School Science Lessons
2024-06-27c
Breadfruit Project
(ProjBread)
Contents
Preface
1.0 Origin
2.0 Climate & soil
3.0 Tree & stem
4.0 Leaf
5.0 Roots
6.0 Male flower
7.0 Female flower
8.0 Pollination
9.0 Fruit & seed
10.0 Cultivars
11.0 Seedlings
12.0 Suckers
13.0 Planting
14.0 Harvesting
15.0 Fertilizers
16.0 Pests
17.0 Cooking
18.0 Uses
6.20.0 Records
Jackfruit
Artocarpus heterophyllus, Moraceae
Breadnut, Artocarpus camansi, Moraceae
1.0 Origin of breadfruit
Breadfruit, tropical tree, is commonly cultivated for food in the Pacific Islands, South East Asia, and southern India.
Fruits large and green or yellowish, with a lumpy or spiny surface, full of starch, may be cooked whole, stuffed with meat, coconut or fruit, or stored as a fermented mash, taste when cooked has been compared to bread or potato.
Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, Family Moraceae (mulberry family), large tree, evergreen, fast growing.
Breadfruit, Daley's Fruit Trees
The fruit is large, round, green, seedless.
It is used baked, boiled, roasted.
It is propagated from roots, cuttings
It grows in Java, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Western Micronesia.
Migrating Polynesians and Hawaiians brought it to Oahu Island, Hawaii.
Seeded breadfruit may have been taken from the Philippines to Mexico and Central America by Spanish navigators.
In 1772, the French navigator Sonnerat may have brought seeded breadfruit from the Philippines to the French West Indies.
Following famine in Jamaica, in 1787, the British navigator Captain Bligh collected potted breadfruit plants from Tahiti.
However, the plants used too much water, leading to the famous "Mutiny on the Bounty" when the crew destroyed the breadfruit plants.
In 1791 Captain Bligh collected over 2000 different kinds of the plants and later took them to Jamaica where the seedless varieties later grew well.
The grave of Captain Bligh is decorated with a marble breadfruit fruit.
These varieties were later planted in the West Indies, Central America and northern South America, Jamaica and St. Lucia.
They are now the main producers.
In Papua New Guinea, only the seeded type is grown for food and in Haiti the seeded variety is more common.
The seeded types are originally from Java, Indonesia, but also growing abundantly in Suriname.
The pulp of this large green fruit is used in the same way as potato and it stores well when dried or frozen.
The tree reaches 20 m, requiring hot tropical areas, so is not suitable for temperate climates.
2.0 Climate and soil
Breadfruit is suited to the hot and humid tropical lowlands.
Although it is said that breadfruit need a temperature range of 16-38oC,
an annual rainfall of 200-250 cm, and a relative humidity of 70 to 80%.
It can grow in dryer areas if irrigated.
Similarly although it is said that the breadfruit tree must have deep,
fertile, well-drained soil, in the Pacific islands the seedless breadfruit grows on sandy coral soils, and seeded types grow on coral
limestone islands.
In Papua New Guinea, the breadfruit tree grows wild along waterways and
in freshwater swamps.
Perhaps each variety needs an environment with particular conditions.
Some varieties are even salt tolerant.
3.0 Tree and stem
See diagram: Breadfruit fruit 1.
See diagram: Breadfruit fruit 2.
1. The breadfruit tree, Artocarpus altilis ( A. communis,
A. incisus) belongs to the mulberry family, Moraceae and is monoecious.
The normal, "wild type" has seeds and little pulp but it is still cultivated
in some regions, e.g. Papua New Guinea.
The "cultivated" seedless type is more widely grown, but sometimes seeds
occur in seedless cultivars.
The common name is usually a translation of "bread" and "fruit", e.g. "fruta de pan" in Spanish, "fruit a pain" in French.
Some names distinguish the seedless variety from the seeded variety,
e.g. "suku" and "kulur" in Malaysia.
In the Philippines, the seedless variety is "rimas" and in Hawaii is
"ulu".
In some classifications, the seedless variety is called var. apyrena and the seeded variety, known as the breadnut, is called var. seminifera.
In the Southern hemisphere, the breadfruit produces its fruit twice a
year, in the period March to June and again in the period August to November.
A good tree can produce more than one or two hundred fruit a year.
Breadfruit does not normally grow wild by itself so it must be planted by farmers.
2. Artocarpus is an evergreen tree with thick branches and large leaves deeply cut into
pointed lobes, usually flowering twice a year.
Male flower heads are club-shaped and dangling on stalks.
Female flower heads are upright and stiff.
The round to oblong fruit are smooth or prickly, with stout stalks and are edible only when fully ripe.
