Terminalia ferdinandiana

Terminalia ferdinandiana, also called the Gubinge, billygoat, Kakadu plum or Murunga is a flowering plant in the family Combretaceae, native to Australia, widespread throughout the tropical woodlands from northwestern Australia to eastern Arnhem Land.

Its vitamin C concentration (3200-5000mg/100g, compared with 50mg/100g for oranges) is the highest known of any fruit.

It is a slender, small to medium-sized tree growing up to 32 m in height, 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. Flowering is from September to December. (Southern hemisphere spring/summer.)

The fruit is yellow-green, about 2 centimetres long and 1 centimetre in diameter, almond-sized with a short beak at the tip, and contain one large seed. They ripen from March onwards.

Uses
The fruits, now commonly known as Kakadu plums or Billygoat plums, have been used as bush tucker by the Australian Aborigines for tens of thousands of years. The roundish, light green fruits are usually eaten raw, although they can also be made into a jam. The fruits gained increased popularity with Aborigines after the vitamin C results were widely reported.

The Kakadu plum is most notable for its enormous vitamin C content; indeed it may be the world's richest natural source of this essential vitamin, sometimes containing over 5% vitamin C by weight - 100 times the concentration found in oranges and significantly more than the second highest, the South American camu camu. Research by Vic Cherikoff of the University of Sydney's Human Nutrition Unit first confirmed this fruit's exceptional vitamin C content at 3.2% but since, fruits over 5% have been found. Additionally, high levels of folates were measured and more recently, investigators found the equally remarkable content of polyphenolic antioxidants.

Today, the Kakadu plum is more commonly sold as an ingredient for cosmetics but is slowly entering new markets as a nutraceutical in food supplements and fortified beverages. While the fruits have been trialled in plantation and some harvests from these irrigated fields is now supplying market demand, the vitamin C levels tend to fall with the less harsh growing conditions compared to wild stands of trees. Aboriginal communities in Australia's Top End benefit as they wild harvest the fruits to supply the growing demand. Unfortunately, some illegal activities have caused problems with trees being cut down as a means of harvesting the fruits.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminalia_ferdinandiana
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