Jackfrukt och brödfrukt - Tant Annas fruktstund

Guest writer: Anna Nilsson Spets

Jackfruit and breadfruit are two rather unusual fruits that you more or less never see in a fruit shop in Sweden. The fruits belong to the same family, namely the mulberry plants, in other words they are quite closely related to each other.

Jackfruit has its natural origin in South and Southeast Asia, but is cultivated and has spread to other continents. The jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The national fruit of Sweden is of course the apple!

The tree itself can grow up to 15 metres high, the leaves are egg-shaped with a light underside and dark upper side. The trunk has dark green bark and the circumference of the trunk is around 60 cm. The root system is wide and therefore trees are sometimes planted to prevent soil erosion. The inside of the bark is fibrous and the fibres are used to make rope. A colour pigment is also extracted from the bark to dye textiles.

The sawdust is processed into a latex-like mass and used as a glue. The wood itself is excellent for furniture making.

The ash of burnt leaves and bark is used in folk medicine and has wound healing effects, and can also be taken for various stomach problems. The seeds which are the size of chestnuts are roasted or boiled or ground into flour, it is said that the seeds increase sex drive, who knows?

The leaves are steamed in cooking or simply used as a wrap.

The flowers look slightly different depending on whether they are male or female, the male flowers are usually at the end of the branches while the female flowers are in a cluster on the stem.

The fruits are round to oval, depending on the variety, up to one metre long. A jackfruit can weigh as much as 50 kilos. No small things we are talking about here!

Then there's the flavour, you could say it's a mix between banana and pineapple, depending on the type of jackfruit you eat and the stage of ripening.

The jackfruit is ripe when it starts to smell and when the small spines stand up straight. The flesh can be eaten raw or made into jam. Unripe fruit is also prepared, with the flesh cooked and dried or pickled. Another variant is snacks, sliced, fried and salted.

A legend from the Philippines tells of a village chief who had promised his daughter Marang's hand to the son of another village chief, but Princess Marang had fallen in love with an ordinary market vendor, and out of love for his daughter, the village chief blessed the lovers. Then the village chief died and a strange tree grew on his grave, a tree with fragrant fruit that could cure the sick and keep the old young at heart. The jackfruit tree was a gift from a kind-hearted father.

A close relative of the jackfruit, the breadfruit also originated in Asia, although it is now widespread in other parts of the world. How it ended up in Hawaii is the subject of an amusing legend.

A man who really did everything for his family died. A tree grew out of his testicles and all the gods - 44,000 of them! tasted the fruit and found it delicious. When they learnt where it came from, they vomited and the seeds spread across the island.

The fruit of the breadfruit tree is a staple food in many countries and there is a story to tell about how the fruit was spread to other countries. In 1789, the warship Bounty was on an expedition to Tahiti to bring plants to the West Indies where the slaves of the time would grow breadfruit for food. Most people know what happened to the Bounty - a mutiny. The breadfruit eventually ended up with the slaves in Jamaica, who rejected the flavour and preferred plantains.

The fruit is extremely nutritious and contains many minerals and several vitamins, and is completely gluten-free. Unripe fruit has a high starch content, which makes it inedible in its unripe form. Ripe fruit can be cooked, grilled, baked or fried. The fruit can also be dried and ground into flour. In a world where many people barely have food on the table, breadfruit plays an extremely important role from a nutritional point of view.

The tree itself reaches a height of 12-18 metres and is relatively fast growing, the leaves are glossy dark green with a lobed oval shape. The breadfruit flowers in a similar way to the jackfruit; female and male flowers separately.

The fruit itself is round to slightly oval, depending on the variety, and when ripe it changes colour from green to yellowish. The weight is around 2kg.

And what does a cooked breadfruit taste like? Of course it tastes like bread, freshly baked bread with a touch of potato. The riper the fruit, the sweeter it becomes as the starch is converted into sugar.

Nowadays, the breadfruit is spread across several continents, so if you come across it or see it on the menu, try it!

READ MORE: Durian, the king of fruits - Auntie Anna's fruit session

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Anna Nilsson Spets

60+ year old lady with a lifelong love for Africa. Emigrated to Flanders in Belgium and works with plants on a daily basis. Writes, takes photos and tries to inspire others to budget travel on their own. Blogs on "Anna's mix" about travelling, work, plants, writing and much more.