Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation Research & Development Plan 2000-2002
The following is an abridged version of interest to the bushfood
industry:
Program 1:
Prospective New Industries
This program investigates and
develops prospects for new industries in rural and regional Australia.
Sub-programs:
o Plants, including bushfoods;
Strategies
1. Identifying and responding
to opportunities which could, in time and through appropriate R&D
support, be developed into sustainable new industries for rural and
regional Australia.
2. Facilitating appropriate
research and developing it through industry linkages, interactive
communication, organisational structure and strategic plans.
3. Clarifying research needs,
priorities and output targets, and establishing R&D programs
and/or projects to realise targeted outcomes.
4. Developing appropriate technology and market chain
knowledge for industry development.
5. Ensuring that results of the
research program are disseminated widely to industry entrants
and participants.
Planned outputs
-
o Knowledge, processes and technology that support
achievement of the planned outcome.
-
o Knowledge, processes and technology that increases this
program's research capability and capacity.
-
Identification of profitable,
sustainable options for prospective new enterprises.
-
Market and technical feasibility studies of potential new
enterprises.
-
Reports and networks to assist current and prospective investors.
-
Mechanisms for industry involvement in R&D planning.
-
Investment priorities
for New Plant Products
-
Increase productivity and
processing efficiency.
-
Ensure safe food production and develop new products.
-
Increase market access and
export volume.
-
Facilitate industry development.
-
Increase information transfer.
Program 2:
Emerging New Industries
This program expedites the
growth and development of emerging new rural and associated
processing industries.
Sub-program:
Wildflowers and Native
Plants
Strategies
1. Identifying and responding
to opportunities which will, in time and through appropriate R&D
support, enhance the sustainable growth of emerging industries.
2. Facilitating appropriate
research - industry linkages, interactive communication,
organisational structures, strategic plans and R&D funding support for
development.
3. Clarifying research needs,
priorities and output targets, and establishing appropriate R&D
sub-programs and/or projects to pursue planned outcomes.
4. Developing knowledge, processes and technology to support the growth of sustainable new industries.
5. Ensuring that the results of
research are disseminated widely to industry participants.
6. Providing R&D leadership
on strategic industry development issues.
Planned outputs
Knowledge, processes and technology that support achievement
of the planned outcome.
Reports and information
packages on:
-
technologies that improve
productivity,
-
technologies that identify how
resources can be used more sustainably, and
-
assessments of new markets and products.
-
Networks that improve industry cohesion, facilitate the flow of
information, and contribute to effective production and
marketing chains and R&D programs.
-
Plans for commercialisation of products and processes.
-
Investment priorities for Wildflowers and Native Plants
-
Understand and develop markets.
-
Improve existing products and
develop new ones
-
Provide profitable, sustainable production systems.
-
Enhance the industry's human capital.
Find the full reports at:
www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/rdplan2.html
Further information on RIRDC funding
RIRDC Completed Projects in 1998-1999 and
Research in Progress as at June 1999
New Plant Products:
Project Title:
Food safety of Australian
plant bushfoods
RIRDC Project No.: AGP-1A
Start: 15/01/98. Finish: 31/12/00
Researcher: Prof Ron Wills
PO Box 77
OURIMBAH NSW 2258
Phone: 02 4348 4140
Fax: 02 4348 4148
Email:
ftrbhw@cc.newcastle.edu.au
Objectives
The project will generate a
report on:
* detail endogenous
anti-nutritive factors that may present a health hazard in the major plant
species currently used in the industry.
* report on laboratory
investigations into the presence of the major potential hazards.
* advise on a protocol for the
safe selection and usage of bushfoods.
Current Progress
The aim of the project is to
provide information on anti-nutritive factors that may be present in
the major plant species marketed by the Australian native bush foods
industry. This information will facilitate development of quality
assurance programs for the industry and public perception of bush
food products as inherently safe.
A thorough literature review
has been conducted of available information pertinent to the safety of
the major bush food species with respect to anti-nutritive factors.
Information on the actual or potential anti-nutritive factors
was obtained from reference libraries, industry knowledge and specialist chemical, botanical and medical
literature as well as commercial and technical Internet sites. This
search suggests that few of the commercial bush food species are likely
to require special care to ensure safe use as normally consumed in
mixed diets.
The second phase of the study
will carry out tests on samples of the parts of plants actually used
as bush foods. The new major constituents identified as
requiring analyses are the cyanogens, saponins, alkaloids, oxalates
and for a limited number of species, potential undesirable constituents
in the essential oils. This first phase of testing will be a general
qualitative screening for these classes compounds, and analytical
methods have been developed. A range of samples for testing are
being collected at the appropriate harvest period of the year.
