Experiment Confirmed The Hypothesis

The hypothesis for this experiment was that Synsepalum Dulcificum would decrease the rating of sour taste in the foods. The data supported this hypothesis as the sour foods, orange, lemon and Sour Patch Kids, all had lower sour intensity ratings. This experiment showed just how the protein miraculin in the Synsepalum Dulcificum fruit worked. Once miraculin was bound to the sweet taste receptor T1R3, the sour foods tasted sweet. The sour patch kid rating before and after the consumption of Synsepalum Dulcificum was not statistically significant though.

This could be explained by the fact that the Sour Patch Kid was not sour enough to elicit the response of miraculin. The more acidic a food is the greater the effect of miraculin . This could be why the lemon, which has a greater amount of citric acid, was able to have significant results while the Sour Patch kids was not able to .

The data that the rating for Sour Patch Kids- sweet, Swedish Fish, Equal, raw sugar, chocolate, cane sugar and salt was not statistically significant also supports the hypothesis.

Since miraculin attaches to the sweet receptors and only acts in the presence of sour chemical molecules, these non-sour foods should have had a similar taste rating before and after the consumption of Synsepalum Dulcificum . The foods honey, Truvia and soy sauce all had significant changes in taste rating after the consumption of Synsepalum Dulcificum. This could be due to the fact that all of the foods were tasted within quick succession of each other leading to a mixture of tastes

We also hypothesized that there would be a correlation between the effects of Synsepalum Dulcificum and the ability to taste PTC, sodium benzoate and thiourea.

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The data from this study does not support this hypothesis as all of the correlations between PTC, sodium benzoate and thiourea and the average change in sour intensity were small. This suggests that the effect of miraculin on the sweet taste receptors is not related to super tasting genes and abilities. A strength of this study was the fact that the all of the categories of taste were tested. We were able to see the true effects of miraculin by seeing how it had the most effect on sour foods than the other sweet, savory, bitter and salty foods. More research on Synsepalum Dulcificum is needed for its health benefits. Synsepalum Dulcificum can be used to sweeten foods naturally and with an insignificant addition of calories . This can offer people a healthier way to make foods sweeter and enjoyable without negative health risks.