If you’ve ever bitten into a wedge of lemon or lime, you know just how pucker-inducing the experience can be. I figured that the only way to offset the tartness was with some sort of sugar or artificial sweetener. But thanks to an unusual West African fruit plant known as Synsepalum Dulcificum, these and other sour foods become instantly sweet without adding a sweetener.

I’ve been aware of similar products to Miracle Frooties for some time, but I’ve never had the opportunity to try them out, so when they offered to send me a pack, I figured I’d give ’em a whirl.

First things first, you don’t chomp on these like candy – they’re packaged like pills, and you need to let one dissolve on your tongue over the course of a couple of minutes. Once you do, your sense of taste is altered in the most pleasant of ways. I took a freshly-cut lemon and lime and proceeded to chomp down on a wedge of each like nobody’s business. But what was this? No squinchy face? Nope. Instead, the lemon tasted like sweet lemon curd or maybe a glass of sweetened, fresh-squeezed lemonade. The lime – key lime pie. I kid you not. These things really work.

But then, I figured, the effect can’t last more than a few minutes, right? After all, the plant-based extract in these pills coats your tongue and surely that would be washed away by the citrus juice. But then I waited 10 minutes, and tried again. The fruits were even sweeter the second time. Another 10 minutes passed. Still sweet. Then I tried one more time around the 35 minute mark, and only then had the sweetening effect started to fade. Even still, the fruits were sweeter than they normally taste. In fact, my ability to taste the purely sour flavor didn’t return for about an hour.

Neat, eh? I didn’t get to try eating any other tart stuff after taking the Miracle Frooties, but I’m sure sour cherries, grapefruit and raspberries would be amazing. They’re also said to improve the flavor of bitter medicines, and even enhance some veggies. What was interesting is that I ate a few normally sweet items after the Frooties and it didn’t alter or increase their sweetness. Instead, they just tasted like they always do, so it’s not like adding sugar – it’s truly turning sour and bitter into sweet and delightful.

If you’d like to try some Miracle Frooties for yourself, you can buy them in packs of 10 for $12.95 to $13.95(USD) over at Miracle Fruit Hut. I recommend going for the XL size, since the dosage will last much longer for only a buck more.