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Nutritious wonder
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From seed to fruit and bark, the jack tree is beneficial
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A jack tree laden with fruit is a common sight in South India
A LARGE evergreen tree with a short thick trunk, Artocarpus heterophyllus or the jack tree has a dense crown of dark green, shiny, leathery 10-20 cm elliptic-oblong leaves. Found mainly in South India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the plant belongs to the family Maraceae. It is called Kathal in Hindi, Panasa in Telugu, Pilappalam in Tamil andChakka in Malayalam.
The bark of the jack tree is dark brown and rough, and a milky juice oozes out when cut. Flower heads in the bud are enveloped in stipular, deciduous long receptacles. The fruit is large and yellowish-green with conical tubercles hanging from short stalks from the trunk; the seeds are kidney shaped, 2.5 to 3 cm, surrounded by a yellowish pulp.
Unripe (raw) jackfruit is used in South India as a vegetable from which tasty chips and curry can be made. Tender jackfruit is often pickled. The ripe fruits are eaten and made into delicacies such as halwa, jam, jelly, payasam and papads. The seeds contain calcium and carbohydrates and are very nutritious. They are eaten roasted, boiled with salt and made into curries.
The jack tree flowers in December and ripens during the rainy season in July-August. On the whole, jackfruit is a wholesome, highly nutritious aromatic sweet-fleshy fruit. Its leaves have medicinal value; leaves warmed and applied on boils and wounds speed up recovery. The leaves are used as moulds for steaming idlis and adais. In Kerala, the leaf is folded and used as a spoon to drink rice kanji (porridge). This gives relief from respiratory problems.
A jackfruit tree in the backyard is a pleasant sight not only for its fruits but also the shiny dark green leaves, which are useful in many ways.
CHITRA RADHAKRISHNAN
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