Artocarpus heterophyllus / Jackfruit / Moraceae (Mulberry family)

Information

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Other Names

Kothal, Cãţtal, Katahal, Katahar, Halasu, Pilakkai, Phannasa, Chakka, Phanas, Panasa, Sakkeyo, Palaa, Panasa, Panasam, Nangka, Yangka, Langka, Knol, Mak mii, Kanoon, Mít, Bōluómì, Pōluómì, Derakhte Nan, Ampalibe, Fenesi, Fene, Jackfrucht, Jaca, Jaka, Fruta de Jack, Guenpan, Jacquie

Scent

When fully ripe, the unopened Jackfruit emits a strong disagreeable odor, resembling that of decayed onions, while the pulp of the opened fruit smells of pineapple and banana.

Historical

The jackfruit is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. 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.
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.(2) In India and Nepal, flowers and fruit are offered to Lord Vishnu on the eleventh day of Shravan. Dried branches are used to produce fire by friction in religious ceremonies in Malabar.
The pulp of the young fruit is cooked as a starchy food and has a consistency resembling meat. The young fruit is also pickled or canned in brine or curry. The ripe fruit is eaten fresh or is processed into numerous delicacies including jam, jelly, and chutney. It also makes an excellent dried fruit or preserved candy when combined with sugar or honey. The pulp is also used as a favoring in ice cream and drinks. Aside from favoring for beverages, the fruit can be fermented and distilled to produce an alcoholic liquor.
The Jackfruit has many other uses. In India, leaves are used to wrap food for cooking and are woven together for plates. In the Philippines, the wood is highly prized for making guitars, ukuleles, and other musical instruments. When boiled with alum, wood chips, or sawdust, it yields a dye that is commonly used to give the characteristic color to the robes of Buddhist priests and in dying silk.(1)

Plant Description

The tree is handsome and stately, 30 to 70 ft (9-21 m) tall, with evergreen, alternate, glossy, somewhat leathery leaves to 9 in (22.5 cm) long, oval on mature wood, sometimes oblong or deeply lobed on young shoots. All parts contain a sticky, white latex. Short, stout flowering twigs emerge from the trunk and large branches, or even from the soil-covered base of very old trees. The tree is monoecious: tiny male flowers are borne in oblong clusters 2 to 4 in (5-10 cm) in length; the female flower clusters are elliptic or rounded. Largest of all tree-borne fruits, the jackfruit may be 8 in to 3 ft (20-90 cm) long and 6 to 20 in (15-50 cm) wide, and the weight ranges from 10 to 60 or even as much as 110 lbs (4.5-20 or 50 kg). The "rind' or exterior of the compound or aggregate fruit is green or yellow when ripe and composed of numerous hard, cone-like points attached to a thick and rubbery, pale yellow or whitish wall. The interior consists of large "bulbs" (fully developed perianths) of yellow, banana-flavored flesh, massed among narrow ribbons of thin, tough undeveloped perianths (or perigones), and a central, pithy core. Each bulb encloses a smooth, oval, light-brown "seed" (endocarp) covered by a thin white membrane (exocarp). The seed is 3/4 to 1 1/2 in (2-4 cm) long and 1/2 to 3/4 in (1.25-2 cm) thick and is white and crisp within. There may be 100 or up to 500 seeds in a single fruit.(3)

References

(1) Document: Artocarpus heterophyllus (jackfruit), Species Profles for Pacifc Island Agroforestry, www.traditionaltree.org
(2) Jackfruit, Wikipedia
(3) Jackfruit, p. 58-64. In: Fruits of warm climates, Julia F. Morton

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