Jackfruit
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Jackfruit tree with fruit
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| Species: | A. heterophyllus
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| Artocarpus heterophyllus | |
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The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)[1] is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family (Moraceae). It is native to parts of South and Southeast Asia, and is believed to have originated in the southwestern rain forests of India, in present-day Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Maharashtra. This tree is widely cultivated in tropical regions of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Jackfruit is also found in East Africa, e.g., in Uganda, Tanzania and Mauritius, as well as throughout Brazil and Caribbean nations such as Jamaica.
The jackfruit tree is well suited to tropical lowlands, and its fruit is the largest tree-borne fruit,[2] reaching as much as 80 pounds (36 kg) in weight and up to 36 inches (90 cm) long and 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter.[3]
Etymology
The word "jackfruit" comes from Portuguese jaca, which in turn, is derived from the Malayalam and Tamil language term, chakka (Malayalam Chakka palam(Tamil): ചക്ക).[4] When the Portuguese arrived in India at Kozhikode (Calicut) on the Malabar Coast (Kerala) in 1498, the Malayalam (and tamil)name chakka 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.[5]
The common English name "jackfruit" was used by the physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta in his 1563 book Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India.[6][7] Centuries later, botanist Ralph Randles Stewart suggested it was named after William Jack (1795–1822), a Scottish botanist who worked for the East India Company in Bengal, Sumatra and Malaysia.[8] This is apocryphal, as the fruit was called a "jack" in English before William Jack was born: for instance, in Dampier's 1699 book, A New Voyage Round the World.[9][10]
Cultivation and ecology
The jackfruit has played a significant role in Indian agriculture for centuries. Archeological findings in India have revealed jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago.
The jackfruit is considered an invasive species in Brazil, especially 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-19th century, and jackfruit trees have been a part of the park's flora since its founding. Recently, the species expanded excessively because 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, to the detriment of the local bird populations. 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.[11]
Seed propagation
Seeds extracted from fully matured fruits are washed in water to remove the slimy part. Seeds are encouraged to be stored immediately in closed polythene bags for one or two days to avoid them from drying out. Germination is improved by soaking seeds in clean water for 24 hours. During transplanting, sow seeds in line with 30 cm apart in a nursery bed filled with 70% soil mixed with 30% organic matter.[12] Seedbed should be shaded partially from direct sunlight in order to protect emerging seedlings.
Commercial availability
Outside of its countries of origin, fresh jackfruit can be found at Asian food markets, especially in the 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, 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.[13]
Jackfruit
The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous, and is a source of dietary fibre. The flavour is similar to a tart banana. Varieties 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.[14]
In Kerala, two varieties of jackfruit predominate: varikka (വരിക്ക) and koozha (കൂഴ). Varikka has slightly hard inner flesh when ripe, while the inner flesh of the ripe koozha fruit is very soft and almost dissolving. A sweet preparation called chakka varattiyathu (jackfruit jam) is made by seasoning the varikka fruit flesh pieces in jaggery, which can be preserved and used for many months. Huge jackfruits up to four feet in length with matching girth are sometimes seen in Kerala.[citation needed]
In West Bengal too two varieties exist - khaja kathal & moja kathal. The kajha kathal has slightly hard flesh when ripe while the moja kathal is very soft. The fruits are either eaten straight or as a side to rice / roti / chira / muri. Sometimes the juice is extacted and either drunk straight or as a side with muri. The extract is sometimes condensed into rubber like delectables and had as candies. The seeds are either boiled or roasted and eaten with salt and hot chillies. They are also used to make spicy side-dishes with rice or roti.
In Mangalore, Karnataka, the varieties are called bakke and imba. The pulp of the imba jackfruit is ground and made into a paste, then spread over a mat and allowed to dry in the sun to create a natural chewy candy.
Dishes and preparations
Jackfruit is commonly used in South and Southeast Asian cuisines.[15] It can be eaten unripe (young) when cooked, or ripe uncooked.[15] The seeds may be boiled or baked like beans. The leaves are used as a wrapping for steamed idlis. In Singapore, fried jackfruit is known as cempedak goreng.
Young fruit
The young fruit is called polos in Sri Lanka and idichakka or idianchakka in Kerala. It is a dish with spices to replace meat curries in Sri Lankan and eastern-Indian (Bengali) and Kerala cuisine. The skin of unripe jack fruit must be peeled first and discarded, then the whole fruit can be chopped into edible portions and cooked to be eaten. The raw young fruit is not edible.[15] Young jackfruit has a mild flavour and distinctive poultry-like texture. The cuisines of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit.[15] In Indonesia, young jackfruit is cooked with coconut milk as gudeg. In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a staple food. In northern Thailand, the boiled young jackfruit is used in the Thai salad called tam kanun.
