New Zealand scientists pioneer fermentation to unlock multimillion-sollar shiitake export market
Could a breakthrough in fermentation create a new multi-million-dollar export market for shiitake mushroom extracts into China?
Torere Macadamias Ltd and the Riddet Institute have signed a strategic partnership to advance food innovation and support the growth of Aotearoa New Zealand’s macadamia industry. This collaboration formalises and celebrates four years of shared research and innovation.
They aim to help strengthen New Zealand’s macadamia value chain by transforming nuts and by-products into high-value foods and ingredients.
In a collaboration with STEMM Academy, the partners hope to establish enduring career pipelines for Māori through food science.
Torere Macadamias Ltd is an organic macadamia nursery, orchard and nut company based in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Pioneering founder and general manager Vanessa Hayes has spent 40 years developing unique macadamia varieties for New Zealand, with a 2022 Plant & Food Research study confirming the nuts were nutritionally superior to imported varieties.
The roots of the new partnership go back to 2022, when Hayes began exploring the potential value of macadamia husks and shells as sources of bioactive ingredients. Her interest in the husks was sparked by an observation of animal behaviour.
“For many years, the cows from neighbouring properties have been pushing down our fence to get to the macadamia husks.
“We wanted to understand what was attracting the cows, so we met up with experts at the Riddet Institute to see what’s there and how we might extract and use the valuable compounds in new innovations.”
Faruk Ahmed, supervised by Riddet Institute scientist Ali Rashidinejad, commenced a PhD research project to investigate macadamia husks, shells and leaves for bioactive compounds that could be used in functional food products or pharmaceutical supplements. The results to date have demonstrated that macadamia husks contain major phenolic compounds (a potent source of antioxidants) with considerable potential for future applications.
Hayes says formalising the strategic partnership with the Riddet Institute is a significant milestone, adding to her decades of pioneering macadamia research in New Zealand.
The Riddet Institute’s acting director, Paul Moughan, says the Riddet Institute is delighted to collaborate with Torere Macadamias to explore new frontiers in high-value food and ingredient development. He said the partnership would promote local expertise and indigenous knowledge, together with cutting-edge science.
