Jackfruit, Kathal, Cãţtal or Enchor

The jackfruit - kathal, cãţtal or enchor (the unripe fruit, used in curries), is a species of tree in the mulberry family (Moraceae), which is native to parts of South and Southeast Asia.

It is well suited to tropical lowlands.

Its fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world, seldom less than about 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. Even a relatively thin tree, around 10 cm (4 in) diameter, can bear large fruit.

The fruits can reach 36 kg (80 lbs) in weight and up to 90 cm (36 in) long and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter.

The jackfruit is something of an acquired taste, but it is very popular in many parts of the world.

The sweet yellow flesh around the seeds is about 3–5 mm thick and has a taste similar to that of pineapple, but milder and less juicy.

The jackfruit is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also possibly native to the Malay Peninsula, although it may have been introduced there by humans.

It is commercially grown and sold in South, Southeast Asia and northern Australia.

It is also grown in parts of Hawaii, Brazil, Suriname, Madagascar, and in islands of the West Indies such as Jamaica and Trinidad.

It is the national fruit of Bangladesh and Indonesia. Jackfruit plants are frost sensitive. The jackfruit bears fruit three years after planting.

In areas where they are cultivated, jackfruit trees are a highly valuable resource, particularly for poor rural families. The tree bears fruit for over six months, yielding many fruits over the course of the season. The starchy fruit is a good substitute for rice, for which reason the tree is called "rice tree" by rural Sri Lankans.

The jackfruit has played a significant role in Indian agriculture for centuries. Archeological findings in India have revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago. Findings also indicate that Indian Emperor Ashoka the Great (274–237 BC) encouraged arbori-horticulture of various fruits including jackfruit. Varahamihira, the Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer, wrote a chapter on the treatment of trees in his Brhat Samhita. His treatise includes a specific reference on grafting to be performed on trees such as jackfruit.

The jackfruit is considered an invasive species in Brazil, specially in the Tijuca Forest National Park in Rio de Janeiro. The Tijuca forest is mostly an artificial secondary forest, whose planting began during the mid-nineteenth century, and jackfruit trees have been a part of the park's flora since its founding. Recently, the species expanded excessively, due to the fact that its fruits, once they had naturally fallen to the ground and opened, were eagerly eaten by small mammals such as the common marmoset and the coati. The seeds are dispersed by these animals, which allows the jackfruit to compete for space with native tree-species. Additionally, as the marmoset and coati also prey opportunistically on bird's eggs and nestlings, the supply of jackfruit as a ready source of food has allowed them to expand their populations, which has negatively impacted the local bird population. Between 2002 and 2007, 55,662 jackfruit saplings were destroyed in the Tijuca Forest area in a deliberate culling effort by the park's management.

Outside of its countries of origin, fresh jackfruit can be found at Asian food markets. It is also extensively cultivated in the Brazilian coastal region, where it is sold in local markets.

It is available canned in sugar syrup, or frozen. Dried jackfruit chips are produced by various manufacturers.

Parts

Skin.

The skin of the jackfruit is thick and prickly.
Flesh.The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous. It provides food energy and is a source of dietary fibre. Varieties of jackfruit are distinguished according to the characteristics of the fruits' flesh.

Seeds. The seeds of the fruit are also edible, and contain starches and dietary fibre. They may be prepared by boiling or roasting, or made into a flour.

It's commonly used in South and Southeast Asian cuisines. It can be eaten unripe (young) or ripe, cooked or uncooked. The seeds may be boiled or baked like beans. The taste is similar to chestnuts. The leaves are used as a wrapping for steamed Idlis ( savory cake popular throughout South India).

Young fruit
Unripe (young) jackfruit may be eaten whole. Young jackfruit has a mild flavour and distinctive texture. The cuisines of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit. In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a staple food.

Wood
The wood of the tree is used for the production of musical instruments. Jackfruit wood is widely used in the manufacture of furniture, doors and windows, and in roof construction. The heartwood of the jackfruit tree is used by Buddhist forest monastics in Southeast Asia as a dye, giving the robes of the monks in those traditions their distinctive light brown color.

Names
A variety of Jackfruits, called "koozha Chakka", found widely in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. The fruit is called a variety of names around the world. The English one, jackfruit, is thought to derive from the Malayalam chakka or cakkai via the Portuguese jaca. This name is used by the physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta in his 1563 book Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India. A botanist, Ralph Randles Stewart suggests that it was named after William Jack (1795-1822), a Scottish botanist who worked for the East India Company in Bengal, Sumatra and Malaysia. This is unlikely, as the fruit was called a "Jack" in English before William Jack was born: for instance, in Dampier's 1699 A new voyage round the world.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)