August – Muntries
| Common Name: | Muntries | |
| Botanical Name: | Kunzea pomifera | |
| Part Used: | Mature ripe fruits or fruit pulp | |
| Image coming soon | Image coming soon | |
| Photos | Flowering tree | Fruit ready to harvest |
| Image coming soon | Image coming soon | |
| Ripe fruit | Plantation fruiting trees | |
| Seasonality: | Fresh fruit available from February to March | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nutritional Values: |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History of Use: | Muntries have been a highly valued fruit by the Aboriginal population in Victoria and South Australia; surplus fruit was collected and dried or baked into cakes for the winter. These fruits played a major part in the diet of the Narrindjeri people who traded the dried fruit lather with other tribes in exchange for valuable tools like basalt axe heads from the volcanic plains of Western Victoria. Due to the large quantities available, the fruit had immense social and economic importance to Aboriginal groups living in the temperate zone (Clarke, 1998; Clarke, 2003; Harte, 2006; National Museum Canberra; Low, 1989).
Muntries were also a welcome food source for early settlers, who used them in cakes, jams and chutneys. The name ‘muntries’ was first recorded in 1840 and is one of the 400 aboriginal words adopted by the settles into the Australian English language from the Kaurna and Ngarrinderi languages of eastern South Australia (Smith, 2004; Blair et al, 2001, Moore). Muntries are regarded a traditional Australian food and are listed for inclusion in the Codex alimentarius. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flavour profiles: | The fruit tastes like apple with a juniper essence, a spicy apple taste. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Products available: | The fruit is used in fruity type sweet and savoury products like jams, conserves, chutneys and relishes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recipes: | Find some fantastic muntries recipes on the ANFIL website. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Essential oil profiles: | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Functionality: | Muntries have shown in the Folin-Cioalteu assay a remarkable content of total phenolics (67.12 +/- 4.62 µmol GAE/g FW), which is 2.5 fold that of blueberries.The antioxidant capacity using the Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAK) for muntries is 123.82 +/- 10. 8 TEAC µmol TE/g FW and the antioxidant capacity measured by the Photochemiluminescence (PCL0) assay is 49.34 +/- 4.29PCL µmol TE/g FW
Source: Netxel, M., Netzel, G., Tian, Q., Schartz,S., Kanczak, I., (2007) Native Australian fruits- a novel source of antioxidants for food, Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 8(3) pp. 339-346 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research: | Ryder, M., Latham, Y., Hawke, B., (2008) Cultivation and Harvest Qauality of Native Food Crops, RIRDC Pub. No 08/019Page, T., (2004) Muntries, The domestication and improvement of Kunzea pomifera (F.Muell), RIRDC Pub. No 03/127
Hele, A., (2001) Muntries production Fact Sheet. Primary Industries and Resources South Australia. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Description: | Muntries are a ground hugging native plant native to the southern coast of Australia from Portland in Victoria to the Eyre Penisula and Kagaroo Island in South Australia. The prostrate or occassionally semi-upright shrub has radial branches speading over sandy ground for sometimes up to 3 m in all directions. Under cultivation it grows successful on trellises. The bush has small round leaves about 3-4 mm in diameter and profuse cram feathery flowers in spring. The ripe crunchy berries are green with a red to purplish tinge form in clusters and ripen from February to March. Source: http://www.outbackpride.com.au/species/muntries.asp http://www.cse.csiro.au/research/nativefoods/crops/muntries.htm |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Growing information: | Growing information Muntries grow best in well-drained soils with moderate to strong alkaline pH (6.0-8.0). Wild populations grow in areas with a natural rainfall of 500-800 mm. Though a hardy plant that can withstand dry periods and high temperatures, adequate water is essential for cultivation, the plant does not like over-watering especially in early spring, spurting vegetative growth competing with flowering and fruit setting. Extreme dry soils should be avoided as well as waterlogging. Muntries are a prostrate plant and ground cover, cultivation for commercial production has successfully managed to trellis the plant for ease of harvesting and greater orchard efficiency.Source: Author: Sibylla Hess-Buschmann. The Commonwealth of Australia, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), the authors or contributors expressly disclaim, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any act or omission, or for any consequences of any such act or omission, made in reliance on the contents of this publication, whether or not caused by any negligence on the part of the Commonwealth of Australia, RIRDC, ANFIL, the authors or contributors. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the views in this publication. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
