Medium spreading semi-deciduous fruiting tree with pale green drupes, high in VitaminC, racemes of cream flowers. Leaves are large and oval in shape.

Gubinge fruit

This species grows right to the high water mark, and then some.

This species has a good future in Environmental Horticulture. Also known as Kakadu Plum, preliminary steps are in progress into it’s commercial future, Indigenous Communities and Corporations will be undertaking the expansion, with the help of the science and expertise on offer.

All parts of this species have been used in indigenous medicine and cosmetics. Other products that contain the fruit already in production include yogurt, chocolate and teas.

Clifftops, by the sea:

Terminalia ferdinandiana, dwarfed, on a clifftop

Florabase description and range.

Phytochemical Divergence in Kakadu Plum, abstract:

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 18 March 2013
Received in revised form 7 November 2013
Accepted 11 November 2013
Available online 19 November 2013
Keywords:
Terminalia ferdinandiana
Kakadu plum
Phenolic compounds
Vitamin C
Antioxidant capacity
Principal component analysis
a b s t r a c t
This study investigated the variations in the levels of phenolic compounds, vitamin C, sugars and
antioxidant capacities of 45 newly collected accessions of Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum), a
native Australian fruit utilised in dietary supplement industry. Pattern recognition tools, principal
component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) were applied to understand
interrelationships between the antioxidant capacities [Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and
Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC)] and antioxidant groups: phenolic compounds and vitamin
C. On the basis of these parameters AHC classified samples into three main groups, with accessions 2,
8, 15, 6, 3 and 5 from the Northern Territory, Australia, representing superior quality fruits combining
high levels of total phenolics (505.2 to 376.1 mg GA E/g DW), vitamin C (322.2 to 173.5 mg/g DW), with
pronounced antioxidant capacities (FRAP: 5030.5 to 4244.9 lmol Fe2+/g DW; ORAC: 3861.5 to
2985.6 lmol Trolox E/g DW). Hydrolysable tannins and ellagic acid were identified as the major phenolic
compounds. The levels of ellagic acid varied from 140.2 to 30.5 mg/g DW, which places Kakadu plum as a
unique edible source of this compound. The levels of sugars varied from 619.0 to 130.0 mg Glu E/g DW.
This study for the first time revealed a unique phytochemical profile and significant variability in phytochemical
composition of Kakadu plum. These features create opportunities for selection of sources with
different characteristics addressing the needs of the nutraceutical industry, food processors and the consumers
of fresh fruit.
Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Further inland, the species shows some differing growth habits, click to enlarge images: