A new study suggests that a group of plants First Nations people have used as food for millennia could be a nutritious alternative to salt and even a future bushfoods business opportunity.
The research was carried out by University of Queensland PhD candidate Sukirtha Srivarathan, from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI).
“Edible halophytes like samphire, seablite, saltbush and sea purslane have nutritional benefits and bioactive properties,” she says.
“They’ve been used for more than 65,000 years as food — especially during drought — because they grow all year round.”
A halophyte — from the Greek
