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Anti-Alzheimer's Potential of an Australian Fruit

Anti-Alzheimer's Potential of an Australian Fruit

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Measurements suggest that the Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) is seven-times more potent in antioxidant capacity than curcumin.

The Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) grows wild in the Northern Territory and Western Australia where it is used as a traditional food and medicine by Indigenous people. Compared to curcumin – the compound in turmeric currently undergoing clinical trials as an Alzheimer’s therapy – the Kakadu plum is now recognized to have pronounced antioxidant capacities. Izabela Konczak, from Edith Cowan University (Australia), and colleagues report that the fruit is an abundant source of tannins and ellagic acid.  Submitting that: “This study for the first time revealed a unique phytochemical profile [of the Kakadu plum,]” the study authors are hopeful that the fruit may hold future potential as an Alzheimer’s therapy.

Konczak I, Maillot F, Dalar A. “Phytochemical divergence in 45 accessions of Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum).”  Food Chem. 2014 May 15;151:248-56.