Analyses has commenced on harvested material.
Project Title
Innovative Products from
Indigenous Australian Bushfoods
RIRDC Project No.: CFO-1A
Start: 15/02/99 Finish: 31/01/02
Researcher: Dr Michael Forbes-Smith, CRC for Food Industry
Innovation, Dept of Food Science and Technology, University
of NSW, Sydney NSW 2052
Phone: 02 9385 5788
Fax: 02 9385 5931
Email: m.forbes.@unsw.edu.au
Objectives
* To evaluate isolates from
identified bushfoods * To develop novel and improved foods and food
ingredients currently unexploited across the food industry both nationally and internationally
leading to a significant increase in demand for the raw material with
subsequent growth of the Australian Bushfood Industry.
Current Progress
The work is progressing as follows:
* extension of postharvest
shelf-life: modified atmosphere packaging systems are currently being
assessed to determine the optimum storage requirements of
fresh mountain pepper and warrigal greens
* bushfood flavour research:
initial studies have focussed on developing GC-MS* methods for
the analysis and development of flavour components of lemon
myrtle and lemon aspen
* application/product development: oxidation of flavours was
determined as a possible cause of lemon myrtle oil instability,
when incorporated into further valued food products such as
mustards. Methods to monitor oxidative events (eg. peroxides) under
accelerated test conditions are presently being evaluated.
Depending on the cause of degradation, methods will be developed to
maintain the characteristics of lemon myrtle oil flavour, possibly by the
addition of natural antioxidants
* microbiological issues:
assessment of possible microbiological contamination in akudjura
(ground bush tomato) and ground mountain pepper is underway *
novel antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds: certain
bushfood sources (eg. lemon aspen) have been identified to potentially contain antioxidants and
antimicrobial compounds (research to begin July 1999)
Project Title
The prospects of
commercialising indigenous Boab tubers as vegetables
RIRDC Project No.: DAW-95A
Start: 1/02/99. Finish: 30/07/01
Researcher: Mr Peter Johnson, Agriculture Western Australia
Locked Bag No 4, Bentley Delivery WA 6983
Phone: 08 9166 4026
Fax: 08 9166 4066
Email: johnsonp@agric.wa.gov.au
Objectives
* To conduct a primary
investigation into Boab tuber to determine its commercial potential.
*
Provide an information package as the basis to establish an industry,
thereby reducing the risk for investors and primary producers.
Current Progress
A small germination trial was
undertaken to ascertain seed viability, germination time and
possible production time. Results germination percentage > 90%,
potential production time could be as little at 6 to 8 weeks.
Seed has been collected and a small trial plot has been
established on a growers property: From this established plot samples will
be collected for mineral analysis and sent to restaurants for sampling.
Project Title
Development of an integrated pest management
program (IPM)
for the control of quandong moth in quandong orchards
RIRDC Project No.: SAR-4A
Start: 1/06/97. Finish: 30/06/01
Researcher: Dr Peter Bailey,
South Australian Research and
Development Institute
Entomology Section
GPO Box 397
ADELAIDE SA 5001
Phone: 08 8303 9537
Fax: 08 8303 9542
Email: bailey.peter@pi.sa.gov.au
Objectives
* To deliver a package which
enables quandong growers to control quandong moth with minimum
use of insecticides.
Current Progress
Continued fortnightly sampling
of quandong trees at Quorn and Sedan in South Australia is
providing a second season of data on the population trends of the
quandong moth. At this stage the generation times appear to be following
similar trends to those found for the first season of data. Quandong
moth larvae were again found in quandong flower buds and
developing fruit providing further evidence that the moth
population exists on quandong trees all year round, with numbers increasing
as the fruit develop to maturity.
A field trial with dimethoate,
the chemical temporality registered for use on quandong moth is
being conducted in a quandong orchard at Whyalla, South Australia.
The primary focus of this trial is to examine spray timing, and at a
later stage in the season will also examine residue levels. Alternative
insecticides to dimethoate will be trialed in the laboratory in the
coming months. Those showing potential for management of
quandong moth will be trialed in the field next season.
Surveys of natural enemies of
the quandong moth and other insect fauna associated with
quandong trees are continuing. Rearing techniques for the quandong moth,
and subsequently the natural enemies are still being investigated.
The postgraduate fellow working on the project, Kaye
Ferguson, maintains regular contact with quandong growers throughout
the state, and will again present findings at the annual
Australian Quandong Industry Association conference scheduled for
August 1999.
