Indigenous knowledge meets modern science Rebecca Thorpe CSIRO
Indigenous company Secret Harvest has partnered with the CSIRO, through its Kick-Start scheme for start-ups and small-to-medium enterprises, to use ancient, generational knowledge to explore new extraction processes for native plants.
For our brand, Native Secrets, it was an opportunity to start telling positive stories about our people and to make sure we captured the wealth of knowledge known to our old people before it’s lost. I’ve always thought that if we can share that knowledge then we can all benefit from it. This is an Australian story that we can all share and be really proud of.
Secret Harvest began working with CSIRO this year to explore the potential of a plant local to the area around Phil and Cherie Thompson’s farm outside Dubbo, NSW, and in other parts of Australia. “We thought it was a great chance to explore opportunities around new technologies, extraction methodologies, and our native plants, said Phil Thompson, co-founder of Secret Harvest. “There’s one particular native plant that we’ve used for generations, and CSIRO is testing different methodologies for the best possible ways of how we can extract the bio-actives that are in this native plant,” Mr Thompson said. “Our best-case scenario is that they’ll find the perfect extraction methodology for this plant, and it could be transferrable. Then that will be the technology that we’ll invest in and we’ll do that locally here in regional New South Wales. This could lead to the creation of as many as 30 new jobs for the region within three years.” CSIRO scientist Adjunct Professor Peter Duggan, leader of the Botanical Pharmaceuticals team, is working with Secret Harvest to deliver the best options for their business. “This is a great opportunity for CSIRO to apply our expertise in botanical medicine development to an entirely Australian product with First Nations people,” Peter said. For further information: csiro.au/en/work-with-us/funding-programs/ sme/csiro-kick-start/about
Phil Thompson Co-founder, Secret Harvest
Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Peter Peckham, CSIRO scientist Dr Katherine Locock and Native Secrets founder Phil Thompson. Image courtesy of CSIRO.
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