Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter
The edible pulp (bulb) of the jackfruit that is sweet and has a taste that is like a cross between pineapple and banana. - photo by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Jackfruit is a huge fruit with a very distinct smell. Though it may not be the most striking fruit on the outside, it is, however, very sweet on the inside.
Jackfruit (artocarpus heterophyllus) is also known as jaca, jak-fruit, or jak. It was first called by the Portuguese 'jaca fruit' thus the present name (jackfruit). However, in Malaysia and the Philippines, the fruit is called "nangka". And in Thailand it is called "khanun". The fruit was first introduced to Jamaica in 1782 after one of the plants was captured from a French ship destined for Martinique by Lord Rodney's fleet.
Medicinal uses
1. In general, fresh jackfruit seeds are considered to be high in starch, low in calcium and iron and good sources of vitamins B1 and B2.
2. The Chinese consider jackfruit pulp and seeds, nutritious, and useful in overcoming the influence of alcohol on the system.
3. The ash of jackfruit leaves, burned with corn and coconut shells, is used alone or mixed with coconut oil to heal ulcers.
4. Mixed with vinegar, the latex promotes healing of abscesses, snakebites and glandular swellings.
5. The root is a remedy for skin diseases and asthma. An extract of the root is taken in cases of fever and diarrhoea.
6. Heated leaves are placed on wounds. The wood has a sedative property; its pith is said to produce an abortion.
Did you know?
1. No one knows exactly where jackfruit originated but it is believed it is indigenous to the rainforests of the Western Ghats (region that extends about 1,609 km along the coast of the Arabian Sea).
2. The fruit is cultivated at low elevations throughout India, Burma, Ceylon, Southern China, Malaya, and the East Indies. It is a member of the mulberry family, and a relative of the breadfruit.
3. The fruit can range in length from eight inches to three feet and six to 20 inches wide. It can weigh from 10 to 60 or even 110 pounds, making it the largest tree-borne fruit in the world.
4. The exterior of the fruit is green or slightly yellow when ripe. It has numerous hard, cone-like points attached to a thick and rubbery, pale yellow or whitish wall.
5. The interior of the fruit consists of large 'bulbs' (fully developed perianths) of yellow, banana-flavoured flesh, massed among narrow ribbons of thin, tough undeveloped perianths and a central, pithy core.
Food uses
1. Jackfruit may be eaten as is when fully ripe.
2. The fruit in the unripe stage may be cut into large chunks for cooking. However, watch out for the copious gummy latex that accumulates on the knife and the hands unless they are first rubbed with salad oil. The chunks are boiled in lightly-salted water until tender then served as a vegetable.
3. The bulbs may be enjoyed raw or cooked with coconut milk or otherwise. They may be used to make ice cream, chutney, jam, jelly, or paste.
4. The crisp type of jackfruit are preferred for canning. The canned product is more attractive than the fresh pulp and is sometimes called 'vegetable meat'. The ripe bulbs are used to make jackfruit nectar or reduced to concentrate or powder.
5. The bulbs of the fruit may be boiled in milk. Then after the latter is drained off and cooled, it will congeal to form an orange- coloured custard.
6. By a method patented in India, the ripe bulbs may be dried, fried in oil and salted for eating like potato chips.
7. In Malaya, the small ripe fruits are cut in half, seeded, chilled, and brought to the table filled with ice cream. The ripe bulbs are usually left to ferment. After it is distilled, it can produce a potent liquor.