3. The breadfruit tree is fast growing and the largest may reach 26 m in height, with a straight trunk to 6 m, 0.6-1.8 m in width and be buttressed at the base.
The spreading branches may have lateral foliage bearing branches or long
slender branches with leaves only at their tips.
The young twigs are green in colour but soon become brown and woody.
There are two kinds of marks on the small stems.
The stipule scars are made when the stipules fall off.
They are just below each leaf.
There are many small brown marks on the stem, lenticels, that are breathing
holes so that air can go inside the stem.
All parts of the tree, including the unripe fruit, have a milky, sticky
latex.
4. Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, has its origins in SE Asia, but is now widespread across the Pacific Islands as a staple food.
4.0 Leaf
| See diagram 52.1: Leaf
| See diagram 52.2: Stipule
1. Leaves are large, simple and often pinnately lobed, and are spirally
arranged on the branch.
The buds are 10-20 cm long covered with big, conical, light green stipules.
Later, the stipule drops off leaving an obvious stipule scar on the branch.
2. The leaves may be evergreen on the wet tropics or deciduous in countries
with a monsoon.
In high rainfall islands, the leaves stay on the tree.
In islands with a dry season, the leaves may drop off each year.
3. The leaves, are ovate, up to 20-90 cm long and 20-50 cm wide, and
leathery.
They are entire at the base then deeply cut into 5 to 11 pointed lobes.
The upper surface is bright green and glossy on the upper surface with
conspicuous yellow veins.
The underside is dull yellow to pale green, rough below with minute,
stiff hairs.
The leaf has a short stout petiole 3-5 cm long and a strong midrib.
3. When a leaf is broken off a milky sap comes out, the latex.
5.0 Roots
1. Vegetative propagation is used so all the roots are adventitious roots
with a dense occurrence of feeding roots close to the surface of the soil.
2. Dig up some feeding roots.
Also get some bigger roots about 2 cm thick, because this is the size
used to make root cuttings.
6.0 Male flower
| See diagram 52.3: Male flowers
| See diagram 52.5: Male inflorescence
Flowers are tiny and similar to Jackfruit.
1. The breadfruit tree makes a multitude of tiny flowers, male and female.
The female flowers form first.
2. The thousands of small male flowers grow closely together on a drooping,
yellow, club-shaped spike.
The flowers are 10-30 cm long, 2-4 cm thick, on stout peduncles (flower
stalks), and are soft like a sponge.
They are first pale yellow and then become brown.
Each flower has a single small dark stamen that makes the male pollen.
After the male flower comes out of the stipule, it takes early two weeks
before the pollen is ready for fertilization when the wind blows the pollen onto the female flowers.
3. Examine a male flower.
In the Southern Hemisphere this can only be done in early March or early
August.
Note the size of the small flowers and the dark stamen coming from each
flower.
4. Pollen forms two weeks after the flower opens, and the wind blows
the pollen to the female flowers.
7.0 Female flower
See diagram 52.6: Young fruit, longitudinal section
1. The female flowers are massed in a rounded green head, about 6 cm
long and 4 cm wide, and stand stiffly on stout peduncles.
The female flowers appear about two weeks after the male flowers have
first opened.
The female flowers are tightly packed together and embedded in the receptacles
with tubular calyx.
From each flower comes the sticky part, the 2-lobed stigma, which protrudes
above the calyx, on a narrow style.
Three days after the female flowers open, the stigmas can receive the
pollen from the male flowers.
At first the female flowers are small and held straight up.
As the flower grows and turns into the fruit, the stalk bends down.
8.0 Pollination and germination
1. About 15 days after the inflorescence appears the male flowers shed
pollen to be carried by the wind to the female flowers.
Hand pollination improves the fruit set.
2. To observe how long it takes for one flower to grow to full size tie
a piece of coloured cloth around one flower to identify it.
9.0 Fruit and seed
See diagram 52.7: Mature fruit
1. The whole inflorescence, all the flowers, develops into a compound
fruit, a syncarp.
The fruit is usually ovoid 9-45 cm in length and 5-30 cm in diameter.
Fruit can be oblong, cylindrical, ovoid, rounded or pear-shaped, and
turn yellow when ripe.
The thin fruit rind has a pattern of irregular, hexagonal faces in "smooth"
fruits or have a sharp, black point or green pliable spine about 3 mm long on each face.
Some fruits have a harsh rind like sandpaper.
The rind is usually green at first then yellow or yellow-brown when ripe.
When fully ripe, the fruit is somewhat soft, the interior is cream coloured
or yellow and pasty, also sweetly fragrant.
When green, the fruit is hard and the inside is white, starchy and fibrous.
