Australian Aborigines had no pottery but they detoxified a large proportion of
their plant foods. In fact, when the first Europeans arrived many of the foods
they tried made them very sick and they decided that the native plants of
Australia were not worht eating.  Australian Aborigines ate the very toxic cycad
nuts (Macrozamia spp) and a number of yams (Dioscorea spp).

They would cut up/grind the yams/seeds, place them in a dilly bag (a tightly
woven grass bag) and leave them suspended in running water for up to 7 days and
then cook on hot coals.  Another method was to soak in shallow water for several
days.  These were then placed in a hole dug in a dry sandy place and covered
with sand and grass tree leaves.  In a fortnight (2 weeks) the pulp encasing the
cycad nut was eaten raw or roasted.

 There may not have been much in the way of water-soluble vitamins and minerals
at the end of all this, but it seems it was worth the effort.  They got sick of
eating just protein foods (marine, land animals) and liked to have a balance
between animal foods and plant foods. A good book to read about all this is
Mutooroo - Plant use by Austalian Aboriginal People.  Compiled by Gleen Leiper.
ISBN 0 7242 1185 3.

Best wishes  Jennie





Assoc. Professor Jennie Brand Miller
Human Nutrition Unit, Dept. of Biochemistry G08
University of Sydney, 2006, Australia
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FAX: 61.2.9351.6022
Ph: 61.2.9351.3759