Jackfruit – