{{Short description|Species of tree}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}} {{Speciesbox |name = Kakadu plum |image = Terminalia ferdinandiana fruit.jpg |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author= Turner, S. |date=2021 |title= ''Terminalia ferdinandiana'' |volume=2021 |article-number= e.T173844325A173844510 |doi= 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T173844325A173844510.en |access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref> |genus = Terminalia |species = ferdinandiana |authority = Exell |synonyms = {{species list |Terminalia edulis|F.Muell. |Terminalia latipes subsp. psilocarpa|Pedley}} |synonyms_ref =<ref name=POWO>{{cite web |url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:171116-1 |title= Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref><ref name=COL>{{cite web |url= https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/55G6F |title= Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Catalogue of Life |publisher=Species 2000 |access-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref> }} thumb|Foliage '''''Terminalia ferdinandiana''''', most commonly known as the '''Kakadu plum''' and also called the '''gubinge''', '''billygoat plum''', '''green plum''', '''salty plum''', '''murunga''', '''mador''' and other names, is a flowering plant in the family Combretaceae, native to Australia, widespread throughout the tropical woodlands from north-western Australia to eastern Arnhem Land. Used as a traditional bush food and bush medicine for centuries, the fruit has especially high levels of vitamin C.

==Description== ''Terminalia ferdinandiana'' is a slender, small to medium-sized tree growing up to {{convert|14|m|abbr=on}} in height,<ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=Terminalia ferdinandiana|id=5303}}</ref><ref name="ttf">{{cite web | url=http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Terminalia+ferdinandiana | title=Terminalia ferdinandiana | publisher=Useful Tropical Plants Database|author=Ken Fern|date=2014 | access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> with creamy-grey, flaky bark and deciduous pale green leaves. The flowers are small, creamy-white, perfumed, and borne along spikes in the leaf axils towards the ends of the branches.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Flowering is from September to December or February (Southern hemisphere spring/summer).<ref name=FloraBase/> The leaf blades are strongly discolorous with a broadly elliptic to broadly ovate, occasionally obovate shape and are {{convert|11|to|33|cm|in|1}} in length with a width of {{convert|8.5|to|23|cm|in|1}} and have a rounded apex. The inflorescences are {{convert|16|to|19|cm|in|1}} long and are glabrous throughout.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The fruit is yellow-green, about {{convert|2|cm|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1|cm|abbr=on}} in diameter, almond-sized with a short beak at the tip, and contain one large seed. They ripen from March onwards,{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} with the ripe fruits being very pale, sometimes pinkish.<ref name=FloraBase/>

The species epithet "''ferdinandiana''" was created by A.W. Exell in honour of the first European botanist to collect and describe Kakadu plum, Ferdinand Mueller, who had originally given the species the nomen illegitimum (illegitimate name), ''Terminalia edulis''.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Exell|first= Arthur Wallis|date= 1935|title= Notes from the British Museum Herbarium|journal= Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|volume= 74|page= 263}}</ref>

==Range and habitat== The tree is widespread throughout the tropical woodlands from northwestern Australia to eastern Arnhem Land.<ref name=brand/> It is found along the coast in the Kimberley region of Western Australia as far west as Broome extending east into the Northern Territory where it is found mostly in the western portion of the top end from the Western Australian border to Arnhem Land but is found as far east as Limmen National Park.<ref name=FloraBase/><ref name=ntf/>

It grows in a variety of habitat including sandplains, floodplains, creek beds, ridges, among vine thickets and on the edges of areas of mangroves. It grows in sandy, peaty or clay soils around sandstone or ironstone,<ref name=FloraBase/> and is often found as part of eucalypt communities.<ref name=ntf>{{cite web|url=http://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=1322|title=Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell |access-date=16 July 2017|work=NT Flora|publisher=Northern Territory Government}}</ref>

==Ecology== The Kakadu plum provides food for important small mammals such as possums, rock rats, tree rats, and bandicoots. Since demand has increased for the fruit for human consumption, careful management is necessary to ensure its sustainability.<ref name="Leach 2019"/><ref name=mgt/>

==Uses== ===Traditional uses=== The fruit has been used as bush tucker or traditional medicine by Aboriginal Australian people over centuries.<ref>{{cite book | author = Clarke PA | title = Aboriginal people and their plants | date = 2007 | publisher = Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd. | location = Kenthurst, NSW, Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author =Isaacs J. | title = Bush Food | date = 1987 | publisher = Weldons Pty Ltd. | location = Australia}}</ref><ref>Hegarty MP, Hegarty EE. Food Safety of Australian Plant Bushfoods, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation 2001; publication number 01/28, ACT, Australia.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gorman JT, Griffiths AD, Whitehead PJ | title = An analysis of the use of plant products for commerce in remote Aboriginal communities of Northern Australia | journal = Econ Bot | date = 2006 | volume = 60 | issue = 4 | pages = 362–373| doi = 10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[362:AAOTUO]2.0.CO;2 }}</ref><ref name=williams>{{Cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=David J.| last2=Edwards| first2=David| last3=Pun| first3=Sharon| last4=Chaliha| first4=Mridusmita| last5=Burren| first5=Brian|last6=Tinggi| first6=Ujang| last7=Sultanbawa| first7=Yasmina|date=2016-08-16|title=Organic acids in Kakadu plum (''Terminalia ferdinandiana''): The good (ellagic), the bad (oxalic) and the uncertain (ascorbic)| url=http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/5393/1/1-s2.0-S0963996916303180-main.pdf|journal=Food Research International |volume=89| issue=1| pages=237–244| doi=10.1016/j.foodres.2016.08.004|issn=1873-7145|pmid=28460910}}</ref>

The tree is particularly valued as a medicine by the Aboriginal peoples of the region, who use the inside of the bark for treating various skin ailments and infections.

