The persuasion of a bread - flavour fruit may fathom a routine far - fetched , but in the world ’s tropical region , this starchy crop is a staple . Breadfruit , a prickly oval - shape fruit grown from Southeast Asia to Hawaii ( also known there as ' ulu ) , does in fact taste like a mixture between freshlybaked bread , plantains and white potato .
But breadfruit ’s superpowers go well beyond flavor . This fruit — a relative of the increasinglypopular jackfruit tree — is a promising solution to food insecurity , particularly in tropical places where breadfruit tree trees expand with little care . One breadfruit alone matter around 7 pounds ( 3.1 kilograms ) — sometimes up to 12 dog pound ( 5.4 kilo ) — and contains enough saccharide for one meal for a family of five , according toGlobal Mana .
The breadfruit tree diagram ( Artocarpus altilis ) is considered one of thehighest yielding food plantson the planet ; one can bring forth 50 to 150 yield per year and corroborate a family of four for decades .
According to Diane Ragone , director of Hawaii - ground National Tropical Botanic Garden ’s ( NTBG)Breadfruit Institute , breadfruit is also a highly sustainable crop . " It has long been an important subsistence crop for many tropic communities , " Ragone says via electronic mail . " Over the past decade , farmers and family have begun set more breadfruit trees for local food and economic security . Another factor is the decisive need to espouse and inflate sustainable , regenerative husbandry cropping systems for the wellness and well - being of people and the major planet . "
A Brief Breadfruit History
Breadfruit , which likelystemmedfrom its ancestor breadnut in New Guinea , has been a main craw among Pacific islander for millennia , Ragone says . When early explorers view breadfruit in the Pacific Islands , they took it with them to Jamaica as a " food product for slaves,“Encyclopedia Britannicareports . But slaves across Jamaica were more interested in plantains ; they did n’t take to the fruit . It take up close to 50 years for breadfruit to make its means into Caribbean cuisine .
Its antecedent in Hawaii go back even further . Ancient voyaging Polynesians took the tree to present - day Artocarpus altilis haven , Hawaii . The fruit became integral to ancient Hawaiian culture and religious living for hundred of years before the islands had contact with westerners . Tour Mauireports that ancient Hawaiian breadfruit groves were big enough to corroborate 75,000 hoi polloi . Some of Hawaii’spresent - day treesare the offspring of groves planted 100 ago .
Breadfruit tree now maturate across Earth ’s tropical belt ammunition , including in Nicaragua , Puerto Rico , Hawaii , Ghana and Myanmar . Ragone read it ’s easily perishable , " softening within one to a few mean solar day after harvest , " which means it ’s tough to find outside the tropics . But online retailer likeMiami Fruitdo ship it across the mainland U.S.
Eating Breadfruit
Breadfruit is safe for eating and misrepresent across all development stages , according to the NTBG . Most the great unwashed habituate it when it ’s mature but still firm , and either boil , steam or bake it . As a notoriously starchy crop , breadfruit can replace potatoes or pasta , and it ’s a corking alternative forpotato chipsor french fries . When it ’s unripe and hard , it tastes similar to artichoke . But it ’s also tasty when plainly eaten raw . When it ’s very right , breadfruit has a creamy , sweet savour , perfect for desserts or pureed for baby food , the NTBG say .
Ragone says these serve methods hardly scratch the surface of breadfruit ’s potential drop . " Entrepreneurs are processing fresh yield , such as steaming and freezing wedges or drying and bray it into flour and making value - added products like fries , tostones , liquors and more to supply local and export markets , " she say . " If you do n’t live in a breadfruit - produce area , can you promptly order breadfruit on a eating place menu ? Not yet ! But if you have the proficient fortune to do so , then do so . It will bear breadfruit Farmer and entrepreneurs . "
Breadfruit Is Packed With Perks
Health benefits abound with breadfruit . The crop is an Department of Energy - ample solid food brim with complex carbohydrates , fibre and mineral like potassium , calcium , iron , atomic number 12 , phosphorous , Zn and atomic number 25 , the NTBG reports . It ’s also gluten - free and can be dried and mash intogluten - liberal flour .
Beyond stringently health benefits , breadfruit boasts some other important advantages . It ’s a innate worm repellent ; the male breadfruit bloom is known to repel mosquitoes , according toGlobal Breadfruit . The saphead from breadfruit can also be used to caulk watercrafts and homes , while fiber from the breadfruit tree bark are used to produce mosquito nets , vesture and artwork . The leaf and fallen fruit make nourishing feed for animals .
Breadfruit ’s liberal harvest and ecosystem benefits do n’t let down , either . " Breadfruit Tree put up food for thought security and contribute to diversified regenerative farming and agroforestry , improved grease conditions and watersheds , and worthful environmental benefits include reduction of CO2 , " the NTBG say . The fruit also allow much - needed shelter to plant pollinators and seed dispersers like raspberry , bee andbats .
Breadfruit FAQ
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