Bush tucker: The Illawarra plum has a subtle flavour, but is blessed with an antioxidant level many times higher than blueberries, a more typical fruit thought of as antioxidant-rich.
Credit: CSIRO
SYDNEY: Some indigenous Australian fruits, such as the Kakadu and Burdekin plums, have been found to be many times richer in cancer-fighting antioxidants than than even the blueberry, which is renowned for its high antioxidant levels.
A study commissioned by Food Science Australia found that 12 native fruits are exceptional sources of antioxidants, which can reduce oxidative stress in our bodies and minimise damage to DNA and proteins by mopping up highly reactive free radical molecules.
While indigenous people have eaten Australian native fruits for thousands of years, this is the first scientific study of the fruits as a source of antioxidants.
"Health promoting properties"
"Finding unique food ingredients and flavours with health-promoting properties," is becoming increasingly important, said study co-author Izabela Konczak with government research body CSIRO in Sydney.
The fruits: Kakadu plum, Illawarra plum, Burdekin plum, Davidson's plum, riberry, red and yellow finger limes, Tasmanian pepper, brush cherry, Cedar Bay cherry, muntries and Molucca raspberry; were compared with blueberries; a fruit highly regarded for its high antioxidant properties and more commonly found in Australian supermarkets.
Compared to blueberries' relative antioxidant level of 39.45 (the number of times more powerful the antioxidants are than a standard antioxidant called trolox, used for as a yardstick), the Kakadu plum and Burdekin plum had values of 204.8 and 192.0 respectively, according to the study which is published in the journal Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies.
Though these fruits still have to hit the commercial mainstream, a 2005 directory of the native food industry listed 91 fruits and food products being used by 200 growers, wild harvesters, chefs, retailers and distributors, said Konczak. Australia's fledgling native food industry is currently estimated to be worth A$14 million (US$12 million) annually.
Encouraging sustainable agriculture
"By encouraging growers to cultivate native fruits, we are also contributing to the growing need to ensure [Australian] agriculture becomes more sustainable," said Konczak, referring to the fact that crops of foreign stock grow poorly, and inefficiently, in naturally dry Australian environments.
Konczak added that the fruits could be eaten raw or added into food products such as cakes, muffins, biscuits and bread to get the maximum healthy benefits from them. Eating them, as with other antioxidant-rich fruits, might help to reduce the incidence of illnesses such as cancer, and Alzheimer's disease.
And on the issue of taste, she added that "the Illawarra plum has a subtle flavour, while the Kakadu and Davidson's plums are quite acidic."
Muntries, known as 'apple berries' taste like apples, but the award for tastiest native fruit, however, goes to the Cedar Bay cherry, which Konczak describes as having a delicate berry-style flavour.
Antioxidants in Australian fruits
From my nutritional research in the 1980s, we discovered that wild Australian fruits are nutritionally dense and therefore, their antioxidants and other bioactive compounds would be expected to be higher than in agricultured species.
Research for which I more recently provided wild fruit samples at Charles Sturt University and then more in a collaborative study with CSIRO's Food Science Australia corroborated high levels of anthocyanins (which give from red to crimson and through to purple colour in fruits). Notable fruits were pepperberries which also contain anti-arthritic compounds in the seeds and Illawarra plums which are also high in soluble fibre, important for good digestion. Anthocycnins are free radical scavengers and play a protective role against diseases like cancer and ageing.
We certainly have a lot to learn from Aboriginal food and medicine resources, if we can still collect, collate and assess their worth as they continue to disappear with the development of wild areas for grazing and other land uses, or simply through neglect.
NATIVE FRUIT SUPPLY
As the suppliers to FSA for some years now, we are very excited about this research and the results Michael and Izabela are achieving. Problem for us is, the resultant interest being shown means we will run out of supply very quickly. Act now, if you are considering planting natives on a commercial scale, or community group DO SO. We need lots more plants in the ground if we are to supply the world, and we must act before the rest of the world obtains access to our precious plants to take from our indigenous owners.
In February 2005 Catalyst
In February 2005 Catalyst had a program "Red leaves".
It talked about the property of red plants that makes them much better to withstand harsh, stressful environments than the green plants
They noted that stresses such as drought, high temperatures, low temperatures, ultra violet radiation all produce free radicals. Anthocyanin causes red in plums and apples and the purples in blueberries and it's anthocyanins that cause the red colour in red wine.
Kumara the staple in the traditional Maori diet probably was what previously had protected Maori people from bowel cancer.
Kumara is high in anthocyanins, the very powerful antioxidant in red palnts.
Now your research has shown that the Aboriginal traditional native foods are also very high in antioxidants. Just like the Maori population, our Aboriginal population often follows a western diet. If you can encourage production, particularly by the Indigenous communities, of these nutrient dense and very high antioxidant foods, we will all benefit, but in particular we may see a return to health of our indigenous Australians.
I have written to Catalyst and suggested they consider a follow up program looking at our own traditional foods and the twelve foods identified by the CSIRO as being super foods. Hopefully we will hear more on this in the near future.
I'll be posting about this on my chronic pain blog
http://crps-rsd-a-better-life.blogspot.com/
jeisea
crps/rsd a better life
antioxxidant
Our body is like a machine the more we use it, the faster it wears out. We should take care of our body with proper diet and exercise.
But sometimes we are taking in toxins unconciously through the air we breath and our food intakes. We have to drink antioxidants to expel these harmful chemicals.