Metabolic musings on lilly pilly
My neighbour and her 8 year old daughter dropped in and asked for a glass of water. I’d just made a fresh batch of infused lilly pilly spritz – the leaves (Sygygium species) added to our spritzed rain water (‘sky wine’). I like to trim off the young leaves from our back garden hedge then dry them. I also use freshly cut leaves. Then I make a hot water infusion (tea) of either.
“Wow, I didn’t know that”, they exclaimed! It tastes so good and satisfying with notes of citrus and hibiscus.
Well, guess what: “I didn’t know that” either until about a year ago. I’ve know for years about the medicinal virtues of the lily pilly fruits (found all over Australia and all edible). I have in fact made lilly pilly jelly and cordial from the fruits – but I did not know about the leaves.
I love to find uses for leaves of plants as these are mostly abundant and available all year round as distinct from the associated fruits. Lo and behold, a quick google pubmed search alerted me to some recent studies on the potential novel antioxidant and anti-diabetic activity of the leaves of S.australe.
“The presence of quercetin and cinnamic acid in the methanolic fraction suggests that the extract can inhibit key enzymes such as α-amylase, lipase, and α-glucosidase. These findings provide compelling evidence that its leaves are rich in phenolic compounds and serve as a potent natural antidiabetic agent. These results emphasize the therapeutic potential of S. australe and pave the way for further pharmaceutical investigations”. See Reference.
Youssef, S.A., Elosaily, A.H., Farag, N.F. et al. Syzygium australe extracts exhibit significant antioxidant and antidiabetic properties: a comprehensive analysis of the phytoconstituents. Futur J Pharm Sci 11, 55 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43094-025-00806-6
Indigenous Plants for Health Association
I love the joy of novelty and discovery mixed with a little understanding and value adding for young and old. This makes it worth my while to support a little volunteer organisation we call the IPHA. (I enjoy it so much, I’ve been its President for nearly four years.)
I invite you to become curious and in awe of Nature’s health offerings – and spread the word about our association. See our website at indigenousplantsforhealth.com and have a think about whether membership could be for you.
While you’re on the website, have a look at the Australian and Medicinal Plant Knowledge Cards page for more information on uses, propagation and description of native plants – including lilly pilly varieties such as S. luehmannii (Riberry or Small Leaf lilly pilly) and S.australe (brush cherry).
As I roll toward the end of my 4th year as President I’ll pass on the glorious goblet to another to infuse their soul as they immerse in this passion project for a while. So please let us know if you’d like to give it a go – great Committee back up, mentor time available, ready to start Jan 2027.
