Curculin or neoculin is a sweet protein complex that was discovered and isolated in 1990 from the fruit of Curculigo latifolia (Hypoxidaceae).[1] Like miraculin, curculin exhibits taste-modifying activity; however, unlike miraculin, it also exhibits a sweet taste by itself. After consumption of curculin, water and sour solutions taste sweet.
mRNAs for a related protein complex is found in Curculigo capitulata fruits, though at a much lower level of expression – so low that the product is undetectable by immunoblotting.[2]
