Khanun | ขนุน | Artocarpus heterophyllus
Family: Moraceae - Genus: Artocarpus
Jackfruit trees are found alongside the road in between Eco-Logic's restaurant and the hydro-aquaponic greenhouse of the Thai Child Development Foundation.
Jackfruit is an evergreen tree that has a relatively short trunk with a dense treetop. It easily reaches heights of 10 to 20 meter and trunk diameters of 30 to 80 centimeter. It sometimes forms buttress roots. The bark of the jackfruit tree is reddish-brown and smooth. In the event of injury to the bark, a milky juice is released.
The jackfruit tree is also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family. It bears the largest fruit of all trees, reaching as much as 55 kilogram in weight, 90 centimeters in length, and 50 centimeters in diameter.
A mature jack tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year. The jackfruit fruit it self is a multiple fruit composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit are eaten. The ripe fruit is sweet (depending on variety) and is more often used for desserts. Jackfruit has a mild taste and meat-like texture that lends itself to being called a "vegetable meat". Both ripe and unripe fruits are consumed.
The jackfruit trees bears flowers and fruit throughout the year, but the main harvest season is January to May.
THE TREE
Jackfruit trees are generally of medium size, up to about 20 meter high. Circular cylindrical rod, up to about 1 meter in diameter. All parts of the tree produce a thick white sap when injured.
THE LEAVES
The jackfruit tree is single leafed, leaves are scattered, 1-4 centimeter stemmed, a bit thick like leather, stiff, flat edged, oval to elliptic inverse (lengthwise), 3.5 to 12 × 5-25 centimeter, with base narrowed little by little, and the short end of the leaf is tapered or slightly tapered.
Leaves of the jackfruit tree can be eaten.
THE FLOWERS
The flowers of the jackfruit are formed on the trunk, branches or twigs. Jackfruit trees are monoecious, having both female and male flowers on a tree.
The male flowers are greenish, some flowers are sterile. The male flowers are hairy. The individual and prominent stamens are straight with yellow, roundish anthers. After the pollen distribution, the stamens become ash-gray and fall off after a few days. Later all the male flowers also fall off.
The greenish female flowers, are hairy and tubular, have a fleshy flower-like base. The flowers are pear-shaped, to about 10–12 centimeter long and 5–7 centimeter wide.
THE FRUIT
The ellipsoidal to roundish fruit is a multiple fruit formed from the fusion of the ovaries of multiple flowers. The fruits grow on a long and thick stem on the trunk. They vary in size and ripen from an initially yellowish-greenish to yellow, and then at maturity to yellowish-brown.
The large and variously shaped fruit have a length of 30 to 100 centimeter and a diameter of 15 to 50 centimeter and can weigh 10–25 kilogram or more.
The fruits consist of a fibrous, whitish core about 5–10 centimeter thick. Radiating from this are many 10-centimeter-long individual fruits. They are elliptical to egg-shaped, light brownish with a length of about 3 centimeter and a diameter of 1.5 to 2 centimeter. There may be about 100–500 seeds per fruit.
The fruit matures during the rainy season. The bean-shaped fruit are coated with a firm yellowish flesh, which has an intense sweet taste at maturity of the fruit.
When pruned, the inner part of the jackfruit secretes a sticky, milky liquid, which can hardly be removed from the skin, even with soap and water. To clean the hands after "unwinding" the pulp an oil or other solvent is used. When fully ripe, jackfruit has a strong pleasant aroma, the pulp of the opened fruit resembles the odor of pineapple and banana.
CULINARY USES
Both the seeds and the flesh of jackfruit are consumed as curries and boiled forms, while the flesh in fully ripen stage can be eaten directly as a fruit.
Young Jackfruit leaves are vegetables and can be eaten as a stir fry vegetable and they can be used as a wrapping for steaming.
Fresh jackfruit flesh can be mixed into ice, crushed into a drink (juice), or processed into various types of foods: jack fruit compote, jams jackfruit, jackfruit-fried-flour, jackfruit chips, and more.
The seeds from ripe fruits are edible, and are said to have a milky, sweet taste often compared to Brazil nuts. They may be boiled, baked, or roasted. When roasted, the flavor of the seeds is comparable to chestnuts. Seeds are used as snacks (either by boiling or fire-roasting) or to make desserts.
NUTRITION
Jackfruit is rich in nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USE OF NEEDLE FLOWER
NOTE: please take advice from a doctor if you are planning to use herbal medicine.
The several parts of jack tree including fruits, leaves, and barks have been extensively used in traditional medicine due to its anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and hypoglycemic effects.
INTO THE WILD: a down to earth experience
For guests and visitors to Paksong we organize weekly tours "The Edible Forest" and Foraging weekends: Into the Wild. We work with local guides to take you in the jungle of Paksong. After foraging, we will cook a meal with the ingredients, using bamboo together with you!
Come and join and learn about the abundance of food that nature gives us!
INTO THE WILD!
コメント