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Thaumatococcus daniellii
Also called Miracle Berry
In Singapore: Miracle Berry, Sweet Prayer Plant, African Serendipity Berry, Katempfe, Katamfe, Yoruba Soft Cane, Miracle Fruit (Grown in Singapore)
Miracle fruit is a large rhizomatous perennial herb from the rainforests of western and central Africa, grown for its fruit whose sweet protein thaumatin is used in sweetener research. It needs warm, humid, shaded conditions similar to its native forest floor.
Thaumatococcus daniellii, also known as miracle fruit, is a plant species from tropical Africa of the Marantaceae (arrowroot and prayer plant) family. It is a large, rhizomatous, flowering herb native to the rainforests of western Africa in Sierra Leone, southeast to Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also an introduced species in Australia and Singapore.
The species is relevant in nutritional studies (similarly to its many edible and useful relatives, including arrowroot, bananas, cannas, cardamom, gingers and turmeric), as it is known for being the natural source of thaumatin, an intensely-sweet protein. The protein is being tested in the creation of possible healthier sweeteners. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, the thaumatin molecule binds to the tongue’s taste buds, triggering a “sweet” sensation that slowly builds, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
There is not a lot known about the physiological and agronomic aspects of this plant. However, a few studies have been made to examine the factors affecting growth and reproductive development of T. daniellii.
Research exploring the possible benefits of various parts of the T. danielli plant is ongoing. It has been shown by a few scientists, such as Ojekale et al. 2010, that this plant also has antimicrobial properties. Further study focuses on its effectiveness against bacteriocin-producing microorganisms (Ajayi et al., 2016). Antimicrobial peptides or proteins produced by bacteria are classified as bacteriocins. They are proteinaceous toxins that inhibit the growth of similar or closely related bacterial strains.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Thaumatococcus daniellii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
