Agbayun! Sweeter Than Sugar, Lower in Calories.

Agbayun is a sweet berry that gives me memories of my childhood visits to my grandfather in the village. That was when people valued our natural products. Then if you wanted to sweeten corn pap, palm wine, soaked gari, tea, beverages, water, agbo, bitter and sour foods or drinks, all you had to do was to lick a berry of agbayun, and you had all the sweetness you wanted. So why have we totally ignored our natural sugar substitute? Apart from consuming it in the village so long ago, I have never come across any in the markets but on the internet.

This berry is called agbayun, asaa, taami, ledidi in parts of West Africa where it has its origins. It is called miracle berry, sweet berry, miracle fruit in English with the botanical name of Synsepalum dulcificum. It is a berry that activates the sweet receptors of the tongue to perceive a sweet taste for about thirty to forty five minutes after licking it. It is now gaining popularity among people who are using it to control blood sugar, lose weight and to battle metallic taste in the mouth which is one of the side effects of chemotherapy. No wonder it has been aptly named Miracle Berry! 

Agbayun is low in calories and should come on top of the list of natural sweeteners for those of us living in Africa, especially individuals battling diabetes and weight related health issues. It is wonderful for drinking sour, bitter and neutral drinks that we naturally want to sweeten with sugar. We all know the effects of refined sugar on our health. 

Miracle berry grows mostly in the wild which may explain its scarcity, plus the fact that other refined sweeteners are more easily available for our daily usage. Going back to our roots will definitely provide some solutions to most of our health issues. 

If you have used a natural product that has worked for you or someone close to you has, let’s hear about it. Leave a comment or send an email to yvonnebosede06@gmail.com.