MOST POTENT SOURCE OF VITAMIN C DISCOVERED IN AUSTRALIA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Terminalia ferdinandiana
FAMILY: Combretaceae

A wild fruit that grows in northern Australia contains 50 times as much vitamin C as oranges do, recent tests have shown. It is the world's richest known natural source of ascorbic acid.

The fruit, known as Terminalia ferdinandiana, looks and tastes like an English gooseberry. It is light green to yellow in color, is about half an inch to an inch long, has a single large pit and grows along the branches of a tall, slender tree that is a member of the tropical almond family (Combretaceae). Aborigines have eaten the fruit for years, but it was not until 1981 that a team of scientists from Sydney University discovered its unusual properties.

Samples of the fruit from both the 1981 and the 1982 growing seasons were found to contain between 2,300 and 3,150 milligrams of ascorbic acid per 100 grams of edible fruit. By comparison, the same amount of oranges or other citrus fruits contains only 50 milligrams of vitamin C. Uncooked broccoli, sprouts, kale, cauliflower, parsley and kiwi fruit contain 100 milligrams; black currants, guavas, peppers and cashew fruit pulp yield 200 to 300 milligrams; seabuckthorn has 450 milligrams; rosehips have 1,250 milligrams; shaddock fruit has 1,290 milligrams; and Barbados cherries have from 1,000 -2,330 milligrams.

'Geosphere', January 1983

DATE: May 1983

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