Jackfruit

Jackfruit
Jackfruit tree with fruit
Jackfruit tree with fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Artocarpus
Species: A. heterophyllus
Binomial name
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Lam.
See also: Mangifera caesia

The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a species of tree of the mulberry family (Moraceae) native to parts of South and Southeast Asia. The fruit is named after William Jack (1795-1822), a botanist who worked for the East India Company in Bengal, Sumatra and Malaysia[1]. It is well suited to tropical lowlands. Its fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world[2], seldom less than about 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. Even a relatively thin tree, around 10 cm (4 in) diameter, can bear large fruit. The fruits can reach 36 kg (80 lbs) in weight and up to 90 cm (36 in) long and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. The jackfruit is something of an acquired taste, but it is very popular in many parts of the world. The sweet yellow sheaths around the seeds are about 3–5 mm thick and have a taste similar to that of pineapple, but milder and less juicy.

Contents

Cultivation

Jackfruit opened

The jackfruit is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It is also possibly native to the Malay Peninsula, though, more likely, it was introduced there by humans. It is commercially grown and sold in South, Southeast Asia and northern Australia. It is also grown in parts of Hawaii, Brazil, Suriname, Madagascar, and in islands of the West Indies such as Jamaica and Trinidad. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh and Indonesia. All jackfruit plants are frost sensitive. The jackfruit bears fruit three years after planting.

The jackfruit has played a significant role in the Indian agriculture (and culture) from time immemorial. Archeological findings in India have revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago. Findings also indicate that Indian Emperor Ashoka the Great (274–237 BC) encouraged arbori-horticulture of various fruits including jackfruit. Varahamihira, the Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer wrote a chapter on the treatment of trees in his Brhat Samhita. His treatise includes a specific reference on grafting to be performed on trees such as jackfruit. [3]

Commercial availability

Outside of its countries of origin, fresh jackfruit can be found at Asian food markets. It is also extensively cultivated in the Brazilian coastal region, being commercialized in local markets. It may also be available canned in sugar syrup or frozen. Sweet jackfruit chips are produced by various manufacturers.

Dishes and preparations

Young jackfruit
Illustration of the size of jackfruit.
Jackfruit chips

Jackfruit is commonly used in South and Southeast Asian cuisines. It can be eaten unripe (young) or ripe, and cooked or uncooked. The seeds can also be eaten cooked or baked like beans; they taste similar to chestnuts. The leaves are sometimes used as a wrapping for steamed Idlis.

Preparation

An unopened ripe fruit can have an unpleasant smell, like rotting onions. The light brown to black seeds with white innards are about 2–3 inches long. People often oil their hands with coconut oil, mustard oil or paraffin before preparing jackfruit, as the rest of the fruit is a loose white mass that bleeds a milky, sticky sap often used as glue.

Young fruit

Unripe (young) jackfruit can also be eaten whole. Young jackfruit has a mild flavour and distinctive texture. The cuisines of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit. In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a food staple.

Dishes

Other preparations

Wood

A kutiyapi, made of jackfruit wood

The wood of the tree is used for the production of various musical instruments. In Indonesia it forms part of the gamelan and in the Philippines, its soft wood is made into the hull of a kutiyapi, a type of Philippine boat lute. It is also used to make the body of the Indian drums mridangam and kanjira. It is also widely used in the manufacture of furniture.

Forest monks wearing robes of Jackfruit heartwood dye.

The heartwood of the jackfruit tree is used by Buddhist forest monastics in Southeast Asia as a dye, giving the robes of the monks in those traditions their traditional off-brown colors.[4]

Names

Jaca tree in Brazil
A variety of Jackfruits, called "koozha Chakka", found widely in the Southern Indian state of Kerala

The English name jackfruit, one of many for the fruit, derives from Portuguese jaca, which is derived from Malayalam chakka.

The fruit is called a variety of names around the world:

South Asian names
Southeast Asian names
East Asian names
West Asian name
African names
European and Latin American names

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ralph R. Stewart (1984) How Did They Die? Taxon 33(1):48-52.
  2. ↑ Know and Enjoy Tropical Fruit: Jackfruit, Breadfruit & Relatives
  3. ↑ Science in India with Special Reference to Agriculture P.M. Tamboli and Y.L. Nene
  4. ↑ Forest Monks and the Nation-state: An Anthropological and Historical Study in Northeast Thailand J.L. Taylor 1993 p218

External links