| Australian desert raisin | ||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Solanum centrale J.M.Black | ||||||||||||||
Australian desert raisin (Solanum centrale) is a plant native to the more arid parts of Australia. It has been used as a food source by Central Australian Aboriginal groups for millennia.
Like many plants of the Solanum genus, Desert raisin is a small bush and has a thorny aspect. It is a fast growing shrub that fruits prolifically the year after fire or good rains. The vitamin C-rich fruits are 1-3 cm in diameter and yellow in color when fully ripe. They dry on the bush and look like raisins. These fruits have a strong, pungent taste of tamarillo and caramel that makes them popular for use in sauces and condiments. It can be obtained either whole or ground, with the ground product easily added to bread mixes, salads, sauces, cheese dishes, chutneys, stews or mixed into butter.
Mardu people would skewer bush tomatoes and dry them so the the food was readily transportable.
Some other names
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Alyawarr | Akatjurra |
| Arrernte | Merne akatyerre |
| English | Bush raisin, Bush tomato, Bush sultana |