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Abstract:
The project assessed the feasibility of commercially exploiting new products derived from Australian perennial grasses. Although used selectively for targeted purposes such as land restoration, landscaping and lawns, today these grass seeds remain unexploited as commercially cultivated crops for food grains, animal fodder, fish food, nutritional additives, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. This review has gathered as many reports of expeditions and archaeological/anthropological studies as could be found to develop a list of species with a known Aboriginal usage for food. What is clear is that the record is strongest from the arid and semi-arid zone, possibly as these areas had the most extant Aboriginal culture in the 1930’s through to the 1960’s when most of these anthropological studies were being undertaken. There are very significant gaps in the literature with no research reports from those areas of Australia where Europeans had become dominant earlier. Unfortunately by the time it was thought important to record more about the habits or practices of Aboriginal communities that had allowed their successful adaptation over many thousands of years to the entire Australian continent, many of those same communities had been severely reduced. It is highly likely that there are edible and previously-used grasses that are not included in the list of species for which strong records exist. This is likely to be the result of the lack of studies having been undertaken on the habits of Aboriginal populations across all climatic and geographic zones. The lack of data may have occurred for several reasons, possibly a lack of qualified observers, or a lack of remaining Aboriginal people, or a disinterest in this topic by contemporary researchers. Whatever was the case, there is only a very imperfect picture of Aboriginal use of grasses for purposes other than pasture available for review in 2015.
