Bush Apple Native Syrup 1:2 - 50ml

Bush Apples (Syzygium suborbiculare), often known as Djarduk, are members of the lilly pilly family. It is a small, under storey tree found across open forests and woodlands of Northern Australia and grows to a height of 4 to 20 metres. The trees are distinguished by their large dark leaves, small white flowers, and vibrant pink apple-sized fruits, which drop to the ground and are harvested when ripe. The trees are extremely tolerant of fire, and will sprout new growth if burnt. The tree flowers in July-November and produces fruit in October-February and flourishes in tropical conditions. The seed is quite large with only a small amount of flesh on the outside. The fibrous flesh can be tinged with purple and red hues.

Aboriginal people eat the fruit raw and occasionally wrap them in paperbark for roasting on the fire. The tree is also used for its medicinal properties, as firewood and also provides a nectar source for bees. Within Aboriginal culture the fruits are eaten raw and the juice of the cooked apple used to relieve sore throats, coughs and ease congestion.

In previous times the Indigenous people would follow the bush foods, moving from rainforest to the floodplains and seaside to creeks. When the Bush Apples were flowering it was a sign to move there.

While it looks like an apple, the Bush Apple tastes more like a pomegranate – only fluffy! The fruit’s skin is crunchy and tart, while the flesh inside has a tangy taste. There’s not much fruit inside that skin either; but there’s a large seed!

A complex flavour that is predominantly sweet but with a tangy, rose-like flavour and mildly tart finish. Often described as a cross between an apple and a pomegranate. The flavour can range from sweeter to sharper depending on their proximity to salt or fresh water. The overall mouth feel is more like a pomegranate than an apple.

The Bush Apple has a clean, sweet, floral aroma with the slightest hint of eucalypt. The extract exhibits a pleasant, crisp, sweet apple perfume.