Sweetness inducers curculin

In 1974, a petition for affiimation of the GRAS status of miracle fmit was submitted by the Miralin Company, mainly based on the fact that miracle fmits have been consumed by humans since before 1958. In 1977, the petition was denied by the FDA. However, miraculin remains a research curiosity. Its stmcture was elucidated in 1989 (125). Another protein, curculin [151404-13-6] (126), has also been reported to exert a sweet-inducing activity similar to miraculin. 

Curculin (13kDa, 4 Cys, protein) Curculigo latfolia (Hypoxidaceae) [fruit] Sweet (modifies taste induces sweet taste)... 

Curculin is a sweet protein (/sac, g (6.8) = 550) of known sequence (Table 8.6). It occurs in the fruit of Curculigo latifolia. The sweet taste induced by this protein disappears after a few minutes, only to reappear with the same intensity on rinsing with water. It is assumed that Ca and/or Mg ions in the saliva suppress the sweet taste. Rinsing with citric acid (0.02mol/l) considerably enhances the impression of sweetness (/sac, g(12) = 970). Thus, like miraculin, curculin acts as a taste modifier. 

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