The fruit is seedless or nearly seedless with a large central core surrounded
by many aborted flowers, which form a moist pulp.
When ripe, the fruit is softer, the inside is cream coloured or yellow,
pasty, and with a distinctive sweet smell.
2. The seeds are irregularly oval shape, rounded at one end, pointed
at the other, about 2 cm long, dull brown with darker brown stripes.
The seedless breadfruit is low in protein so the seeded breadfruit is
more value as food.
The seeds soon lose their viability if they become dry.
3. In the centre of seedless fruits is a cylindrical core.
Some fruits are covered with hairs bearing brown, abortive seeds about
3 mm long.
The fruit is borne singly or in clusters of two or three at the branch
tips.
The fruit stalk, pedicel, is from 2.5-12 cm long.
4. The fruits contain acetylcholine and hydrocyanic acid.
10.0 Cultivars
See diagram 52.9: Leaves of different varieties
1. Collect leaves of several varieties and take them into the classroom.
2. Describe each variety of breadfruit using the same descriptions as below.
3. The South Pacific Commission has published descriptions of about 160
varieties from the South Pacific islands.
One variety from each class of Samoan varieties, classified by leaf shape,
is described as follows:
Class I: Leaf entire (no toothing or division) or with 1 -3 lobes.
The "Tamaikora" fruit is gourd-shaped (constricted around the middle)
11.5 cm long, 7.5 cm, wide, and with many seeds.
It can be eaten raw when ripe but is highly perishable.
The tree grows to 12-13.5 m in height.
Class II: Leaf dissected at the apex
The "Temaipo" fruit is round, 9 cm long and seedless.
It can be eaten raw when ripe.
Class III: Leaf moderately deeply dissected at apex
The "Uto Kuro" fruit is round, 12.5 cm long and does not deteriorate
quickly.
Class IV: Leaf moderately deeply dissected on upper half
The "Tamaikora" fruit is oblong, 18-23 cm long, 12.5-16.5 cm wide, seeds
sparse, pulp eaten raw when ripe.
The tree grows to 23-26 m in height and bears 2 crops per year.
Class V: Leaf moderately deeply dissected, shape of leaf base variable
"Uto Wa" fruit is oval, 15-19 cm long, 12.5-14 cm wide.
Class VI: Leaf deeply dissected
"Uto Matala" fruit is round, 7.5-10 cm long and is especially fine when
boiled.
The tree bears 3 times a year.
Class VII: Leaf deeply dissected, apex pointed
"Balekana Ni Samoa" fruit is round, 12.5-14 cm long, seeds sparse.
It is the best of all Samoan varieties.
Class VIII: Leaf deeply dissected, wide spaces between lobes
"Savisavi Ni Viti" fruit is oblong, 16-20 cm long, 10-15 cm wide, seedless,
and is especially good when boiled.
4. Some varieties from Tahiti are described as follows:
The "Havana" fruit is oval to round.
The rind is yellow-green and spiny.
The pulp is golden yellow, moist, pasty, and separates into loose flakes when cooked quickly over a fire to become very sweet with excellent flavour.
The core is oval, large, and with a row of abortive seeds.
The fruit is very perishable, so it must be used within 2 days.
Fruit borne in 2"s and 3"s.
It is said to be one of the best breadfruits.
The "Maohi" fruit is round and 15 cm wide.
The rind is bright yellow-green with patches of red-brown, rough, with
spines, and often has much exuded latex.
The pulp is cream-coloured and smooth with very good flavour when cooked slowly.
The core is large.
Fruit is borne in 2"s and 3"s.
This tree is a heavy bearer and is the most common breadfruit of Tahiti.
The "Paea" fruit is ellipsoidal, 28 cm long and 23 cm wide.
The rind is yellow-green and spiny.
The core is thick with a row of brown, abortive seeds.
The pulp is bright yellow, moist, and separates into flakes when roasted for one hour on an open fire.
Formerly, "Paea" was reserved for chiefs only.
The "Pucro" fruit is spherical or elongated and large.
The rind is yellow-green with small brown spots, very rough, spiny, and
thin.
The pulp is light yellow and smooth, of excellent flavour.
It cooks quickly and is said to be one of the best breadfruits.
"Rare Autia" The fruit is round, 15 cm across.
The rind is dull green with red-brown markings.
The pulp is light yellow when cooked and separates into chunks of excellent
flavour.
The core is large with small abortive seeds.
This cultivar is so superior it was restricted to royalty and high chiefs
only.
11.0 Seedlings
See diagram 52.8: Nursery
1. The seeded breadfruit is always grown from seeds, which must be planted
when fairly fresh as they lose viability in a few weeks.
