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Breadfruit

Breadfruit (Artocarpus Altilis) is believed to be a native of a vast area that stretches from New Guinea through the Indo Malayan Archipelago and Western Micronesia. It is said to have travelled to Polynesian Marquesas Islands via Malaya on board Polynesian ships in the 12th Century where it eventually spread throughout the South Pacific.

Description
The breadfruit belongs to the mulberry family Moraceae. The tree is fast growing and reaches a height of 26 m and 0.6-1.8 m in width and is often buttressed at the base. There are many spreading branches with thick foliage bearing branches. There are two varieties of breadfruit; a seeded variety known as the breadnut and a seedless one. The fruit averages about 2 kg in weight and is generally spherical with a smooth green skin that turns a pale yellow when ripe. A fully ripe breadfruit is soft and fragrant and its flesh is cream coloured or yellow and pasty with irregularly oval seeds. In the centre of a seedless fruit, there is a cylindrical core, in some species this is covered with hairs and small brown seeds about 3 mm in length.

Uses
Many early travellers to Polynesia, including Captain James Cook who mentioned it in the accounts of his journeys, knew the usefulness of breadfruit. In Hawaii and some Polynesian islands, being fat was beautiful, therefore, princesses were fed huge amounts of food such as breadfruit which were high in fat and carbohydrate.

In Asia, breadfruit is usually treated as a vegetable and picked before ripe for use in cooking, the flesh is often cut into chunks and par-boiled before being added to coconut milk and other seasonings to make a curry-like dish. Breadfruit can also cut into very thin slices for deep-frying and flavoured with salt, chilli powder or sugar syrup.

The seeds of the breadnut may also be boiled in salt water and served as a snack. Breadfruit is also used for medicinal purposes. In the Bahamas, a decoction of the breadfruit leaf is believed to lower blood pressure, and is also said to relieve asthma. Ashes of burned leaves are used on skin infections. A powder of roasted leaves is employed as a remedy for enlarged spleen. The crushed fruit is poulticed to "ripen" them. Toasted flowers of the breadfruit tree are also rubbed on the gums as a remedy for an aching tooth. Other than as a food and medicine source, some countries also use the tree for ornamental purposes as its dark green leaves provide good shade.

Variant Names
Common name: Breadfruit.
Scientific name: Artocarpus Altilis.
Thai name: Sa-ke.
Malay name: Sukun.
Indonesian name: Sukun.
Tagalog name: Rimas.



Author
Gabriel Tan



References
Hutton, W. (1996). Tropical fruits of Malaysia & Singapore. (p. 12). Hong Kong: Periplus Editions.
(Call no.: RSING 634.6 HUT)

Piper, J. M. (1989). Fruits of South East Asia: Facts and Folklore. (pp. 26-28). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 634.60959 PIP) 

Body Beautiful. (2001, December 12). The New Straits Times. 

Morton, J. (1987). Breadfruit [Electronic version]. In Morton, J. F., Fruits of warm climates. Retrieved September 14, 2002, from  www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/breadfruit.html

The information in this article is valid as at 1998 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Nature>>Plants
Breadfruit
Artocarpus
Science and technology>>Agriculture>>Fruit crops



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