OORAY Australia’s Tropical Rainforest Super Fruit
OORAY is a local Aboriginal name from far north Queensland for Davidsonia pruriens.
This beautiful slender tree of the rain-forest, with its fragile pink and red new growth and green saw-toothed mature leaves, produces a wondrous purple fruit with vivid red flesh.
The juicy vibrant flesh has a neat tart flavour.
Prepared in the proper way, this fruit has the most refreshing taste on the palate and provides a great pick-me-up at any time of the day. Little wonder that OORAY has been a popular fruit for many thousands of years.
The OORAY is one of three species in the genus Davidsonia and is a native of the northern tropical rainforests of Queensland.
The other two species, Davidsonia jerseyana, and Davidsonia johnsonii, grow in temperate regions and are more commonly referred to as Davidson or Davidson’s plum.
The temperate species are sometimes incorrectly referred to as OORAY.
OORAY Refresh®
OORAY Refresh® is the “premier OORAY drink”™ and has quickly gained a reputation as an invigorating pick-me-up by those lucky enough to have indulged in this unique taste sensation.
Stacked with flavonoids, antioxidants and essential minerals OORAY Refresh® leads the way in promoting Australia’s rainforest “super fruit”.
OORAY Refresh®, the “premier OORAY drink”™ is 100% OORAY fruit and contains no preservatives or additives.
OORAY Refresh®, the “premier OORAY drink”™ is sold in dried power form for easy shipping.
It can easily be reconstituted by adding water or can be added to any juice or blended nutritional drink.
Agrifutures Australia has released the following publication that describes the unique flavour of OORAY :DEFINING THE UNIQUE FLAVOURS OF AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FOODS
OORAY Blueberry Comparison
The Blueberry is often used as a benchmark for nutrient and anti-oxidant comparison. See how the OORAY compares. Follow the link below.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FOODS – AN EVALUATION OF HEALTH-ENHANCING COMPOUNDS.
Tropical north Queensland – Home of the OORAY
The term OORAY originates from the traditional owners of land located in far north Queensland.
The OORAY is endemic to far north Queensland.
The fruit from this tree have been utilised by indigenous people for thousands of years. There are numerous customs, dreaming stories, ceremonies and significant cultural sites associated with OORAY.
In 1900 Frederick Bailey, the Queensland Colonial Botanist, noted the use of the indigenous name, OORAY, used by aboriginal people in the Tully River region.
The term OORAY has a continuity that has not been broken – it extends from the present back countless generations.
The species had been previously described and named Davidsonia pruriens by the botanist F. von Muller using samples collected by his associate John Dallachy in 1867.
It is important that the OORAY be identified by its scientific name Davidsonia pruriens to distinguish it from related species and for scientific research and taxonomy purposes.
There was a time when some non-indigenous Australians referred to OORAY as Davidson’s or Davidson plum. It was once not uncommon for white fellas to name things that they thought they had “discovered” after themselves or someone they knew.
Fortunately, indigenous and non-indigenous people alike never stopped using the term OORAY.
Alternative spellings of OORAY are wiray in Ma:Mu language and wiiraa in Ngadjonji language but the word pronunciation remains the same.
OORAY – a unique gift
There are three identified species of Davidsonia. Only Davidsonia pruriens has an identified indigenous name – OORAY.
Unfortunately, now at a time when most Australians would say that we are more culturally aware and appreciative of the gifts shared by traditional owners, the term OORAY is being misused to describe fruit from trees not found in the tropics but in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Davidsonia jerseyana, a species only occurring naturally south of the Tweed River, and Davidsonia johnsonii, a species found naturally both in NSW and in isolated pockets just north of the Tweed River, are the only other scientifically recognised species in this genus.
There are many cultivars of OORAY. This is not surprising for a tree that inhabits many different soil types and topological locations.
The first reference made to Davidsonia jerseyana was by Bailey in 1895. It was clearly a different species to the OORAY.
Bailey only makes reference to the term OORAY being used by indigenous groups in north Queensland when describing Davidsonia pruriens. He does not refer to this term being used by indigenous groups when describing Davidsonia jerseyana.
Scientific samples of Davidsonia johnsonii were collected in 1936 but it was not until 1978 that studies were undertaken to identify it as a separate species.
Until the indigenous names of these two species can be identified OORAY PLUM can only refer to them by the common name Davidson’s plum.
It is surprising that some would take a specific indigenous name and apply it to completely different species of plants that grow 2000 km from the OORAY’s natural habitat.Yet this is happening.
While the two temperate species may be endangered in the natural environment, fortunately, the OORAY is an easily located species that flourishes in its wet tropical environment.
Sustainable Earth Stewardship
Our OORAY fruit are grown under the philosophy of Sustainable Earth Stewardship.
This philosophy incorporates a number of interrelated Earth management processes and systems which we believe produces a superior quality fruit and at the same time improves the natural environment in which the fruit grow.
Our OORAY fruit are not sprayed with pesticides or insecticides.
The skin of the OORAY fruit is covered by a layer of fine golden hairs that naturally protect the fruit from the attack of fruit fly and other damaging insects. There is therefore no need to use any pesticides at all.
This is one of the many characteristics of the OORAY (Davidsonia pruriens) that distinguishes it from the fruit fly prone Davidsonia jerseyana which is grown in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Our OORAY fruit are grown without the addition of fertilisers.
The OORAY trees take up only nutrients that are supplied from the natural decay of plant material from surrounding vegetation and the natural recycling processes that exist in topical rainforests.
Our OORAY fruit are grown without irrigation.
Our trees are not irrigated with water. The OORAY fruit grow and develop using only the water supplied by natural rainfall.
The fruit cells are not swollen and damaged with water that is force-fed to balance the salts absorbed by the use of artificial fertilisers.
Our OORAY trees are not arranged in the typical orchard pattern.
Our trees are integrated throughout existing vegetation consisting of original rainforest, rainforest re-growth, cabinet timber plantings and other endemic and exotic fruit trees.
Health Benefits
In 2009 the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) – now AgriFutures Australia released a the following report:
This report makes for compelling reading when considering the health benefits of the OORAY fruit (Davidsonia pruriens).
The report states:
“Native species evaluated in this study exhibited superior antioxidant capacity as compared to the Blueberry standard, renowned worldwide as the ‘health-promoting fruit.’ In comparison to commonly consumed fruits that comprise predominantly hydrophilic antioxidants, native foods contained antioxidant activity in both hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions. This suggests more comprehensive protection from oxidative stress, and possibly more pronounced health benefits.”
In summary, the RIRDC report analysis of OORAY shows:
● an oxygen radical absorption 2.7 times the capacity of the Blueberry control
● a lutein content twice that of Blueberries
● an Anthocyanin content greater than Blueberries
● a similar folate level
● a similar Zn (zinc) level
● higher levels of the minerals Mg (magnesium), Ca (calcium), P (phosphorus), K (potassium), Mn (manganese) and Cu (copper)
● Na (sodium) levels 3.6 times lower.
The report also suggests that the OORAY samples used in the analysis may have been harvested before maturity and therefore lowered the possible levels of some nutritional components.
This report contains a substantial amount of information regarding possible health benefits of OORAY.
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