them without a lot more money, that they couldn't get so they just closed their doors. Here's the link to where I got that. http://health.howstuffworks.com/flavor-tripping2.htm

They've also got more links back to their sources as well. So, I'm going to change how that part of the article reads and then give it the new source. If anyone can find proof that it is banned by the FDA (preferably from the FDA site if you can, which I couldn't) then they can change it back as per such. Shardok (talk) 11:31, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

After a bit of searching, it looks like most of the claims made about the FDA controversy can be traced back to a BBC report where the two guys who ran Miralin were interviewed. All of the accusations were just quotes from them and there doesn't appear to be any news agency (or anyone else) that followed it up. The FDA's originally approving attitude and sudden opinion shift, the burglary, the blacked out documents, etc., all appear to be accusations they made that were never checked. If someone can provide sources that show some evidence that these things actually happened, it's fine if they stay. But if not, I recommend that these claims are removed or are made clear that they are only accusations made by the Miralin company. Golmschenk (talk) 04:44, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Repeated section

"The scientists' crops resulted in 40 micrograms of miraculin per gram of lettuce leaves, which was considered a large amount.[7] Two grams of lettuce leaves produced roughly the same amount of miraculin as in one miracle fruit berry."

This is repeated word-for-word twice in the article. Is that necessary? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.199.241.245 (talk) 06:00, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

"Miraculin-like protein"

I don't understand why the first reference, or the image, are in this article at all. They are not about miraculin, but a "miraculin-like" protein found in curry leaves. AFAIK curry leaves don't make sour taste sweet, so this "miraculin-like" protein must be similar to miraculin in some other sense. As it's presented now it's very confusing. —Keenan Pepper 00:58, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

When talking about proteins, similarities and differences are often mentioned in terms of protein structure. In this sense "miraculin-like" would mean it is structurally similar(most likely related evolutionary but not necessarily) and that is correct usage. Similar structure however does not necessarily mean similar activity as perceived by humans or any other sense.173.107.244.131 (talk) 21:22, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Heat stable?

On the one hand, the article says "As miraculin is a readily soluble protein and relatively heat stable, ...", but on the other hand it also says "Miraculin is a non-heat-stable protein,". Could somebody please clarify this apparent contradiction? Jordan Brown (talk) 17:02, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Came here to say this. As of 2014, nobody has fixed it. The reference for both look trustworthy, but they are scientific papers which I dont have access to actually verify them. Maybe we could remove both sentences until somebody can verify the sources? Federicoaolivieri (talk) 05:05, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

Effects on spicy foods?

I've seen someone drink a bottle of extremely strong pepper sauce after chewing on a miracle fruit without feeling the heat; is this not a known effect of miraculin? --TiagoTiago (talk) 02:56, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Implied health effects

The sections and sources below were removed per WP:BRD. The references are outdated with no current verification, primary or too weak, and do not comply with WP:MEDRS source quality. Overall, the removed material gives the impression of WP:PROMO for which the editor was warned. --Zefr (talk) 04:38, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

Attempts to develop the application of miraculin as a food additive to replace sugar are motivated by the hope that this could help alleviate the global epidemic of obesity that is recognized by the World Health Organization. This effort is complicated by the vulnerability to baking heat of the natural form of miraculin. The freeze-dried berry material is available in the U.S. as a dietary supplement in tablets, intended primarily to compensate for abnormalities in taste perception experienced by, e.g., those undergoing chemotherapy. The fruit is grown commercially in the U.S. on a farm in Florida, which donates some of its product for this medical purpose.

Supposed medical applications: "There is in vitro evidence that miraculin has antioxidant and anticancer abilities. Also, reduction of insulin resistance is evidenced by a glucose-lowering effect that appeared in studies with rats fed a fructose-rich chow."

These are not medical applications. They are lab research, which is WP:PRIMARY, i.e., insufficient and premature evidence to be included per WP:MEDANIMAL. --Zefr (talk) 04:38, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

References

Addictiveness?

Is Miraculin addictive? And "How much" addictive? Because everything is on a scale from nothing to a lot. I imagine Miraculin is close to Sugar in addictiveness (not much addictive, but some), is that right? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.120.185.75 (talk • contribs)

There is no scientific evidence of actual addiction for either sugar or miraculin. Zefr (talk) 19:18, 26 September 2021 (UTC)