The Jackfruit (taxonomic name Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a species of tree and its fruit, widely grown in South and Southeast Asia and Brazil. The jackfruit is in the mulberry family Moraceae.



The source of the English name jackfruit is Portuguese jaca, which is derived from Malayalam chakka. See below for other names of the fruit worldwide.

Origin and geographical distribution

The jackfruit is believed to be indigenous to the rainforests of the Western Ghats of India, later spreading to other parts of South and Southeast Asia, the East Indies and the Philippine Islands. It is also grown in parts of central and eastern Africa, Brazil, and Suriname.

It is the national fruit of Bangladesh.

Flavor and appearance

Jack fruit is covered with numerous hard points, is pale green in colour and changes to a yellowish-brown during ripening. Fruit is mature for harvest when the single small leaf above the stem withers and the first colour change occurs. Ripening continues post-harvest and with experience is ascertained by tapping the fruit. When ripe, fruit softens a little and will "give" when pushed. Ripe fruit exudes a musty, sweet aroma for a day or two before fruit is ideal for most purposes. The inside of the fruit contains the edible, sweet, aromatic, crispy, soft or melting pulp that surrounds each seed. Between the seeds and edible pulp is the inedible "rag". Pulp color varies from amber to yellow, dark yellow or orange. Seeds are ¾ to 1¼ inches (2 to 3 cm) long, oval; the number per fruit varies from 30 to 500. The time from flowering to fruit maturity ranges from 150 to 180 days.The lightbrown to black seeds with white innards are indeed about the size of dates.

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

Commercial availability of the fruit

The jackfruit bears fruit three years after planting and the fruit is the largest edible fruit in commerce.

In the U.S. and Europe, the fruit is available in shops that sell exotic products, usually sold canned with a sugar syrup. It is also obtained fresh from Asian food markets. Sweet jackfruit chips are also often available.

The wood of the jackfruit tree is used for the production of musical instruments in Indonesia as part of the gamelan and in the Philippines, where its soft wood can be 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 for manufacture of furniture.

Dishes and preparations using jackfruit

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 used in certain recipes.

Young jackfruit

Unripe (young) jackfruits are also eaten whole, cooked as a vegetable. Young jackfruit has a mild flavor and distinctive texture. The cuisines of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit. In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a food staple.
Chakka Pradaman: Jackfruit pudding from Kerala, India.
Chakka Varatti: Jackfruit Jam from Kerala, India.
Panasa Koora: Traditional Jackfruit Curry from coastal Andhra, India.
Gudeg: traditional dish from Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia.
Lodeh: traditional Indonesian vegetable dish with coconut milk.
An optional ingredient in Sayur asam (Indonesian clear soup; the name means tamarind vegetables)
Jackfruit salad: Vietnamese dish with boiled young jackfruit.
Rice and curry in Sri Lanka

Jackfruit seeds

The seeds can be eaten cooked or baked like beans. They taste similar to chestnuts.

Other preparations:

Jackfruit chips
Asian ice desserts (including Indonesian & Filipino)
Turon, a Filipino dessert made of banana and jackfruit wrapped in an eggroll wrapper
An optional ingredient in kolak (an Indonesian mung bean and coconut based dessert).
It is thought that jackfruit is the basis for the flavour of Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

Names

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

Source: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com

Such a delicious fruit, yummy!

Quote:widely grown in South and Southeast Asia and Brazil.

Yet those areas are so far apart. I wonder why, is it that the climates are so similar I wonder :?: