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Australian scientists have confirmed what Aborigines have known for millennia, bush tucker not only tastes good, it can combat fatal diseases.
Native fruits have been shown to have five times the level of antioxidants found in blueberries, a fruit which until now has been regarded as one of
the world's most effective disease-fighting foods.
Antioxidants are believed to reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses.
Australians are slowly cottoning on to the appeal of bush tucker but the findings will give a much-needed boost to the fledgling native food industry, currently worth A$14 million ($16 million) a year.
Scientists found extremely high levels of antioxidants in types of fruit which have been known to Aborigines for centuries, but which are barely recognised by other Australians.
They include red and yellow finger limes, Tasmanian pepper, brush cherry, muntries and the molucca raspberry.
Kakadu plums and Burdekin plums contained nearly five times the level of antioxidants as blueberries. Tests showed that the Kakadu plum has the second-highest vitamin C level of any fruit in the world, up to 3 per cent of its dry weight.
Gathering native fruits need not involve trekking hundreds of miles into the outback.
"The riberry grows in parks and gardens in Sydney," said team leader, Dr Izabela Konczak, of Food Science Australia.
"And the Burdekin plum is used for re-vegetation in Queensland."
It is the first time Australian native fruits have been tested as a source of antioxidants.
"These are super-fruits," Konczak said. "Growing in the wild, they are subjected to drought and harsh conditions, and stress on a plant induces the accumulation of antioxidants."
Some species, including Illawarra plums, riberries and finger limes, are beginning to be grown commercially, but on a small scale.
Unlike introduced fruits, such as apples or oranges, they are resistant to disease and require little irrigation, a key advantage at a time of drought when orchards are being grubbed up for lack of water.
There are around 200 native food growing companies in Australia. While some fruits are turned into jams, relishes and chutneys, others are sold direct to restaurants.
One fruit with great potential is the muntry, a miniature apple which tastes of cinnamon. "It's very good in muffins," Konczak said.
She is amazed that after more than two centuries of European settlement, native fruits are not more widely appreciated by Australians. "I guess people are conservative, they like to eat what they are familiar with. But we could be tapping into knowledge accumulated by Aborigines over thousands of years."
