Artocarpus heterophyllus
Artocarpus heterophyllus
| Order | [[]] |
|---|---|
| Family | [[]] |
| Genus | Artocarpus |
2n =
Origin : area of origin
wild or cultivated
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Description
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flowering and fruiting branch (PROSEA)
Popular names
Classification
Cultivars
History
Uses
Artocarpus brasiliensis Gomez. Urticaceae. JACK. Brazil. Professor Hartt [1] says the jack is cultivated in the province of Bahia and to the north, at Sao Matheus and occasionally as far south as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fruit is of immense size, being sometimes a foot and a half in the longer diameter. The seeds are largely used as food and the pulp is nutritious. In some parts, a kind of farina is prepared from the seeds, but this use is by no means general.
Artocarpus integrifolia Linn. f. JACK. East Indies. On account of its excellent fruit, this tree is a special object of cultivation on the two Indian peninsulas, in Cochin China and southern China. It has only recently been introduced into the islands of the Pacific Ocean, as well as upon the island of Mauritius, the Antilles and the west coast of Africa. It is scarcely to be doubted that it occurs here and there growing wild and that perhaps Ceylon and the peninsula of Further India may be looked upon as its original native land [2]. The jack seems to be the Indian fruit described by Pliny, who gives the name of the tree as pala, of the fruit, ariena; and to be the chagui of Friar Jordanus [3], about 1330, whose "fruit is of such size that one is enough for five persons." Firminger [4] says the fruit of this tree is perhaps about one of the largest in existence and is an ill-shapen, unattractive-looking object. The interior is of a soft, fibrous consistency with the edible portions scattered here and there, of about the size and color of a small orange. It is considered delicious by those who can manage to eat it, but it possesses the rich, spicy scent and flavor of the melon to such a powerful degree as to be quite unbearable to persons of a weak stomach, or to those not accustomed to it. There are two varieties in India. Lunan [5] says the thick, gelatinous covering which envelopes the seeds, eaten either raw or fried, is delicious. The round seeds, about half an inch in diameter, eaten roasted, have a very mealy and agreeable taste. The fruit, says Brandis [6], is an important article of food in Burma, southern India and Ceylon. The tree has a very strong and disagreeable smell.