In West Bengal the unripe geen jackfruit called Aechor is used as an vegetable to make various spicy curries, side-dishes and as fillings for cutlets & chops. It is especially sought after by vegetarians who substitute this for meat and hence is nicknamed as gacch-patha (tree-mutton).
In the Philippines, it is cooked with coconut milk (ginataang langka). In Réunion Island (France), it is cooked with shrimp or smoked pork.
Ripe fruit
Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet with subtle flavouring. It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards, cakes, halo-halo and more. Ripe jackfruit arils are sometimes seeded, fried or freeze-dried and sold as jackfruit chips. In India, when the Jackfruit is in season, an ice cream chain store called "Naturals" carries Jackfruit flavored ice cream.
Seed
Seeds from ripe fruits are edible and are prepared by boiling in salted water for about 25 minutes. They have a milky, sweet taste. In many parts of India, roasted salted seed is also eaten and considered a delicacy.
Other uses
The wood of the tree is used for the production of musical instruments. In Indonesia, hardwood from the trunk is carved out to form the barrels of drums used in 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 string instrument veena and the drums mridangam and kanjira; the golden yellow-coloured timber with good grains is used for building furniture and house construction in India. The ornate wooden plank called avani palaka made of the wood of jackfruit tree is used as the priest's seat during Hindu ceremonies in Kerala.
Jackfruit wood is widely used in the manufacture of furniture, doors and windows, and in roof construction. The heartwood 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.[16]
Cultural significance
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The jackfruit is one of the three auspicious fruits of Tamil Nadu, along with the mango and banana, known as the mukkani (முக்கனி). These are referred to as ma-pala-vaazhai (mango-jack-banana). The three fruits (mukkani) are also related to the three arts of Tamil (mu-Tamizh).[17] Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh.
Production and marketing
The marketing of jackfruit involved three groups: producers, traders (middlemen) including wholesalers, and retailers.[18] The marketing channels are rather complex. Large farmers sell immature fruits to wholesalers of which could help cash flow and reduces risk, whereas medium sized farmers sell fruits directly to local markets or retailers.
See also
- Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
- Cempedak (Artocarpus champeden)
- Marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus)
- Durian, an unrelated fruit similar in appearance
- Fig (Ficus carica)
- List of fruits
References
- ^ "Artocarpus heterophyllus". 2006-10. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Jackfruit, Breadfruit & Relatives". Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ "Jackfruit". Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ T. Pradeepkumar, Kumar, Pradeep. Management of Horticultural Crops: Vol.11 Horticulture Science Series, page 81: "The English name jackfruit is derived from Portuguese jaca, which is derived from Malayalam chakka."
- ^ Mirabilia descripta : the wonders of the East. Archive.org. Retrieved on 2011-10-17.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989, online edition
- ^ Anon. (2000) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.
- ^ Ralph R Stewart (1984). "How Did They Die?". Taxon. 33 (1): 48–52.
- ^ William Dampier (1699). A new voyage round the world. J. Knapton. p. 320. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "jackfruits". merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ Livia de Almeida, "Guerra contra as jaqueiras" ("War on Jackfruit"), Revista Veja Rio, May the 5th.2007; see also [1]
- ^ Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus. Field Manual for Extension Workers and Farmers (PDF). Southampton, UK: Southampton Centre for Underutilised Crops. 2006. ISBN 0854328343.
- ^ Jackfruit. Hort.purdue.edu. Retrieved on 2011-10-17.
- ^ General information, Department of Agriculture, State of Bahia. seagri.ba.gov.br (in Portuguese)
- ^ a b c d The encyclopedia of fruit & nuts, By Jules Janick, Robert E. Paull, pp.481–485
- ^ Forest Monks and the Nation-state: An Anthropological and Historical Study in Northeast Thailand J.L. Taylor 1993 p. 218
- ^ Subrahmanian N, Hikosaka S, Samuel GJ (1997). Tamil social history. p. 88. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Haq, Nazmul (2006). Jackfruit: Artocarpus heterophyllus (PDF). Southampton, UK: Southampton Centre for Underutilised Crops. p. 129. ISBN 0854327851.
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
- Science in India with Special Reference to Agriculture
- How to Select and Prepare a Jackfruit (Online Video)
- Crops for the Future: Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
- Ayurvedic medicinal plants and their uses
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