Davidson Plums have tart plum flavour rich in zinc, Vit E and calcium plus lutein for eye health. This is a highly concentrated powder.
Davidson Plum is a deep purple very tart and acidic fruit eaten by the coastal Aboriginal people. Davidson Plum is higher in lutein than avocados, lutein is an important vitamin for eye health by improving the symptoms in atrophic age-related degeneration by inhibiting inflammation.
They were used frequently by the early pioneers to make jams and preserves. OutbackChef now makes a popular fruit paste with these plums.
Davidson Plums may have an anti diabetic effect and may have the capacity to reduce hypertension and obesity.
In Davidson’s Plums, anthocyanins were the major phenolic compounds detected.
Anthocyanins are plant pigments responsible for the red, purple and blue colours of fruits and vegetables. they are an increasingly important group of natural food colorants.
The total amount of anthocyanins in Davidsonia jerseyana was 98.6 mg C3G/g DW and in Davidsonia pruriens was 47.8 mg C3G/g DW (Table 1).
The observed differences could be due to cultivar specificity and/or fruit maturity. Other components found in small amounts included myricetin, rutin and quercetin hexoside.
Anthocyanins are potent antioxidants and a range of health benefits arising from their consumption have been reported, such as anti-diabetic effects [21] and reduction
of obesity [22]. Cyanidin 3- sambubioside isolated from flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. induced apoptosis (programmed cell death, known also as cell suicides) of cancer cells in vitro (cell culture studies) [23].
Table 3. Major phenolic compounds identified in selected native Australian fruits
T- traces; P – possible (confirmation required)
* This extract contained components that require further investigation in order to establish their identity. Major peaks in the extract exhibited m/z 682 (fragments: 454, 438), m/z 454 (fragments 182, 210, 226), m/z 334 (fragment 164).
Based on the high level of anthocyanins in the flesh,
the potential application of Davidson’s Plum as a source
of a natural food colour with health-enhancing properties for a wide application in beverages and confectionery might be considered.