===Nutritional value=== The Kakadu plum has a high concentration of vitamin C in its fruit: recorded concentrations of 2300–3150&nbsp;mg/100&nbsp;g wet weight<ref name=brand>{{cite journal |url=http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/ProcNutSoc/1980-1989/1982/1982%20p050-054.pdf| vauthors = Brand JC, Cherikoff V, Lee A, McDonnell J | title = Nutrients in important bushfoods | journal = Proceedings of the Nutritional Society of Australia | date = 1982 | volume = 7 | pages = 50–54}}</ref> and occasionally as high as 5300&nbsp;mg/100&nbsp;g,<ref>{{cite book | title=Public Health Bush Book. Volume 2: Facts & Approaches to Three Key Public Health Issues | via=DoH Digital Library | date=2005| author = Department of Health (Northern Territory)| url=https://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/handle/10137/7207 | access-date=17 August 2021| chapter=Chapter 3: Food and Nutrition}}</ref> compared with 50&nbsp;mg/100&nbsp;g for oranges, making it among the highest known of any natural source.<ref name=mgt>{{cite web | title=Kakadu Plum Management Program | website=Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (Northern Territory) | date=18 April 2019 | url=https://depws.nt.gov.au/programs-and-strategies/kakadu-plum-management-program | access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref> It also contains a high oxalic acid content that may have toxicity when consumed.<ref name=williams/>

===Taste and modern uses=== Kakadu plums taste "somewhat bland, but with a definite sour and astringent finish",<ref name="Leach 2019">{{cite web | last=Leach | first=Greg | title=Meet the Kakadu plum: an international superfood thousands of years in the making | website=The Conversation | date=31 May 2019 | url=https://theconversation.com/meet-the-kakadu-plum-an-international-superfood-thousands-of-years-in-the-making-116362 | access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref> sometimes salty. Its taste makes it suitable for making into jam, sauces and relishes.<ref name="Leach 2019"/>

Based on studies done by University of Queensland Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences researchers over a decade,<ref name="O'Brien2021">{{cite web | title=It's known to be a superfood, but what exactly are the health benefits of the Kakadu plum? | website=ABC News |publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation|first1=Kristy| last1= O'Brien |first2= Anna|last2= Levy | date=22 July 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-22/health-benefits-of-kakadu-plum/100204168 | access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref> the fruit has been used as a preservative to maintain the freshness of prawns<ref>{{cite web | last=Brann | first=Matt | title=ABC News | website=Bush plum proving fruitful for seafood industry | date=19 September 2013 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2013-09-19/kakadu-plums-improving-prawns/4968046 | access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref> and frozen foods.<ref name="O'Brien2021"/><ref>{{cite web | title=Karen Sheldon Catering – serving up innovation | website=business.gov.au |publisher= Australian Government, Business| date=10 June 2021 | url=https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/entrepreneurs-programme/customer-stories/karen-sheldon-catering | access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref>

Because of its potential for varied uses as a food, cosmetic ingredient or preservative, there has been a need to manage its growth in the wild, and in addition, efforts have been made to involve Indigenous groups in the growing industry.<ref name="Leach 2019"/> The Northern Territory Government has created a five-year (2019–2023) management plan "to ensure wild populations of this native plant and its habitat are adequately maintained across the Northern Territory well into the future".<ref name=mgt/>

{{as of|2021}}, {{cvt|50|kg}} powder, created by a processing plant in Queensland, sells for {{AUD|500}} per kilogram wholesale, and 10&nbsp;kg of fruit is needed to create a single kilogram of the powder.<ref name=broome2021/>

==In Aboriginal languages== ===Northern Territory=== In Kundjeyhmi, the language of Kakadu National Park where the English name "kakadu plum" originates, the fruit and tree are called ''anmarlak''. In the closely related Kunwinjku language of West Arnhem Land, the word is ''manmorlak'', or ''mandjiribidj'' in the Kuninjku dialect.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Garde |first1=Murray |title=manmorlak |url=https://www.njamed.com/#manmorlak |website=Bininj Kunwok dictionary |publisher=Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref> In Yolŋu it is called ''ŋäṉ'ka-bakarra''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zorc |first1=David |title=ŋäṉ'ka-bakarra |url=http://yolngudictionary.cdu.edu.au/word_details.php?id=6202 |website=Yolŋu Matha dictionary |publisher=Charles Darwin University |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref> The name ''murunga'' comes from an eastern Arnhem language.<ref name=russ>{{cite book |last1=Russell-Smith |first1=Jeremy |title=Sustainable Land Sector Development in Northern Australia: Indigenous rights, aspirations, and cultural responsibilities |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-429-89557-9 |page=Box 4.4|publisher=CRC Press }}</ref>

===Western Australia=== In the languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia, the tree is known as ''gubinge'' (from the Bardi language<ref name=russ/>) ''mardorr'', ''yuminyarri'' and ''jambalbeng''.<ref name=broome2021>{{cite web | last=Mills | first=Vanessa | title=Why superfruits could see this red dirt field in Broome deliver an annual, $5m crop within years | website=ABC News| publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=16 August 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-16/superfruit-orchard-opens/100380444 | access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q584776}}

Category:Flora of the Northern Territory Category:Rosids of Western Australia fernandiana Category:Trees of Australia Category:Myrtales of Australia Category:Kakadu National Park Category:Plants described in 1935 Category:Taxa named by Arthur Wallis Exell Category:Bushfood Category:Bush medicine