Monday, December 13, 2010

Miracle berry or pokok ajaib: synsepalum dulcificum


It is called pokok ajaib, or better known as miraculous/miracle berry and botanically tagged as synsepalum dulcificum, It has a long history of use in Africa and Asia to turn sour food into sweet food. I was visiting Risda Nursery not far from the roundabout towards Bangi Toll entrance when I notice this beautiful plants in two large pots. Just a day before, I was reading a post in  My little Potted Garden: Am I called Acerola???   about a certain berry.

miracle berry  /milagro baya  / Чудо ягода / miracol boabe / bagas milagre / 
 berry cud /توت معجزه  / mirakel bær /기적 베리/  ミラクルベリー /miracolo bacca / 
 csoda bogyó / μούρο θαύμα/  Wunderbeere / baie miracle /             

The leaves looked strikingly similar. The worker said, "take a bite at the fruit and then you can eat a bag of sour kedondong". I took a bite or two and the sweetness in my mouth lasted for hours. In case you may wonder what am I doing in Bangi when I am already a permanent resident of Tanah Merah..., the two sons are staying here in Rajawali Apartment Bangi Seksyen 9. Whenever time is available, we will with them over weekends. But the journey is long..., 7 hours on average.

No seedlings available, therefore he suggested we took home the ripe berries and germinate ourselves.  I read somewhere about seeds having 24 percents chance of germination. So with eight seeds, we will be lucky to get two seeds sprouting.

miracle berry or buah pokok ajaib
miracle berry or buah pokok ajaib
miracle berry or buah pokok ajaib

the miracle berries look like this on the tree.

Reference:

So these miracle berry plants would probably be the highlight in Kakdah's garden of a house in Sitiawan Perak to be completed soon by middle of next year. She plans to embark on homestay business by August 2011 with the name,


bangchik and kakdah

14 comments:

  1. Great post, Bangchik. Those berries look really photogenic. What a bright red!
    Are the seeds difficult to sprout?

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  2. This is indeed a Miracle Berry...to leave a sweet taste in your mouth with out the calories is wonderful! How pleasant that you can visit your sons, though that is a long journey. As uusal your photos replace a thousand words!

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  3. I love plants with berries like this one. They look delightful! I have not seen this one in real. Will watch out for it :-D

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  4. Sunita....... I am about to germinate them eight seeds. I will give them a month.

    Theanne and Baron..... Diabetics should welcome these berries and have happier appetite.

    Stephanie...... On the way towards Bangi Toll Entrance from Warta Supermarket, just after Police Station, you wont miss Risda Nursery on the left. Pay a visit and see for real..

    bangchik

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  5. Miracle berry? Totally new to me!
    Hope some of them will germinate and give you handfull of berries!
    7 hours journey is really tiring! phew....

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  6. I never heard of this berry, hopefully you are able to germinate them, then I can come over for a visit to see for myself the berry.

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  7. Its a miracle indeed, turn sourness to sweetness! Homestay in Sitiawan? Whereabout in Sitiawan Bangchik, maybe I keep a lookout for it when I go back there..

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  8. Hi Bangchik, I have this plant in my yard but still a baby plant with no fruit yet. I was told the fruits are widely used for diabetic patients who love sweet in their food so much. Just chew one or two to taste all the f&b sweet. The gardener also told me to drink liquor after eating this berry, the taste is superb. How miracle. Good luck in your seedling :)

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  9. I wish I can have a taste of this miracle berry too.

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  10. i tasted it..it was sweet with thin pulp. i also germinated it from seed given by the nursery.out of 4 seeds only 1 survived. i treasure it very much because it was planted from scratch.

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  11. Malar..... i hope one or two will germinate. sometimes it's longer than 7 hours

    Jama..... of course you can come here and see for yourself. But wait until they really germinate, grow and bear fruits. I would say at least 2 years from now.

    p3chandan..... homestay nanti dulu.., bila siap, you will be invited as special guest on launching day.

    milka.... miracle indeed, sweet without calories.

    stephanie.... Risda nursery is waiting for you.

    aaron..... it is good to buy a big one in large pot. in my case, the fun is in the process of getting one through all the stages of growth.

    kadazanmalay girl... it is nice when the sweet taste lasted so long...

    waliz..... it is about right when someone says success rate is 24% because yours is 1 out of 4. take good care of the miracle berry.

    ~bangchik

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  12. Bangchik, yes the leaves looks similar, but this berries are oval, whereas the acerola is on the rounded side. But whatever they are, these Miracle Berry are a great find, hopefully this plant will grow well and healthy with lots of berries.

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  13. kitchen flavours
    I hope a few will emerge and sweeten the garden.

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