Rubyberry Miracle Fruit, Media Release, 29 September 2022

A solution that may help people in distress – this berry makes sour, acidic, and bitter-tasting food and drinks taste sweet, helpful for people whose sense of taste has been disturbed due to treatment or illnesses.

Like a Willy Wonka magic candy invention, the Miracle fruit freeze-dried cubes, once dissolved on the tongue, transform the taste of food, changing the lives of people undergoing cancer treatment – and now with COVID-19 – also causing taste disturbance for so many people.

Miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) contains Miraculin, a glycoprotein – taste-modifying protein – that binds the sweet receptors on the tongue, making foods such as lemon taste like lemonade.

The fruit is changing the lives of people suffering from dysgeusia, a common side effect of chemotherapy for cancer patients – where the bitter, sour, salty, or sweet receptors on the tongue don’t work as they should.

Queensland farmers who are growing Australia’s first Miracle fruit farm, Chris Beckwith and Karen Pereira, are passionate about the fruit’s positive value and making it available to Australians struggling to eat.

“It’s a subject close to our hearts – it’s heartbreaking to watch someone who has cared for you for so long, become ill and unable to enjoy simple things like sharing a meal – we felt helpless,” Chris Beckwith said.  

“Helping others is what drives us to further understand Miracle fruit and how it can assist those affected by dysgeusia and other chronic illnesses.”

“In 2013 we said goodbye to our careers in advertising and moved from Sydney to the Daintree Rainforest to start a mangosteen farm growing the Miracle fruit trees, and we haven’t looked back since.”

During the COVID lockdown of 2020, Rubyberry farm ran out of space in the Daintree, and in 2021 Rubyberry relocated from the Daintree to Childers – a move for a more favourable growing, and manufacturing climate with space to grow. 2022 has given the trees a season to adapt to slighter colder climate while R&D is happening.

“We hope to start producing small runs of freeze-dried Miracle fruit cubes from our 3,000 trees within two years,” Chris Beckwith said.

Rubyberry Miracle Fruit imports from the USA from the only farm in the world supplying hospitals such as the Miami Cancer Institute. This gives many Australian healthcare professionals confidence and the ability to reach out to international healthcare professionals to find out more. Without this link Rubyberry Miracle Fruit’s mission would be harder to achieve.

Rubyberry Miracle Fruit cubes are stocked in over 25 pharmacies across Australia.

Dr Andrew Martin, General Surgeon from Cessnock NSW, said the fruit provides sweet relief for those suffering and helps alleviates the burden and pain of illnesses.

“When people are sick, nutrition is more important than ever – but when taste is disturbed by illness or treatment, it makes eating and tasting everyday foods unpalatable,” Dr Martin said.

“I have a number of patients who have lost their taste due to various cancer treatments, radiation, chemotherapy, and struggle with nausea or can no longer taste food, which severely impacts their health and quality of life.”

Chris Beckwith and Karen Pereira’s parents were affected by cancer and chronic illness, and unfortunately saw firsthand the devastating impact chronic illnesses have on not just eating, but the impact on mental health too.

Lee-Anne Mundy, an Accredited Practicing Dietitian working in Oncology in Northwest Tasmania said it is incredible to see the positive impact the Miracle fruit has on her patients.

“The significant therapeutic opportunity for Rubyberry is so critical as a health professional – many patients and clients undergoing cancer treatment often lose their taste and it can affect their appetite. The knock-on effect from this is difficulties keeping hydrated and well-nourished, which is paramount during their treatment and recovery,” said Lee-Anne.

“When a head and neck cancer patient goes through radiation and/or chemotherapy, losing their taste is concerning. An altered taste can impair the ability to return to eat; patients are often fed using a feeding tube for some time. Patients need nourishment to keep well during treatment and it is critical to recovery – tasting your food is important for this reason.” 

“Anything that helps me as a clinician to offer strategies for dysgeusia is welcome, and l believe this product is part of the answer that will make a huge difference to the way we support our patients to eat well and enjoy eating.” 

Lee-Anne Mundy stated, “it would be great to see more scientific research evidence and large-scale trials built around the effects of Rubyberry Miracle Fruit in cancer patients. I would welcome this – it would be fantastic for everyone!”

Kim, a Sydney mother of a teen suffering from debilitating chronic nausea caused by her severe endometriosis (medically diagnosed) after seven years of endless prescription medications.

“My daughter could no longer consume food properly as her extreme nausea often made eating food impossible,” she said.

“It was heartbreaking to see her mental health deteriorate during this time – we tried everything – every medication, every natural remedy treatment to fix this, you name it, nothing helped her nausea except Rubyberry Miracle fruit cubes.”

“This fruit not only saved my daughter’s life and health, but it saved our family too.”

As Chris Beckwith and Karen Pereira wait for the crop to mature, these Queensland farmers are getting on with the business of spreading the incredible benefits of this product to people across Australia and New Zealand.

Miracle fruit is an ancient fruit – they are highly perishable and stay fresh for only one or two days. To experience a fresh berry’s effect, they must be sought out in tropical areas during the fruiting season.

A few agritourism venues offer the fruit to experience when available. Rubyberry Miracle Fruit makes the fruit accessible nationally as 100% pure freeze-dried cubes, the closest experience to a fresh berry.

Founded in 2017, Rubyberry Miracle advocates the use of Miracle fruit, fresh or a Rubyberry Miracle Fruit Cube that aims to improve the quality of life of those with cancer and chronic illnesses, providing a safe and effective solution for those with taste disturbance. The only food which has been substantiated by pilot studies to help with Dysgeusia from cancer treatments

For more information, please visit https://www.rubyberry.com/

Try the cube before consuming tomatoes, pineapple, lemon, passionfruit, and even natural yoghurt.