Pick a ripe fruit.
Leave it for three days until it is soft.
Take out the seeds.
Put the seeds on the floor in a dry, shady place and leave them for one
day until they are dry.
Then plant the seeds in the top of the seed bed and cover them lightly.
Water the seeds.
Keep the seeds watered each day.
They will soon sprout.
When the seedlings are two months old and between 15 and 20 cm high,
they can be dug up and transplanted.
Build a small shelter for a seed bed and put good soil in this place.
12.0 Suckers and cuttings
See diagram 52.10: Cuttings
1. The seedless breadfruit can be propagated by transplanting suckers
from the roots.
Suckers can be induced by uncovering and injuring a root.
Pruning the parent tree will increase the number of suckers.
Each sucker should be root-pruned several times for months before taking
it up for transplanting.
Cut through to the roots about 15 cm apart, but do not uproot.
Just leave them in the soil until sprouts appear at every segment, then
transfer to pots.
2. Root cuttings 3-6 cm thick and 20 cm long should have the ends dipped
in potassium permanganate solution to coagulate the latex.
Plant them close together horizontally in sand in the shade and water them daily.
After about 6 weeks, calluses form and after about 2 to 5
months, roots form.
Then transplant the cuttings to pots, at a slant, and water daily for
several months or until the plants are 60 cm high.
Allow a period of full sun before the final transplanting.
3. Dig up some pieces of root about 2 cm thick or a little less.
The pieces must be 20 cm long.
Make sure to mark the top end.
Make a sloping cut across the bottom end, as you see in the diagram.
Plant the cutting in a covered seed bed in good soil and some compost.
The cutting should be planted sloping, not straight up.
The cutting must be watered often.
The cutting can be planted out when it is about 15 cm.
Plant the cutting with the top end out of the soil.
4. Breadfruit scions can be grafted or budded onto seedlings of jack
fruit trees
13.0 Planting
See diagram: 52.11 Planting
1. Breadfruit is ultra-tropical and will not survive temperatures below
4oC.
Growth stops and trees decline when temperatures drop below 16oC
or above 35oC.
Trees need lots of water, high humidity and deep, well-drained soil.
2. Plant young breadfruit trees in holes 40 cm deep and 0.9 m wide, 7.5-12
m apart in plantations, about 80 trees per hectare.
Prepare the holes by burning trash in them to sterilize the soil.
Mix insecticide with the soil to protect the roots and shoots from grubs.
Trees grown from root suckers should bear fruit in 5 years and be productive
for about 50 years.
Apply seasonal standard mixtures of NPK.
When the trees reach bearing age, in addition apply 2 kg superphosphate
per year to increase the size and quality of the fruits.
3. The hole for the plant must be 60 cm by 60 cm and 150 cm deep.
Some growers put tin cans full of water in the bottom of the pit, then
soil, then logs and coconut husks until the hole is 3/4 full, then compost and good black soil.
Plant the young breadfruit in this good soil with the green shoot pointing
straight up.
Most breadfruit plants do not tolerate salt spray from the sea.
14.0 Harvesting
Fruiting occurs continuously on and off all year long.
In the South Pacific, the tree usually fruits continuously with two or
three main fruiting periods.
So fruit in all stages of development are present during the year.
In Hawaii, breadfruit are most abundant from July to February and in
the Bahamas June to November.
However, in most places some fruits may mature at other times during
the year.
Harvest breadfruits when maturity is indicated by small drops of latex
on the surface of the rind and the fruit is still firm.
If harvested by breaking the fruit stalk with a stick, some bruising
or splitting may occur.
If harvested by catching by hand, the leaked latex may cause some irritation.
The yield varies from 25 to 200 fruits per year, 15-30 tonnes per hectare
depending on the variety, climate and fertilizing procedures.
15.0 Fertilizers and shade
1 The young breadfruit will grow much better if it is given some plant
food.
After planting in the it, some mixed fertilizer should be put on the
soil around the base of the young plant but not too close to it.
The fertilizer can be made by mixing together: 60 g of IBDU, 60 g of
superphosphate, 30 g of potassium nitrate, 5 grams of coconut trace elements.
This is the amount to put around one tree.
This fertilizer should be put on the plant every three months.
When the tree has grown bigger and has started to bear fruit, the following
fertilizer mixture can be put on the soil every six months:
200 g of IBDU, 200 g of superphosphate 100 g of potassium nitrate 15
g of coconut trace elements.
Mix some fertilizer and put it around the young plant.
Give older plants a larger amount of mixed fertilizer.
2. In a very hot climate young plants should be given some shade from
the hot sun, but some sun must shine on the plants.
