Ingredient Library
Kakadu Plum
Terminalia ferdinandiana
Kakadu plum is an Australian superfruit with one of the highest natural vitamin C levels on earth. It brightens and defends, and suits dull, uneven, and aging skin.
A natural history
The Kakadu plum is a small green fruit from the tropical woodlands of northern Australia, gathered by Aboriginal Australians for tens of thousands of years and known by names including gubinge and billygoat plum. It is bush food and bush medicine in one. The inside of the bark was traditionally used on sores and skin troubles, and the fruit was eaten and used to help ease colds.
Its modern fame rests on a single staggering number. The Kakadu plum holds among the highest natural vitamin C content of any fruit ever measured, on the order of fifty to a hundred times that of an orange. That, along with a generous helping of the antioxidant ellagic acid, is what carried a remote bush fruit onto the world's ingredient lists. It remains a plant whose story belongs first to its traditional custodians.
What it does for your skin
The Kakadu plum is prized for its extraordinary antioxidant load. Analysis of dozens of wild fruit found exceptionally high vitamin C along with ellagic acid and strong antioxidant capacity.[1] Independent testing of Western Australian fruit confirmed that its antioxidant activity tracks closely with its vitamin C and polyphenol content.[2] In a formula it acts as a vitamin C rich botanical antioxidant that helps dull skin look brighter and more defended. That brightening draws on one of the richest natural vitamin C profiles in botany.
References
[1] Konczak I, et al. Phytochemical divergence in 45 accessions of Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum). Food Chem. 2014;151:248-256. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.11.049
[2] Bobasa EM, et al. Nutritional and functional properties of Terminalia ferdinandiana fruits wild harvested from Western Australia. Foods. 2024;13(18):2888. doi:10.3390/foods13182888
Found in these formulas
Questions, answered
It holds among the highest natural vitamin C content of any known fruit, which makes it a powerful botanical antioxidant for a brighter look.
It is a vitamin C rich fruit extract; the amount delivered depends on the formula, so think of it as an antioxidant botanical rather than a pure vitamin C dose.