Jackfruit

Artocarpus Heterophyllus

Jackfruit (also called "Jakfruit") is a type of fruit from India, Bangladesh (National fruit)[source?] and Sri Lanka.[1] When a Jackfruit ripens, it changes from green to slightly yellow.

The jack tree is well-suited to tropical lowlands, and it bears the largest fruit of all trees, reaching as much as 55 kg (120 lb) in weight, 90 cm (35 in) in length, and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter.[8][12] A mature jack tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year.[8][9] The jackfruit is a multiple fruit composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit are eaten.[8][13] The immature fruit (unripe, commercially labeled as young jackfruit) has a mild taste and meat-like texture that lends itself to being a meat substitute for vegetarians and vegans. The ripe fruit can be much sweeter (depending on variety) and is more often used for desserts.

MAIN PRODUCING COUNTRIES

They are also quite small, about 4 centimetres wide. The leaves are shaped like an hourglass. The leaves, and the leaf-shaped stem are widely used in the cuisine of Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos.

Citrus x hystrix leaves are also popular in Cambodia, but less so in Vietnam. Malay, Burmese and Indonesian (especially, Balinese and Javanese; see also Indonesian bay leaf) cuisines use them sporadically with chicken and fish.

INSIDE THE DIFFERENT COUSINES

The leaves can be used fresh or dried, and can be stored frozen.

Although the most common product of the Citrus x hystrix tree is its leaves (which give a sharp Lime/neroli flavour to Cambodian base paste known as "Krueng", Thai dishes such as tom yum, and to Indonesian food such as sayur assam - literally sour vegetables), the juice and rinds of the small, dark green gnarled fruit (known as jeruk obat - literally medicine citrus) are used in traditional Indonesian medicine.

As for the zest, it is widely used in creole cuisine and to impart flavor to "arranged" rums in the Réunion island and Madagascar.