Make sure that if you shade plants you give them fertilizer.
6.01 Pests and diseases
16.6.2 Bordeaux mixture
1. The main insect pests are soft scales, mealy bugs and ants.
Fungus diseases include soft rot of fruit caused by Rhizopus artocarpi
that can be controlled by Bordeaux mixture.
Rosellinia kills young trees and Fusarium causes die back,
Pythium causes root rot.
Phytophthora attacks the fruit
Phomopsis, Dothiorella and Phylospora cause stem end rot.
Fruit flies can damage ripe fruits.
2. Some growers prune branches that have borne fruit and would normally die back to stimulate new shoots and keep the tree from growing too tall for convenient harvesting.
17.0 Breadfruit as a food
1. Most varieties of breadfruit are purgative if eaten raw so they must be boiled twice and the water thrown away before using them for food.
However, some cultivars can be eaten without cooking.
Some cultivars contain the triterpenoid sterol Cycloartenol, C30H50O.
Fresh fruits are baked or boiled and served with garnishes.
Breadfruits are also used in making many other dishes, from soup, to chowder, to custards and even bread.
Unripe fruits are roasted or pickled and used as vegetables
2. Breadfruit can be used like a potato or winter squash; it can be baked, boiled, fried, or roasted.
Some cooks soak it in water overnight before peeling it.
It can be cooked without peeling.
Baked or roasted breadfruit is good with butter, salt and pepper.
Breadfruit may be eaten ripe as a fruit or eaten under-ripe as a vegetable, when it is picked while still starchy and boiled or roasted, sometimes stuffed with coconut before roasting.
The pulp may be sliced and fried in palm sugar syrup until brown.
Ripe fruits can be baked whole or steamed.
Breadfruit soup can be made by boiling under-ripe slices.
The pulp of ripe breadfruits can be combined with coconut milk and baked to make a breadfruit pudding.
Breadfruit can be prepared as a sweet pickle.
Overripe breadfruit can be used to make chips like potato chips or fries.
3. In some Pacific islands the fruits are peeled, the pulp mashed with sea water, sometimes baked or left raw, then left to ferment for some time in pits lined with banana leaves.
The food called poi is made from boiled firm fruits, pounded to a paste with added water then strained through a cloth before eating.
4. The fruit can be preserved by being cut into slices, cooked and dried in the sun or dried over hot stones in a fire pit or dried in a copra dryer.
5. Dried fruit has been made into flour and combined with wheat flour or boiled to make porridge.
Breadfruit flour contains 4.% protein, 77% carbohydrates, and 330 calories per 100 g.
Cassava flour contains, 1% protein, 84% carbohydrates, and 347 calories per 100 g.
Two proteolytic enzyme occur in breadfruit, Papayotin and Artocarpine.
6. The fallen male flower spikes can be boiled as vegetables or candied by cooking in syrup.
The seeds can be boiled or roasted before being eaten like chestnuts.
Under-ripe fruits can be cooked for pig feed.
The leaves can be eaten by livestock.
The fruits can be kept under sea water until needed also ripe fruits fallen from the tree can be put into polyethylene bags and kept in refrigeration temperatures down to 12oC.
Partly roasted fruits can be transported by sea.
Canned breadfruit is exported to Europe.
7. Cook breadfruit when it begins to ripen.
When fully ripened it is mushy to eat.
18.0 Other uses
The latex was formerly used as birdlime to catch birds and for caulking canoes.
The yellow grey wood with markings is light in weight, not hard but strong, elastic and usually termite resistant.
It is used for house construction, furniture, partitions, surfboards and drums.
The bark fibre can be used to make clothing, tapa cloth.
Roasted leaves are used in local medicines.
In Chinese medicine, seeds are used to treat fevers, e.g. typhoid fever.
Preface
To teach this project have access to seedlings growing during the wet part of the year.
Make a small shaded seed bed for growing the seedlings, and the cuttings.
Before teaching this project, discuss the content of the lessons with a field officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, and get advice on planting material, planting distances, site for planting,
approved mulch, composting, and control of pests and diseases.
Use only the procedures, agricultural chemicals and insecticides recommended by the local field officer of the Ministry of Agriculture.
If you cannot control insects by hand-picking, ask the Ministry of Agriculture
to recommend a chemical spray.
All insect sprays are dangerous.
Show the students how to use them safely.
Do not get the spray onto your hands.
Do not breathe in the spray.
Wash your hands well after using spray.
Keep the spray container in a safe place where students cannot get it.
Spray on a day of no wind but if you must spray when there is a wind,
spray down wind.
Make sure the spray does not blow on other people.
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Moraceae
Jackfruit Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery
See: Jackfruit, ICUC, (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Moraceae.
See: Websites Breadfruit
See diagram Artocarpus heterophyllus
1. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), jaca, jac fruit, jak fruit, nangka, kathal, jakfruit, jaca, nangka, Moraceae, large tree to 15 m, is hardier than breadfruit.
The leaves are simple, thick and leathery, and the flowers are on trunk and main branches.
It is the largest and heaviest fruit in the world.
It is eaten fresh or in curries, edible roasted seeds contain acetylcholine, hydrocyanic acid.
The fruit is very large elongated, segmented, green to yellow when ripe, used fresh, cooked, dried, seeds roasted.
Propagation is from seeds and grafting.
It occurs in India, China to Philippines. Malaysia.
All parts of the tree contain white latex, elliptical to obovate leaves taper gradually to the stalk with the upperside dark and shiny green.
The flesh of this large green fruit may be used in the same way as potato and it stores well when dried or frozen.
The tree reaches 8-15 m, requiring hot tropical areas, but is not suitable for temperate climates.
It bears the worlds largest fruit, up to 20 kg, which has strong odour, but is deliciously sweet and can be eaten fresh or dried.
Jackfruit is very quick growing, usually starts fruiting in the fourth year and cincturing can help earlier fruiting.
Unripe jackfruit can be cooked with chicken, fish and eggs, and if ripe can be eaten raw or processed into drinks, jam, jelly or candy.
Other parts of the tree, e.g. fruit skin, leaves, and flowers can be used in similar fashion.
Also the wood and latex have their own uses and benefits, so every part of the jackfruit tree is useful and it is very popular in Sri Lanka.
2. Jackfruit is a monoecious species with separate male and female flowers on the same tree.
The male flowers have thin stems and club-shaped structures, the female flowers have fat stems and rounded heads.
Large barrel-shaped fruit, 0.3 to 0.9 m long, set with conical worts, and smells sweet when it ripens to golden yellow colour.
Fruit production can be increased by hand pollination, especially when there is only a single tree present.
Pollen-laden male flowers and receptive female flowers are fuzzy, so to pollinate, pick male fruit and brush it against female fruit.
Flowering occurs primarily in spring, so hand pollination ensures development of female fruits.
Insufficiently pollinated female flowers fall from the tree before maturing and the smaller male flowers decay after dispersing pollen.
If damaged, all parts of the plant exude a white latex.
3. The fruit contains acetylcholine, and hydrocyanic acid is a laxative and the unripe fruit is astringent and indigestible.
People with latex or pollen allergies should avoid eating jackfruit
Jackfruit is a rich source of potassium , which can cause adverse effects to people who suffer from kidney dieases.
Culture
Jackfruit is grown from seed, because of with vegetative propagation techniques, e.g. cuttings and grafting.
Sow seeds from the fruits of outstanding mother trees 3-5 days after extraction from the fruit
Use individual deep polybags, because the tree has a long taproot and is sensitive to transplanting.
Germination begin about 10 days after sowing.
Transplant seedlings from 1 year old at the start of the rainy season with spacing 8-12 m, i.e. 100-120 trees / hectare.
Seedlings are sensitive to root injury so they should be moved within the nursery once a month to prevent the roots from growing into the ground.
Remove excess shoots just before transplanting and trim the leaves to reduce transpiration.
The trees raised from seed start flowering at 3-8 years, however vegetatively propagated trees may produce fruit within 2-4 years.
During the fruit-bearing stage, prune unproductive branches and excess shoots to facilitate fruiting and harvesting.
Also, remove large branches in the interior to allow better air circulation and light penetration.
Pests and diseases
Diseased and insect damaged branches must be pruned regularly.
1. Bacterial dieback attacks growing shoots, but may be controlled by spraying.
Croton scale can cause twig dieback and copious sooty mould.
2. Blossom rot / fruit rot causes rotting and premature dropping of flowers and fruits, but is controlled by copper fungicides.
Male flowers and fruit may be attacked by Rhizopus fruit rot (Rhizopus artocarpi).
3. Leaf spots can be prevented by removal of affected parts.
Several fungi, Gloeosporium sp. and Phyllosticta artocarpi, cause leaf spotting.
4. Fruit may be affected by grey mould (Botrytis cinerea).
5. Trees are susceptible to root rot especially when subjected to flooding.
Uses of jackfruit Seeds
Do NOT consume raw jackfruit seeds.
Leave the fresh seeds to dry overnight after rinsing to make the outer husk clearly visible and so you can then grip the previously slippery seed without cutting your fingers
when processing.
The more difficult cutting of the seed lengthways makes it easier to peel.
Boil in salty water for about 20 minutes.
Leave to cool and dry.
Use a serrated edged knife to remove the outer husk which has a different
colour.
Do not remove the brown inner skin which is edible.
Use of seed
Eat the cooked seed or make humus, or dry fried for nibbles, or added to
stir fries and curries.
Uses of jackfruit
The pulp of fruit may be cooked as a vegetable or pickled.
The pulp of ripe fruit is eaten fresh or made into chutney, jam, jelly, or preserved as candies by drying or mixing with sugar, honey or syrup.
The seeds can be eaten boiled, roasted or dried and salted as table nuts
Also the seeds can be ground to make flour and blended with wheat flour
for baking.
Young leaves can be used as fodder for cattle and other livestock.
A yellow dye can also be extracted from the wood particles and used to dye
cotton.
The latex which flows from all parts of the plant when injured is also used
as adhesive.
The resins within the latex may be used as varnishes.
The timber is a medium hardwood used to make furniture, oars, implements
and musical instruments and for construction.
The wood termite proof and fairly resistant to fungal and bacterial decay.
The roots of older trees can be used for carving and picture framing.
It is an attractive tree and may serve as shade for coffee and as support
for black pepper (Piper nigrum).
Jackfruit Cake
Blend 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 cup sugar and 2 eggs, mix well.
Add 1 cup blended jackfruit, 1 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate, 2 cups SR Flour
and 1/2 cup desiccated coconut - mix well.
Bake 30-40 minutes at 180o F.
Folk remedies
The pulp and seeds are used as a tonic and cooling agent
The warmed leaves have healing properties if placed onto wounds.
The latex, mixed with vinegar promotes healing of ulcers, abscesses, snakebite
and glandular swellings.
The wood has a sedative effect and its pith is said to cause abortion.
The root is used as a remedy against skin diseases and asthma, and its extract
is taken in cases of fever and diarrhoea.
Jackfruit, ICUC, (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Moraceae.
ICUC: International Centre for Underutilized Crops, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southampton.
The scientific name of the jackfruit tree is Artocarpus heterophyllus, Family Moraceae.
It is often confused with the closely related species Artocarpus integer, and is sometimes cited as a synonym.
It is a medium-sized tropical fruit tree reaching 15-20m in height.
The evergreen leaves are oblong, oval or elliptic in shape, 10-15cm in length, alternate, glossy and dark green in colour.
The juvenile leaves are lobed.
The tree is monoecious, producing male and female flowers.
The male flowers are produced amongst the leaves above the female flowers, and when mature, become covered in pollen that falls rapidly after flowering.
The female flowers are borne on short twigs that develop from the trunk, branches and sometimes from below the soil level at the base of older trees.
Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, reaching up to 50kg in weight and 60-90cm in length.
A mature tree produces up to 700 fruits per year, each weighing 0.5 to 50kg.
The rind of the compound fruit is greenish yellow when fully ripe.
Inside, the fruit is made up of large, yellow bulbs enclosing an oval light-brown seeds.
There are 100-500 seeds in a single fruit.
When fully ripe, the opened jackfruit smells of pineapple and banana.
All parts of the tree produce a sticky, white latex, but gum-free genotypes have been identified in India.
The tree is believed to have originated in the rain forests of the Western Ghats in India.
It has been introduced and is now both naturalized and cultivated in many tropical countries.
The jackfruit tree is adapted to humid, tropical and subtropical climates.
It is sensitive to frost and cannot tolerate drought.
Jackfruit is a lowland tree thriving below altitudes of 1000 m.
Above this altitude, the fruits are of poor quality and usually cooked before eating.
The tree will grow well on almost any type of soil.
It prefers a wet environment, but cannot tolerate waterlogging and poor drainage.
The tree is cultivated at low elevations throughout the Indian sub-continent, South East Asia and Polynesia.
It can also be found throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
It was introduced to northern Brazil in the mid 19th Century.
The tree is also grown to a very limited extent in Florida, where it is hardier than its relative the Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis.
The jackfruit tree is a multi-purpose species providing food, timber, fuel, fodder, medicinal and industrial products.
It is a nutritious fruit, rich in vitamins A, B and C, potassium, calcium, iron, proteins and carbohydrates.
Due to the high levels of carbohydrates, jackfruit supplements other staple foods in times of scarcity in some regions.
It is also a relatively cheap fruit in some countries such as Bangladesh, where it has been declared the "national fruit", because of its socioeconomic importance.
The tree can be cultivated on marginal lands and does not require intensive management to provide a good crop.
It can generate income for small farmers through the sale of its fruits and other products.
The tree can also play a role in cropping systems and crop diversification, and has positive environmental benefits.
Economics of jackfruit.
There is a lack of information on the economics of jackfruit, a situation which is surprising to many considering that the fruit is valued as a staple in times of scarcity in some countries.
From the information available, it is noted that production from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand exceeds 1.5 million tons.
Data from Malaysia indicates that exports have increased from the mid 1990s, to 4, 500 tons.
The large, heavy and perishable fruit is not well suited for the fresh fruit export trade, but canned and other processed products are exported to Australia and Europe.
Bangladesh produces 1.5 million tons of fruits from 160, 000 hectares of land, with about 30% of fruits grown as a monoculture.
In India, the total area under jackfruit cultivation is approximately 26, 000 hectares, of which, an estimated 100, 000 trees are grown in back yards and as intercrops amongst other commercial crops in south India.
Jackfruit is also grown commercially in Sri Lanka over of an area of about 4, 500 hectares), primarily for timber and also the fruit.
How to grow jackfruit
Jackfruit is commonly grown from seed.
Vegetative propagation techniques have also been used, including cuttings, air layering, budding, grafting and tissue culture, however with limited success so far.
Cleft grafting has shown promising results in Asian countries, however further research is required for widespread use.
Seeds from the fruits of outstanding mother trees, should be sown 3-5 days after extraction from the fruit.
Seeds should be sown in individual deep polybags, as the tree has a long taproot and is sensitive to transplanting.
Germination should begin about 10 days after sowing.
Seedlings should be transplanted to the field at approx. 1 year old at the start of the rainy season, with a spacing of 8-12 m (100-120 trees / hectare).
Seedlings are sensitive to root injury and should be moved within the nursery once or twice a month to prevent the roots from penetrating into the ground.
Excess shoots should be removed just before or after transplanting and the leaves trimmed to reduce transpiration.
Trees raised from seed start flowering at of 3-8 years.
Vegetatively propagated trees produce fruit within 2-4 years if planted under favourable conditions.
During the fruit-bearing stage, pruning of unproductive branches and excess shoots will facilitate fruiting and harvesting.
Diseased and insect-damaged branches are also pruned regularly, and large branches in the interior are removed to allow better air circulation and light.
Diseases such as bacterial dieback, which attacks growing shoots, blossom/fruit rot causing rotting and premature dropping of flowers and fruits, and leaf spots are noted in some countries.
Bacterial dieback can be controlled by spraying, but pesticides/fungicides are dangerous and should be avoided.
Blossom/fruit rot is effectively controlled by copper fungicides, and leaf spots can be prevented by removal of affected parts.
Uses of jackfruit
The pulp of the young fruit is cooked as a vegetable, pickled or canned.
Pulp of ripe fruit is eaten fresh or made into various local delicacies including chutney, jam, jelly, and paste, or preserved as candies by drying or mixing with sugar, honey or syrup.
The pulp is also used to flavour ice cream and beverages, made into jackfruit honey, reduced to concentrate or powder, and used for preparing drinks.
The seeds can be eaten boiled, roasted or dried and salted as table nuts, or they can be ground to make flour and blended with wheat flour for baking.
Young leaves can be used as fodder for cattle and other livestock.
A yellow dye can also be extracted from the wood particles and used to dye cotton.
The latex which flows from all parts of the plant when injured is also used as adhesive.
The resins within the latex may also have some value in varnishes.
The timber is a medium hardwood with desirable characteristics in making furniture, oars, implements and musical instruments and the wood is used in construction.
It is termite proof and fairly resistant to fungal and bacterial decay.
The roots of older trees are good materials for carving and picture framing.
The timber is exported from Sri Lanka and India to Europe.
With its dense crown and leathery broad glabrous leaves, it is an attractive tree.
The trees may also serve as shade for coffee and as support for black pepper (Piper nigrum).
Different parts of the jackfruit tree have medicinal properties.
The pulp and seeds are used as a tonic, the warmed leaves have healing properties if placed onto wounds, and the latex, mixed with vinegar promotes healing of abscesses and snakebite.
The wood has a sedative effect and its pith is said to cause abortion.
The root is used as a remedy against skin diseases and asthma, and its extract is taken in cases of fever and diarrhea.
Breadnut 1, (Artocarpus camansi), spreading crown, up to 10 m, 100 cm trunk diameter, monoecious, green-yellow globular fruit, harvested immature, boiled or roasted sweet aroma and taste, many seeds in fruit can be roasted, canned, or processed into paste, butter, flour or oil, soil mulch from large leaves, sticky, white, milky latex in all parts, male flowers dried for mosquito repellent tropical regions, Moraceae
The other "breadnut" is Breadnut 2 (Brosimum alicastrumi), Moraceae