Issue No 10, July 1998.

NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the Advice on Publications Available.

21.3 Native or Mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata)

Native pepper is an attractive shrub which grows to about 5 metres high with dark green leaves and distinctive crimson young stems. It inhabits cool wet habitats from sea level to about 1200m in Tasmania and is found in similar situations in Victoria and parts of south-eastern NSW.

The leathery leaves of the plant usually contain a hot tasting compound, together with a large number of the aromatic compounds found in other essential oil-bearing plants.

Hence, Native pepper has an unusually fragrant, spicy taste with a ‘bushy’ or ‘rainforest’ feel.

Native pepper belongs to the Winteraceae (Winter’s Bark family). European use of the family began in 1597 when Captain Winter, Commander of the Elizabeth, under Drake, used the bark of Drimys wintera to relieve scurvy amongst his crew.

The species then enjoyed some European use as a herbal remedy until it became hard to obtain and was partly replaced by Tasmannia lanceolata, Drimys chilensis and False Winter’s Bark (Cinnamomum corticosum from Jamaica and the West Indies).

Bark of Pseudowintera axillaris was used by pioneering New Zealanders as a quinine substitute while the sap was used for treating skin diseases.

Both False and True Winter’s Bark appear to have fallen from favour as herbal remedies during the twentieth century.

T. Lanceolata leaves and berries are now used to lend a ‘wild, natural and spicy’ taste to bush tucker foods, such as flavouring for emu hamburgers, flavoured pastas and patés, mustards and cheeses.

A related species, found in northern NSW, is marketed as Dorrigo Pepper.

Milled pepper leaf has been used in some larger-scale food service pro-jects including a line of bush breads with a major supermarket chain and on several airline menus. Presently it is the larger bushfood distributors such as Bush Tucker Supplies Australia (Sydney) and Australian Native Produce Industries (Adelaide) who are most actively promoting the use of Native pepper.

Most leaf and fruit material is presently sourced from natural or regrowth stands in Tasmania and Victoria, although several groups have establ- ished small plantations with a view to a more horticultural approach in the future.

The species grows relatively slowly and is quite specific in its site requirements. Most of the best stands in Tasmania are found on well drained, fertile soils in areas of high (>1000mm) rainfall, where trees of 30–40 years of age have achieved heights of 3–4m, with a dense shrubby habit.

Under attentive management, rooted cuttings will grow to a height of 1m in two to three years, although the extent to which harvest of significant parts of the canopy for leaf will limit growth in subsequent years is not yet clear.

During the early 1990’s, production was erratic with several small ‘producers’ entering and leaving the field in quick succession. The product presented to the market was also of variable quality. Very high prices at both wholesale and retail levels during that time reflected the ad hoc production base.

Since 1995, the average wholesale price of pepper leaf products has fallen more than 35% while consumption has grown only slowly to currently be about 2.5–3 tonnes per annum.

Many potential consumers identify the very high price of Native pepper (and other bushfood products) as an impediment to growth of the industry (as reported by Caroline Graham and Denise Hart in Prospects for the Australian Native Bushfood Industry. RIRDC Research Report 97/22).

Wholesale prices of $110/kg quoted in the Graham/Hart 1997 Report commissioned by RIRDC reflected whole- saler sales, not producer sales, leading to some misapprehension among interested investors regarding potential returns from Native pepper pro- duction schemes. Most producers are presently trading at rather less than half this price.

Fruit of Native pepper is sold both fresh and dried and is used to prepare sauces and garnishes or as a condiment substitute for normal vine pepper. Trade in native pepper fruit is particularly volatile, since fruit production from native stands from year to year can vary from virtually nothing to 10 to 15 kg/tree .

Most wild collectors of Native pepper fruit are not equipped, nor disposed to store the fruit. Some producers have invested in stockholdings from bumper harvests to ‘smooth’ this volatile effect. However, the ready availability of fruit from roadsides and uncontrolled wild harvesting by casual pickers prepared to accept spot prices has made price and supply stability hard to achieve.

One Native pepper producer is the Tasmanian firm Diemen Pepper™, an extension of the horticultural enterprises of Chris Read and Ian Farquhar.

This operation sources material from leased, forestry and abandoned farmland sites. There has been careful assessment of the long term management of these sites to ensure that a non-damaging and sustainable harvest method is used.

Diemen Pepper is also establishing plantations using selected plant material, with the long term aim of intro- ducing mechanised pruning and harvest systems.

A preoccupation over the past two years has been the development of reliable harvesting, drying and cleaning technology for handling leaf and fruit and the steady development of a reputation for reliable quality and delivery times.

The Tasmanian essential oil industry and Diemen Pepper have helped fund an RIRDC project to develop the species as the source of a novel, spicy extract currently used experimentally by a Japanese company as a confectionary flavouring, and trialled by several international food and fragrance houses with a view to wider usage in the future.

This approach seeks to identify specific flavour requirements and to characterise these in selections from the wild population.

Thereafter, further comparisons will be made of dry matter productivity, suitability for mechanical harvesting and other man- agement parameters.

Finally, selections will be made to establish commercial plantations for extract production.

The scale and structure of the Native pepper industry is presently constrained by relatively limited con- sumption of the leaf and fruit products.

Economies of scale have been achieved by several producers and some reduction in price would still be possible with further growth in turn-over.

Native pepper, along with other bush-food products, has been positioned at the gourmet end of the market. With careful marketing, there is plenty of scope for maintaining reasonable margins, while supporting investment in plantation systems.

The present industry, based on collection from what are essentially un- managed resources, must give way to a commercial, plantation approach.

This approach will improve efficiency and product quality and enable the industry to move away from wild crafting, which is vulnerable to changes in
conservation and land management policies.

For further information contact:

Dr Chris Read
Partner, Diemen Pepper
21 Bay Rd
New Town Tas 7008
Telephone: 03 6278 1601
Facsimile: 03 6278 1601
International facsimile: 61 3 6278 1601
Email: Chris.read@utas.edu.au

Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email: r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au

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originally created by: GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF