Recipe
Kakadu plum jam
- Herb:
- Kakadu plum Terminalia ferdinandiana
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Fruit
About 25 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Let frozen fruit soften, halve and remove the stones; if using powder, dice 300 g of apples instead.
- Put into a pan with 200 g of sugar and 50 ml of water, bring to the boil and cook 10–15 minutes until soft; stir the powder in only at the end.
- Blend or press through a sieve, season with a pinch of salt; the acidity is high, no lemon needed.
- Pour into a clean jar and keep in the fridge once cool.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 300 g of frozen fruit (or 2 tablespoons of powder per 300 g of apples) for one jar
- Solvent:
- brief boiling with sugar; the acidity of the fruit replaces lemon
- Shelf life:
- 3 weeks in the fridge
- Target compounds:
- vitamin C partly, ellagic acid and other polyphenols; brief boiling preserves ascorbic acid
Notes
A kitchen recipe. Besides vitamin C the fruit and powder carry a lot of oxalic acid (Williams et al. 2016) — anyone prone to kidney stones should treat this as an occasional treat, not a daily 'vitamin C dose'. The powder is not heated for long.
Why it works
A short boil and adding the powder last limit the breakdown of ascorbic acid, which is sensitive to heat and oxygen; ellagic acid and polyphenols tolerate boiling. Konczak et al. measured up to tenfold differences in vitamin C between trees, so 'the most vitamin C in the world' holds for the best fruit, not for every spoon of powder.
Literature
- Konczak I, Maillot F, Dalar A (2014): Phytochemical divergence in 45 accessions of Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum). Food Chem 151:248–256 — Vitamin C and polyphenol content and its variation between trees.
- Williams DJ et al. (2016): Organic acids in Kakadu plum: The good (ellagic), the bad (oxalic) and the uncertain (ascorbic). Food Res Int 89:237–244 — High oxalic acid content — caution in those prone to kidney stones.
Related
Kakadu plum — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail