What is Tutu?
Q: What is Tutu?
A: Tutu is a common name of Māori origin for plants in the genus Coriaria (Coriariaceae) found in New Zealand.
Q: How many species of Tutu are there?
A: There are six native species of Tutu known by the name: Coriaria angustissima, Coriaria arborea, Coriaria lurida, Coriaria plumosa, Coriaria pteridoides and Coriaria sarmentosa.
Q: Are these plants shrubs or trees?
A: These plants are either shrubs or trees; some are endemic to New Zealand.
Q: What toxin do they contain?
A: Most parts of the plant contain the neurotoxin tutin.
Q: How did Māori people use it?
A: After removing the poisonous seeds, Māori people prepared a drink from the fruit which they often boiled with a type of seaweed (rimu). The resulting jelly (rehia) was then fermented.
Q: How can honey containing tutin be produced?
A: Honey containing tutin can be produced by honey bees feeding on honeydew produced by sap-sucking vine hopper insects (Scolypopa australis) feeding on tutu. The toxin is in the sap of the Tutu bush which is eaten by these hoppers but not all is digested; undigested sap containing plant sugars and tutin is excreted as honeydew onto leaves where bees gather it and toxic honey results.
Q: When were deaths from eating toxic honey last recorded in New Zealand? A:The last recorded deaths from eating toxic honey containing tutin were in Northland, New Zealand, in 1890 although sporadic outbreaks continue to occur.
