Bush Tomato
| Common Name: | Bush Tomato, Desert raison | |
| Botanical Name: | Solanum centrale | |
| Part Used: | Dried berries (fruit) | |
 |
 |
|
| Photos | Bush Tomato Plant (bushtuckershop.com) | Dried bush tomatoes (aussiefoodplants.com) |
 |
||
| bush tomato plant | ||
| Seasonality: | The traditional way of harvesting is to collect the sun dried fruits of the small bush in the autumn / winter months. Commercial cultivation with irrigation has extended this period. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nutritional Values: |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History of Use: | Latz (1995) reports the fruits were ‘probably the most important of all the Central Australian plant foods’. Bush Tomatoes have a reliable history of traditional use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flavour profiles: | A savoury caramelised aroma, some cereal notes. A savoury taste.Smyth, H., 2009, Native food forum awakens senses, Media Release, Queensland Government, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Queensland Primary Industries and FisheriesRead all about Defining the unique flavours of Australian native foods on the RIRDC website. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Products available: | Bush tomatoes have a distinctive raisin / caramel introduction with a strong spicy aftertaste, making it ideal for use when chopped into curries, salsas and as a crust on meat. Ground, it is an easy form of this spice, to sprinkle on baked vegetables, into sauces and bread mixes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recipes: | Find some fantastic Bush Tomato recipes on the ANFIL website. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Essential oil profiles: | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Functionality: | Zhao et al (2007) found the antioxidant activity of bush tomato measuring beta carotene bleaching as % of inhibition of bleaching showed 62.7 %, Free radical scavenging activity 20.7 (DPPH method) and Total Phenolic Content (mg of GAE/L) 59.9% using Folin-Ciocalteu procedure. Konczac et al (2009) showed that Bush Tomato contains selenium (Se), which is deficient in many soils and therefore foods. The content of iron (Fe) measured 26.5 µg /100g DW. The ratio of K:Na for Tush Tomato showed a 483 fold higher level of K than Na, which may assist in lowering hypertension. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research: | Ahmed, A. (2001) Horticultural Development of two Australian Native Edible Plants: warrigal greens and bush tomato. University of Technology, Sydney.ANPI/PIRSA fact sheet. Bush Tomato Production http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/pages/agriculture/agfactsheets/fs_index.pdf.Zhao, J. & Agbola, S. (2007) Functional Properties of Australian Bushfoods, RIDRDC Pub. No 07/030.Ryder, M. and Robins, J. (2008) Bush tomato, The New Crop Industries Handbook-Native Foods, RIRDC Pub. No. 08/021
McDonald, J. K., Caffin, N. A., Sommano, S., Cicksedge, R., (2006) the effect of post harvest handling on selected native food plants, RIRDC Pub. No 06/021. Konczak, I., Zabaras, D., Dunstan, M., Aguas, P., Roulfe, R., Pavan, A., (2009) Health Benefits of Australian Native Foods, RIRDC Pub. No. 09/133. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Description: | Small shrub that produces underground suckers from the mother plant. Spines on branches. A small desert plant approximately 30cm in height, with grey to bronze leaves and attractive mauve / blue flowers and it grows naturally through the central deserts from Tennant Creek – NT to Marla – SA . It is part of the tomato family which includes potatoes and capsicums. There are over 100 species of Solanums ( Wild Tomatoes ) in Australia, but only six are known to be edible. Caution – green (unripe) fruits are toxic, fruit of some related species are toxic. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Growing information: | Most fruit is still sourced from the wild, although there is small-scale commercial cultivation.Wild Harvest Locations: Central Australia. Bush Tomatoes are now being cultivated in commercial plots on Indigenous communities in the desert regions of Australia. With the use of water wise irrigation system, the fruiting cycle has been expanded to eight months instead of just two months (as in the wild).Cultivation Locations: Yorke Peninsula to Riverland, South Australia (early commercialisation stage – approximately four producers). Ceduna, Murray Bridge, Central Australia and other locations around South Australia (small scale production stages). Production has also been tried in the cooler areas of South Australia with little success. Authors / Contributors: Sibylla Hess-Buschmann, Mike Quamby, Rus Glover. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
