A sweetener 100,000 times as sweet as sugar, carrying almost no calories.
Meet monellin, a super-sweet, low-calorie protein from the serendipity berry, a vine from the tropical forests of Africa. Like other proteins, monellin is made of amino acids, which are joined to form two chains, wound together like a braid. Monellin's special sweetness arises from a kink in the braid that somehow tingles the taste buds. But if any food that contains monellin is heated to over 50°C, the chains unravel, the kink disappears and the sweetness is gone.
