jackfruit

It is an evergreen tree growing to 10-15 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, elliptical, 5-25 cm long and 3-12 cm broad, often lobed on young trees but entire on mature trees. The flowers are produced in dense inflorescences 3-7 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad; the male and female flowers produced on separate inflorescences, the female inflorescences commonly borne on thick branches or the trunk of the tree (cauliflory).


The fruit is huge, seldom less than about 25 cm in diameter. Even a relatively thin tree (circa 10 cm) can have huge fruits hanging on it. The fruits can reach 36 kg in weight and up to 90 cm long and 50 cm in diameter. The jackfruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world.

The sweet yellow sheaths around the seeds are about 3-5 mm thick and have a taste similar to pineapple but milder and less juicy.

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

[edit] Cultivation and uses
Jackfruit is widely grown in South and Southeast Asia. It is also grown in parts of central and eastern Africa, Brazil, and Suriname. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh and Indonesia.


The jackfruit has played a significant role in the Indian agriculture (and culture) from times 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 famous Indian astronomer, mathemetician, and astrologer wrote a chapter on the treatment of trees in his Brhat Samhita. One of the highlights of his treatise is a specific reference on grafting to be done on trees such as jackfruit. A method of grafting described was what is known today as 'wedge grafting'. [1]




One of the earliest descriptions of the jackfruit is to be found in the 16th century memoirs of the Mughal Emperor Babar, who was not much enamored of it:

"The jackfruit is unbelievably ugly and bad tasting. It looks exactly like sheep intestines turned inside out like stuffed tripe. It has a cloyingly sweet taste. Inside it has seeds like hazelnuts that mostly resemble dates, but these seeds are round, not long. The flesh of these seeds, which is what is eaten, is softer than dates. It is sticky, and for that reason some people grease their hands and mouths before eating it. The fruit is said to grow on the branches, the trunk, and the roots of the tree and looks like stuffed tripe hung all over the tree". [2]


The jackfruit is something of an acquired taste, but it is very popular in many parts of the world. A unopened ripe fruit can have a unpleasant smell, like rotting onions. The lightbrown to black seeds with white innards are indeed about the size of dates. People often oil their hands with coconut oil, kerosene/parafin before preparing jackfruit, as the rest of the mass of the fruit is a loose white mass that bleeds a milky sticky sap, often used as glue.

[edit] Commercial availability
A kutiyapi, made of jackfruit wood
A kutiyapi, made of jackfruit wood

The jackfruit bears fruit three years after planting.

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

The wood 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.