Gubinge is steadily making its way as the next big superfood, with many Indigenous communities in Western Australia’s remote Kimberley looking to make a new market for this traditional fruit.
The native superfood, also known as Kakadu plum, is a staple bushfood for Indigenous people across northern Australia, but the health benefits from its high levels of Vitamin C are fast becoming known in the health food industry.
For the Kimberley’s only commercial producer of dried gubinge powder, this season has proved to be a gamechanger with a brand new processing facility up and running.
“Definitely it has exceeded our expectations from last season; we’ve received about the quota that we want of around a tonne and a half, so we’re really happy,” Kimberley Wild Gubinge director Jacinta Monck said.
“We’ve processed nearly all of what we’ve personally picked and then we’ll be processing the fruit that we’ve bought off other families and communities over the next four to six weeks.”
Growing the gubinge industry
Despite losing a lot of the late fruit on their Dampier Peninsula plantation following recent cyclones and storms, Ms Monck said they had compensated their losses by going off the beaten track to find more fruit.
“We’re still getting some good fruit but not in the volumes that we were at the start and in the middle of the season but the fruit quality is still really good, so in that respect it’s been a good season for the gubinge,” she said.
“A lot of communities are finishing up their wild harvest too, we’ve had one family say that the bush flies are too intense now to keep going out harvesting, so the harsh conditions are helping to finish the season off now.”
Ms Monck said she hoped the new processing plant would enable the industry to grow and help to empower Indigenous communities.
“We’ve worked with about three different communities or outstations, but I think that will grow as we grow,” she said.
“We also might be slowly developing another product with the gubinge, which is not only an amazing thing to eat but it’s also really incredible for skin ailments such as fungal infections, dry skin and acne.
“It’s got anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, so we’re looking at devising a plan to create a new product and really getting the product out there this year.”
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