Posted on 05/01/2014 6:54:35 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It's not every fruit that gets its own international symposium.
Then again, the jackfruit is not your typical fruit. It's got a distinctive, musky smell, and a flavor that some describe as like Juicy Fruit gum.
It is the largest tree fruit in the world, capable of reaching 100 pounds. And it grows on the branches — and the trunks — of trees that can reach 30, 40, 50 feet. (Trunk-growing is a good thing because it reduces the odds of a jackfruit bopping you on the head.)
Jackfruits are also a nutritional bonanza: high in protein, potassium and vitamin B. And, with about 95 calories in about a half a cup, they aren't quite as high-carb or caloric as staples like rice or corn.
A child eats instant noodles on a train at the Harbin Railway Station in northeast China. The Salt Ramen To The Rescue: How Instant Noodles Fight Global Hunger The world is increasingly relying on a few dozen megacrops, like wheat and potatoes, for survival. Above, a wheat field in Arkansas. The Salt In The New Globalized Diet, Wheat, Soy And Palm Oil Rule Yet the jackfruit is "an underutilized crop" in the tropical-to-subtropical climate where it thrives, says Nyree Zerega, director of the graduate program in plant biology and conservation at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. In countries like India and Bangladesh, where the ackfruit was once widely cultivated, it has fallen out of favor.
So in mid-May, the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India, will devote two days to revving up production and marketing of the jackfruit as well as its cousin, the breadfruit.
For parts of the world facing food insecurity — the buzz phrase for the struggle to provide enough nutritious food — the jackfruit could be manna from a tree. The tree itself requires "relatively little care once it's been established," says Zerega. By contrast, popular crops like wheat, rice and corn need lots of irrigation and pesticides. And the jackfruit is a perennial so it doesn't require constant replanting.
There won't be an instant payoff for new farmers. A tree takes five to seven years to bear fruit. Eventually, a yearly yield might be in the 150- to 200-fruit range, says Jonathan Crane, a tropical fruit crop specialist at the University of Florida.
Fruits are typically picked in summer and fall. You don't wait to harvest until they drop of their own accord — by that time, they'd be overripe.
The tree belongs to the mulberry family. And it's got an impressive lineage. Around 300 B.C., the Greek philosopher Theophrastus wrote: "There is also another tree which is very large and has wonderfully sweet and large fruit; it is used for food by the sages of India who wear no clothes."
Probably was a jackfruit. India is thought to be its place of origin.
As for the name "jackfruit," it most likely emerged from what the Portuguese called it, "jaca," which was probably a version of a name used in southern India, "chakka pazham." Jackfruit has other names, too: kathal in Bangladesh, kanun in Thailand and nangka in Malaysia.
Whatever you call it, it's a versatile food source — and thus a potential economic boon for countries that market it. Jackfruits can be dried, roasted, added to soups, used in chips, jams, juices, ice cream. The seeds can be boiled, roasted or ground into flour. Even the tree itself is valuable: high-quality, rot-resistant timber for furniture and musical instruments.
Or you can eat a jackfruit fresh.
The jackfruit is made up of hundreds or even thousands of individual flowers that are fused together. We eat the "fleshy petals" that surround the seed, which is the actual fruit, says Zerega.
The edible portion of a young fruit has a slight crunch when you bite in. As the fruit matures, it may remain firm, but in some varieties it becomes softer and more custardlike.
Curious fruit lovers can find fresh jackfruits in the U.S. Zerega has bought relative peewees (12-pounders at about $2 a pound) at Asian markets in Chicago. Crane sees fresh jackfruits at Asian and Caribbean stores in Florida, where the jackfruit is grown on a limited scale and also imported from Jamaica. Bottled, canned and other products are available online and in specialty markets around the country.
All this reporting made us eager to put the jackfruit to a taste test. We couldn't find a fresh one in D.C., so we bought jackfruit packed in sugar syrup. Since Crane mentioned that frozen jackfruit is "refreshing," we froze some and also ate some out of the jar.
As potential tasters wafted by, the first comment was, "Oh, it has an aroma."
The aroma was compared to overripe fruit, packaged fruit cup, smelly feet, stinky cheese and pet food. But really, it wasn't that bad!
As for the taste: "It tastes better than it smells," was a consistent opinion. The taste was described as "mellow mango," a little peachy, a little pearlike. The texture was compared to chunky applesauce or overripe banana. Also a little mealy and stringy.
A taster who grew up eating jackfruits said he found them too gooey as a kid, and after one bite said, "Still too gooey."
But most tasters liked it. They thought it was sweet in a good, tropical kind of way. They imagined how yummy it would be mixed with yogurt. They liked it semi-frozen (the frozen samples thawed out a bit) and were eager to a try jackfruit popsicle.
But tasters who'd had fresh jackfruits said they beat jackfruit from a jar by a long shot. When pressed, they couldn't explain why.
We'll do a follow-up tasting as soon as we can score a fresh one.
Picture reminds me of Breadfruit.
If they grow to a 100lb how do you get one home, or is that an extreme example. Watermelons are big enough....I struggle with those things.
We called it Starvation Fruit in the USVI. You had to be starving to eat it.
Jackfruit also has a somewhat unpleasant smell.
If it would thrive because of commercial cultivation, involving oil in the slightest way, all the libs would say it is bad. Just because.
We call them “crab apples”. Or “Osage orange”
Thanks. Well, maybe high in protein for fruit, but very low when trying to reach the 60 - 80 grams needed per day.
Looks like 2 grams protein per 5.8 ounces of jackfruit. But it could be a valuable food for other nutrients it has.
My grandfather said the family used the pawpaw to kill mites and fleas, around the turn of the last century (1900s). It had medicinal properties for his older brother who had asthma. They made a poltice from the crush fruit, for skin irritations.
I eat jackfruit ( I call it nangka) quite frequently. It is very good.
Have you ever eaten jackfruit?
I had one growing in my yard ... yuck.
Since it was near the street I put up a sign “free jackfruit, take as much as you want”. It was gone as soon as it was ripe. I guess some people like it.
If you let it fall to the ground and rot the smell is horrible and it’s an awful sticky gooey mess.
Yuck.
Interesting. Sounds like something that doesn’t grow up north.
No, hedgeballs are inedible of not poisonous. The center though is very anti-bacterial I guess.
Had a tree in my backyard for a number of years. It did NOT smell like durian.
Durian is much worse than jackfruit, that is true. It does smell like rotting flesh. Corpse fruit. I am told it tastes different from how it smells, but I cannot verify that as I’ve never been able to get up the nerve to taste it.
Nothing smells as bad as durian.
Those are small ones. Ripe jackfruit, as the article notes, often weigh 80lb or more. They’re generally about the size and shape of a large picnic watermelon, but far heavier. They have a tough outer rind, similar to but not as hard and spiky as a durian. They do have an odd odor when opened, but the actual flesh of the fruit is quite sweet, sort of like ice cream. There are two main varieties, one with very soft flesh that’s almost liquid, and another with more firm flesh. The softer variety is sweeter. I happen to love them, and they’re insanely cheap here in India: about $3-4 for a whole fruit.
Really? I’m going to have some in my lunch today. I am looking forward to it.
hilarious commercial!
I haven’t tried durian either. They grow in this part of the world, but not in my specific area.
If it was the same pawpaw as we have in Michigan they are very tasty and not poisonous
Hah! But a jackfruit, now that is some celestial goodness. I haven’t had one in years, but I suspect I would still love it. Papaya was the tropical fruit I never liked, and I still don’t.
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