Breadfruit

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a type of flowering tree that belongs to the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae). People believe it was carefully selectively bred in Polynesia from a plant called the breadnut (Artocarpus camansi). Over time, it spread to many parts of the world.

The fruit of the breadfruit tree is special because when it is cooked, it feels like freshly baked bread and tastes a bit like potatoes. People grow breadfruit in about 90 countries, including places in South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands, the Caribbean, Central America, and Africa.

Breadfruit trees are often planted in warm areas because they can grow well there. Besides eating the fruit, people also use the strong, light wood from these trees to make furniture, houses, and even surfboards in tropical places. Breadfruit is related to several other fruits, like the breadnut from New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines, as well as the jackfruit.

Description

Breadfruit trees can grow up to 26 meters (85 feet) tall. Their large leaves are deeply split into sections. All parts of the tree produce a special white liquid that can be used to fill gaps in boats.

The trees have both male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers appear first, followed quickly by the female flowers. The female flowers grow into special flower clusters that can be pollinated by fruit bats just three days later. Some types of breadfruit grow fruit without needing pollination. The fruit looks like a big ball and comes from many small flowers that you can see as little shapes on the skin of the fruit.

Breadfruit is a very productive food plant. One tree can produce up to 200 fruits each season with little care. In places like the South Pacific, trees usually produce 50 to 150 fruits each year. These fruits can be round, oval, or long, and weigh between 0.25 and 6 kilograms (0.55 to 13 pounds). Most common types of breadfruit have fruit without seeds, but some types are grown for their edible seeds. Breadfruit is often grown from pieces of tree roots.

Breadfruit looks similar to another fruit called jackfruit, but it has smoother fruit compared to the closely related breadnut, which has spiny, seed-filled fruit. Another close relative, called Artocarpus mariannensis, has dark green, stretched-out fruit with darker yellow flesh and different-shaped leaves.

Propagation

Breadfruit is usually grown from seeds, but seedless types can be grown by moving small shoots that grow from the tree’s roots. These shoots can be encouraged to grow by gently hurting the roots, then planting the shoots in a pot or directly in the ground. Cutting the tree also helps these shoots grow. Small shoot cuttings are placed in bags with soil, peat, and sand, kept in the shade, and given liquid fertilizer until they develop roots. Once they have roots, they are moved to sunny spots before being planted in fields.

For growing many trees at once, pieces of tree roots are used. These root pieces should be about 10 centimeters (2 inches) thick and 20 centimeters (9 inches) long. It can take up to 5 months for these roots to develop into new trees, which are ready to be planted when they are about 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall.

Etymology and common names

The name “breadfruit” started in the 1600s because when the fruit is baked, it has a texture like bread. Breadfruit has many different types and many names depending on where it grows in the world.

Taxonomy

See also: Artocarpus camansi and Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia

Breadfruit comes from a wild plant called the breadnut, which grows in places like New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines. People in Polynesia carefully grew and changed the breadnut over time, making a new kind of plant called breadfruit that usually has no seeds. In some areas, breadfruit mixed with another local plant.

Long ago, around 3,000 years ago, people who traveled by canoe carried breadfruit to many islands in the Pacific Ocean, including Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, where the plant did not grow naturally before.

Distribution and habitat

Breadfruit grows in warm, tropical places and comes from the Pacific islands. It has been taken to many other tropical areas around the world.

In 1769, a scientist named Joseph Banks was in Tahiti with a group led by Captain James Cook. They wanted to bring breadfruit to the Caribbean to provide food for people in British colonies. Later, a sailor named William Bligh took breadfruit plants from Tahiti to places like St. Helena, St. Vincent, and Jamaica.

Breadfruit grows best in warm temperatures between 16–38 °C (61–100 °F) and needs a lot of rain each year. It can grow in different kinds of soil, even in sandy or salty ground.

Nutrition

Breadfruit is mostly water, with a good amount of carbohydrates and a little protein. It has very little fat. When you eat 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of raw breadfruit, it gives you 103 calories. It is especially rich in vitamin C, giving you 32% of what you need each day, and also has a good amount of potassium, providing 16% of your daily need. It does not have much of any other nutrients.

Uses

Breadfruit is a staple food in many tropical regions. Most breadfruit varieties produce fruit throughout the year. Both ripe and unripe fruit have culinary uses; unripe breadfruit is cooked before consumption. Before being eaten, the fruit is roasted, baked, fried, or boiled. When cooked, the taste of moderately ripe breadfruit is described as potato-like, or similar to freshly baked bread.

One breadfruit tree can produce 200 kilograms (450 lb) each season. Because breadfruit trees usually produce large crops at certain times of the year, the preservation of harvested fruit is an issue. One traditional preservation technique known throughout Oceania is to bury peeled and washed fruits in a leaf-lined pit, where they ferment over several weeks and produce a sour, sticky paste. Stored in this way, the product may endure a year or more. Some pits are reported to have produced edible contents more than 20 years after burial. Remnants of pit-like formations with stone scattered around (presumed to line them) are often clues indicating prehistoric settlement to archaeologists studying precontact history of French Polynesia.

In addition to being edible raw, breadfruit can be dried and ground into flour and the seeds can be cooked for consumption.

Food

The seedless breadfruit is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where it is called sukun. It is commonly made into fritters and eaten as snacks. Breadfruit fritters are sold as local street food.

In the Philippines, breadfruit is known as rimas in Tagalog and kolo in the Visayan languages. It is also called kamansi (also spelled camansi), along with the closely related Artocarpus camansi, and the endemic Artocarpus blancoi (tipolo or antipolo). All three species, as well as the closely related jackfruit, are commonly used much in the same way in savory dishes. The immature fruits are most commonly eaten as ginataang rimas (cooked with coconut milk).

In the Hawaiian staple food called poi, the traditional ingredient of mashed taro root can be replaced by, or augmented with, mashed breadfruit (ʻulu in Hawaiian). The resulting "breadfruit poi" is called poi ʻulu.

Timber and other uses

Breadfruit was widely used in a variety of ways among Pacific Islanders. Its lightweight wood (specific gravity of 0.27) is resistant to termites and shipworms, so it is used as timber for structures and outrigger canoes. Its wood pulp can also be used to make paper, called breadfruit tapa. The wood of the breadfruit tree was one of the most valuable timbers in the construction of traditional houses in Samoan architecture.

Breadfruit contains phytochemicals having potential as an insect repellent. The parts of the fruits that are discarded can be used to feed livestock. The leaves of breadfruit trees can also be browsed by cattle.

Breadfruit, however, exudes latex upon harvesting, causing the plant sap to adhere to the surface, leading to the staining of the epicarp. Proper methods of breadfruit harvesting usually include the process of draining the latex and disposing of it. Sticky white sap or latex is present in all parts of the breadfruit tree and has been used for glue, caulk, and even chewing gum. Native Hawaiians used its sticky latex to trap birds, whose feathers were made into cloaks.

In culture

On Puluwat in the Caroline Islands, breadfruit, called poi, is used as a symbol for knowledge in sacred stories. These stories are grouped into five topics: war, magic, meetings, navigation, and breadfruit.

An old story from Hawaii says that breadfruit came from the war god Kū. Kū decided to live among people as a farmer and had a family. But a time of little food came, and Kū’s family suffered. To help them, Kū said he must leave them, and he went down into the ground, leaving only the top of his head showing. His family stayed by the spot, watering it with their tears. From this spot grew a tree heavy with breadfruit, saving his family and others from hunger. Breadfruit is seen as a sign of plenty and help in hard times.

Many types of breadfruit and special kinds of the fruit are found all over the Pacific. Because these plants cannot move far on their own, people helped spread them. Scientists studied these different types to learn about how people moved across the Pacific long ago, supporting the idea that early groups traveled from west to east. The biggest collection of breadfruit types was gathered by botanist Diane Ragone after 20 years of travel to 50 Pacific islands. She planted them on a large area of land near Hana on the east coast of Maui in Hawaii.