Bush plum proving fruitful for seafood industry
This Christmas, there's a chance you'll buy a prawn which has been dipped in a solution of Kakadu plum, which is a bush fruit, high in vitamin C, and found across parts of northern Australia.
Researchers in Queensland have been getting some stunning results using the plum to improve the shelf-life and colour retention of prawns.
Dr Yasmina Sultanbawa says a lot of fresh foods have limited storage life and industries are under continued commercial pressures to use chemical preservatives.
The anti-microbial properties of Kakadu Plum can improve the shelf life and colour retention of prawns.
"The consumer trend is towards clean and green products, and so Kakadu plum is a natural anti-microbial, which means it can replace some of the chemical preservatives used by the (seafood) industry," she said.
"They (consumers) don't want extra additives and so plant extracts such as Kakadu plum will play a critical role in branding and promoting such products."
Prawns which have been dipped in a Kakadu Plum solution
Dr Sultanbawa says the seafood industry wants cooked prawns to have a shelf-life in excess of 14 days and the Kakadu plum tests have been getting prawns up to 21 days before spoilage.
She says the use of this natural solution will not only help the prawn industry, but also boost demand for Kakadu plum.
"We are very excited, and if other industries around the world can use this formulation, Australia will need to produce a lot more Kakadu Plum."
Source: ABC News, 19 September 2013
