Miracle berry: Its utilisation in the production of a taste enhancer in the form of powder

Abstract

This study assessed the utilization of miracle berry (Synsepalum dulcificum) and its sensory evaluation with a focus on the students in the University of Cape Coast. The study adopted an experimental research design. Four research questions were set in finding a solution to the problem under study. The data collected were in two folds, fruits and sensory data from the panellists. Purposive sampling technique was employed in sampling the panellists from the University of Cape Coast Vocational and Technical Education Department. The sample size for the study was 25. Data from the proximate analysis and the sensory evaluation were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and one-way ANOVA. The results indicated that miraculin can be extracted using the depulper machine. The results revealed that there were eight mineral elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, K, Na, P, Ca & Mg) in the food taste enhancers. Miracle Natural Enhancer (MNE) has much quantity of the chemical elements compared to the other two taste enhancers. The results on tasting sour lemon with the formulated taste enhancers indicated that the most accepted taste enhancer was Miracle Natural Enhancer (MNE) followed by Splenda Artificial Enhancer (SAE) and Equal Artificial Enhancer (EAE). The study recommends that the miracle berry trees should be protected and mass production of MNE should be encouraged to create jobs for the unemployed.