Seafood Co-operative Research Centre calls for more Kakadu Plum production

3121
Image credit: flickr User: Stefan Richards

The Kakadu plum — also known as gubinge or the billygoat plum — is a wild flowering plant native to Arnhem Land in Northern Australia whose fruit is highly beneficial to the seafood industry.

Image credit: flickr User: Stefan Richards
Image credit: flickr User: Stefan Richards

According to the article on ABC, the seafood industry uses native plum extract, which is rich with Vitamin C and antioxidants, to keep prawns fresher for longer periods of time. However, the supply does not meet the demand, as Kakadu plums are usually harvested by Australian Aborigines, who have treasured the plums for thousands of years due to their health benefits.

That is why, the Seafood Co-operative Centre calls for more Kakadu plum production.

“All we do is simply mash them up, strain them out and then dilute it and apply it to the prawns,” said Len Stephens, Director of the Seafood Co-operative Research Centre.

“We think it could work on any seafood product that is sold fresh. It doesn’t impart any flavour or taste or taint to the fish. One of the other findings about it is that even in frozen form it works to help the product come out of the freezer looking fresher and better.”

Adertisement

According to him, the seafood industry calls upon the food manufacturing companies to show greater interest in order to satisfy the big demand from Australia’s seafood industry.

“It’s the chicken and egg scenario. As the market sees the usefulness, then the supply will increase. There are people who are establishing plantations of the Kakadu plum in Northern Australia, so we think it’s a product that can just grow slowly over the next couple of years,” said Dr Stephens.