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

The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus or A. heterophylla^[1]) is a species of tree in the mulberry family (Moraceae), which is native to parts of South and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh. It is called Khaatol (কাঁঠাল) in Bengali or Bangla, Katahar (कटहर) in Nepali, Panasa (पनस) or Kaṇṭāphal (कण्टाफल) in Sanskrit, Katahal (कटहल) in Hindi, Nangka in Bahasa Indonesia, Halasu (ಹಲಸು) in Kannada, Kaadhgi (काडगी) in Tulu, Panasa (పనస) in Telugu, Pala (தமிழ்) in Tamil (is one of the three auspicious fruits of Tamil Nadu), Chakka (മലയാളം) in Malayalam, Khanoon (ต้นขนุน) in Thai, Fanas (फणस) in Marathi and Pónós (पोणोस्) in Konkani. 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.

Etymology

The name "Jackfruit" is derived from the Portuguese Jaca^[3], which in turn, is derived from the Malayalam language term, Chakka. The Portuguese first arrived in India at Cochin on the Malabar Coast. The Malayalam name Tsjaka was recorded by Hendrik van Rheede (1678–1703) in the Hortus Malabaricus, vol. iii in Latin. Henry Yule translated the book in Jordanus Catalani's (1678–1703) Mirabilia Descripta: The Wonders of the East.^[4]

Cultivation and ecology

Jackfruit opened.

The jackfruit has played a significant role in Indian agriculture for centuries. 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.^[5]

The jackfruit is considered an invasive species in Brazil, specially in the Tijuca Forest National Park in Rio de Janeiro. The Tijuca forest is mostly an artificial secondary forest, whose planting began during the mid-nineteenth century, and jackfruit trees have been a part of the park's flora since its founding. Recently, the species expanded excessively, due to the fact that its fruits, once they had naturally fallen to the ground and opened, were eagerly eaten by small mammals such as the common marmoset and the coati. The seeds are dispersed by these animals, which allows the jackfruit to compete for space with native tree-species. Additionally, as the marmoset and coati also prey opportunistically on bird's eggs and nestlings, the supply of jackfruit as a ready source of food has allowed them to expand their populations, which has negatively impacted the local bird population. Between 2002 and 2007, 55,662 jackfruit saplings were destroyed in the Tijuca Forest area in a deliberate culling effort by the park's management.^[6]

Commercial availability

Outside of its countries of origin, fresh jackfruit can be found at Asian food markets especially in Philippines. It is also extensively cultivated in the Brazilian coastal region, where it is sold in local markets. It is available canned in sugar syrup, or frozen. Dried jackfruit chips are produced by various manufacturers. In northern Australia, particularly in Darwin, Australia, jackfruit can be found at outdoor produce markets during the dry season. Outside of countries where it is grown, jackfruit can be obtained year-round both canned or dried. It has a ripening season in Asia of late Spring to late Summer.^[7]

Jackfruit depicted by the Polish Jesuit Michał Boym

Jackfruit flesh

The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous. It provides food energy and is a source of dietary fibre. Varieties of jackfruit are distinguished according to the characteristics of the fruits' flesh. In Brazil, three varieties are recognized. These are: jaca-dura, or "hard" variety, which has firm flesh and the largest fruits that can weigh between 15 and 40 kilograms each; jaca-mole, or "soft" variety, which bears smaller fruits, with softer and sweeter flesh; and jaca-manteiga, or "butter" variety, which bears sweet fruits, whose flesh has a consistency intermediate between the "hard" and "soft" varieties.^[8]

Dishes and preparations

Young jackfruit

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

Young fruit

The skin of unripe (young) jackfruit must be pared first and discarded and then the whole fruit can be chopped into edible portions and cooked to be eaten. The raw young fruit is not edible. Young jackfruit has a mild flavour and distinctive texture. The cuisines of India,Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit. In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a staple food.

Jackfruit Happala from Bangalore, India.

Jackfruit chips

Illustration of the size of jackfruit.

Wood

A kutiyapi, made of jackfruit wood

The wood of the tree is used for the production of 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, the Golden yellow colured timber with good grains is used for building furniture and house construction in India.

Jackfruit wood is widely used in the manufacture of furniture, doors and windows, and in roof construction.

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 distinctive light brown color.^[9]

Names

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

The fruit is called a variety of names around the world. The English one, jackfruit, is thought to derive from the Malayalam chakka or cakkai via the Portuguese jaca. This name is used by the physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta in his 1563 book Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India.^[10][11] A botanist, Ralph Randles Stewart suggests that it was named after William Jack (1795–1822), a Scottish botanist who worked for the East India Company in Bengal, Sumatra and Malaysia.^[12] This is unlikely, as the fruit was called a "Jack" in English before William Jack was born: for instance, in Dampier's 1699 A new voyage round the world.^[13].

In North India, the fruit is known as kathal.

See also

• Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
• Cempedak (Artocarpus champeden)
• Marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus)
• fig (Ficus carica)
• List of fruits

References

External links

• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Artocarpus heterophyllus
• Fruits of Warm Climates: Jackfruit and Related Species
• California Rare Fruit Growers: Jackfruit Fruit Facts
• Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) on Wayne's Word
• Jackfruit, flesh of fruit
• Science in India with Special Reference to Agriculture
• How to Select and Prepare a Jackfruit (Online Video)
• Jack fruit nutrition facts and health benefits