Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a fruiting tree in the family Moraceae, native to the Philippines and Pacific Islands. It is an equatorial lowland species, growing best at elevations of less than 650 m. Breadfruit is closely related to Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) and breadnut (Artocarpus camansi). Artocarpus is derived from Greek word 'artos' meaning bread, and 'karpus' meaning fruit, while altilis means fat. Breadfruit is an important staple food in the Pacific region. It is an excellent dietary staple. Breadfruit tree is a fast growing tree with butressed base, can grow up to 26 m tall, with a clear trunk of 6m and a diameter of 0.6-1.8 m. The many spreading branches are clustered with large, thick and pinnately-lobed leaves, 20-90 cm long and 20-50 cm wide. The leaves with conspicuous veins, are bright-green and glossy on the upper side, while the underside is dull, yellowish and coated with minute, stiff hairs. The whole tree produces latex, a milky sap, that is useful for boat caulking. Breadfruit tree is monoecious, with both male and female flowers on the same tree. The male flowers emerge first in a drooping, cylindrical or club-shaped spike, 12-30 cm long and 2.5-3.75 cm thick, initially yellowish turning brown. The female flowers appear later and grow into a capitulum, which are capable of pollination after three days. The capitulum is a rounded or elliptical, green, prickly head, 6.25 cm long and 3.8 cm wide, which develops into a compound, oblong, cylindrical, ovoid, rounded or pear-shaped fruit, 9-45 cm long and 5-30 cm in diameter. The fruit vary in shape, size and skin texture, and usually weighs 0.25-6 kg. Skin texture is ranged as smooth, rough or spiny, while the mature fruit is light-green, yellowish-green or yellow in color. Breadfruit is a large, round, seedless or seeded, versatile fruit with a texture like bread. It can be cooked and eaten at all stages of maturity. Ripe fruit has a soft, sweet, creamy flesh, and can be eaten raw or cooked. Mature fruit can be eaten boiled, fried, baked, roasted or ground into flour. The rounded or obovoid seeds are irregularly compressed, 1-3 cm long, and with a pale to dark brown seed coat. Roasted seeds resemble chestnuts. As the seeds germinate immediately and cannot be dried or stored, they are rarely used for propagation. Breadfruit is high in carbohydrates, low in protein and fat. It contains a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, and magnesium with small amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and iron. Yellow-fleshed breadfruit is a good source of provitamin A carotenoids. Propagation of breadfruit is usually vegetatively done using root shoots or root cuttings.  Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) Author: Kowloonese (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) | ||
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