Industries · Emerging
Kakadu plum
Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana, gubinge) is one of the native food crops we're interested in. Tissue culture is well suited to clonal propagation of selected high-vitamin-C and high-yield chemotypes, true to type.
Industry background. AgriFutures Australia has published multiple Kakadu plum research outputs including Focus on Kakadu Plum, Monitoring quality and bioactivity of Kakadu plum in the Northern Territory, and Development of the Kakadu Plum Industry in Northern Australia.
The industry
Kakadu plum is an Australian native food species valued for exceptionally high vitamin C content and bioactive compounds. The industry is based on a combination of traditional wild harvest by Indigenous communities and emerging plantation supply in northern Australia. AgriFutures research has documented substantial between-tree variability in fruit quality and chemotype.
Why tissue culture
As the industry transitions toward cultivated supply, chemotype selection and clonal propagation of elite trees become important. Tissue culture supports that transition by multiplying selected high-yield, high-bioactivity chemotypes at plantation scale, with material free of systemic pathogens.
- Clonal propagation of selected chemotypes
- True-to-type fruit quality in plantation production
- Scalable supply for enrichment plantings and new plantations
- Clean, disease-tested material for long-lived orchards
References
- AgriFutures Australia. Focus on Kakadu Plum.
- AgriFutures Australia. Australian Native Foods Kakadu Plum Project.
- AgriFutures Australia. Monitoring quality and bioactivity of Kakadu plum in the Northern Territory.