A project aimed at preserving and evolving native Australian ingredients for the benefit of Indigenous communities has been launched.
The University of Adelaide and The Orana Foundation, founded by chef Jock Zonfrillo, have announced a new research partnership which will support the development of an Australian native food industry.
The partnership will deliver one of The Orana Foundation’s aims, which is to foster the research and cultivation of native Australian ingredients to help remote Indigenous communities.
Jock Zonfrillo and his Orana restaurant in Adelaide already uses native ingredients and, through The Orana Foundation, the chef is looking to preserve and evolve Australian food culture into a sustainable industry that makes the most of Indigenous traditional knowledge.
The University of Adelaide will work with the foundation to understand more about the food ingredients that exist, their nutritional profile, their potential use in foods, and how they can best be cultivated and produced.
Zonfrillo has been inspired by the first Australians’ unique relationship with the land, and sophisticated knowledge of traditional food culture.
“It is critically important for the success of this project that as a result of this scientific research and analysis, Indigenous communities are able to gain significant benefits from sharing their knowledge, through direct involvement in future cultivation, harvesting and supply of native ingredients,” he said.
The research partnership is funded as part of a $1.25 million South Australian Government grant to The Orana Foundation.
There are four research components to the partnership:
- Building a native food database in collaboration with South Australian Museum and Botanic Gardens of South Australia.
- Conducting a food qualities assessment with the help of the Australian Bioactive Compounds Centre.
- Conducting a food flavours assessment. Ingredients that have a high nutritional profile and great taste and flavour will be assessed as food potential.
- A plant production assessment. Optimal cultivation conditions for high potential food plants will be assessed for commercial horticulture. Growth trials will be carried out simulating arid or semi-arid environments in dry undercover facilities.