Project Title
Potential for seed gum
production within Australia
RIRDC Project No.: UCQ-12A
Start: 1/07/98. Finish: 30/11/00
Researcher: A/Prof Kerry Walsh,
Plant Science Group, Research Laboratory, Central Queensland
Rockhampton, QLD 4702
Phone: 07 4930 9707
Fax: 07 4930 6536
Email: k.walsh@cqu.edu.au
Objectives
* Report on quality of gum
when used in combination with other gelling agents (eg:
carageenan) relative to other gelling agents (eg locust bean gum); with
characterisation of the chemical structure of the gum.
* Report on the presence of the toxin anthroaquinone within
the plant product.
* Preparation of preliminary
cost-benefit analysis.
* Botanical description of
species including breeding system.
* Characterisation of ecology
of species.
* recommendations for cropping systems (with cost analysis).
Current Progress
Central Queensland University,
is investigating the commercial viability of food gum production from
a native Australian plant. A phenological study of flowering and
fruiting has been completed (which may be useful in an amenity horticulture sense, as the plant has
aesthetic value). A study has been undertaken to determine the limits
of distribution of the species, and to allow predictions of where
the plant might be grown. Work is underway with respect to
further characterisation of the gum, data analysis of the phenology and
limits to distribution study, and analysis of genetic diversity. A
preliminary costing of production (economic analysis), based on
data from the field studies, indicates that commercial production
requires substantial increases on the yield of seed achieved on `wild' stands.
This study has also delivered
information on the distribution of the `peanut bruchid', an insect
pest which infests the seed of the plant under consideration. We
surmise that the insect was introduced to Australia in tamarind or
bauhinia seed, and is spreading -infesting native species. This insect is a
serious pest of peanuts on other continents.
Project Title
Characterisation of
antiviral compounds in Australian bush medicines
RIRDC Project No.: USA-5A
Start: 1/07/97. Finish: 30/08/98
Researcher: Dr Robert Flower, University of South Australia
GPO Box 2471
ADELAIDE SA 5001
Phone: 08 8302 2236
Email: robert.flower@unisa.edu.au
Objectives
* The isolation and
identification of the chemical structure of
antiviral compounds from Australian bush medicine plants and thus
development of demand for cultivation of these plants.
Current Progress
A database of plants used as a source of medicines used in
treatment of symptoms indicative of viral infection was assembled.
Extracts from 40 different species were screened for antiviral
activity against three different viruses. The most active extracts
were Pterocaulon sphacelatum and Dianella longifolia var.
grandis.
The extracts of Euphorbia
australis and Scaevola spinescens active against
cytomegalovirus. Extracts of Eremophila latrobei subsp.
glabra and Pittosporum phylliraeoides var.
microcarpa exhibited antiviral activity against Ross River
Virus.P. sphacelatum, yielded the antiviral flavonoid chrysosplenol a
4'-hydroxy-3-methoxyflavone, one of a group of compounds known to
be potent and specific inhibitors of replication of picornaviruses
including the most frequent causative agent of the common cold.
Activity-guided fractionation of
the root extract of D. longifolia resulted in the identification
of chrysophanic acid
(1,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-anthraquinone) as the anti-polioviral
component. Anthraquinones have not previously been found to
inhibit non-enveloped viruses.
Chrysophanic acid inhibited an early stage in the poliovirus
replication cycle and it may act as an inhibitor of proteases cleaving
the picornaviral olyprotein. E. australis yeilded
polyphenolic compounds responsible for the anti-HCMV activity. In this
study known and novel antiviral compounds were isolated from
Australian native plants traditionally used by Aboriginal people as
a source of medicines.
Stop Press:
RIRDC Update
RIRDC will hold a workshop for the industry during the first
quarter of this year to discuss:
1) bushfood R&D priorities and
2) the role and composition of
the advisory panel in RIRDC decision making. Invitations will be
issued to known bushfood associations and groupings and to other
relevant players so that a broad range of opinion can be canvassed. In
the meantime, the current bushfood advisory panel have been
stood down with appreciation for their contributions and all applicants
for funding have been advised that their applications will not be
considered until after the outcomes of the workshop are to hand.
Dr Margaret Bailey has
withdrawn her proposal concerning developing quality assurance safety
and marketing standards for the bushfood industry.
Funds have been set aside for bushfood R&D in 2001/2002.
In essence the Corporation is
giving the industry an opportunity to update what it would like to
see done in the way of R&D and a chance to better understand
how the system works and where the accountabilities rest.
Dr David Evans, RIRDC
Ph: 02 4454 3039
davide@shoalhaven.net.au
If you would like to have your say and you're not
a known bushfood association, grouping or other relevant
player, let RIRDC know that you want input to this workshop.
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