A new species of sparkling grass has been discovered, and it tastes just like salt and vinegar chips (pictured is a stock image of spinifex grass)
Perth, Australia (BBN) – A new species of sparkling grass has been discovered, and it tastes just like salt and vinegar chips.
Researchers say the magical spinifex – a hardy type of grass than covers 30 per cent of the Australian outback – is one of eight new species they have found, reports Daily Mail.
Scientists doing experiments in Perth realized the sparkling spinifex had unique properties after one of them licked their hand and recognised the flavour.
University of WA research scientist Matthew Barrett said the salt and vinegar taste comes from minute drops of liquid that make the grass sparkle, ABC News reported.
‘When you lick them, they taste like salt and vinegar chips,’ he said.
‘But I wouldn’t recommend going out and licking spinifex.’
The new species, named Triodia scintillans, was discovered during a four-year research project conducted by PhD student Ben Anderson.
Dr Barrett has been studying spinifex in the outback for one and a half decades, and said there are more than 30 species in the Pilbara region alone.
Spinifex is native to Australia, drought-resistant and has a variety of uses, including mine site rehabilitation and even condom manufacture.
A Queensland company farms spinifex commercially to make the contraceptives, which are the world’s thinnest and strongest.
The sticky sap from the native grass was used by Aboriginal people for hundreds of years and researchers are hoping to harvest the resin to make glue.
BBN/MMI/ANS
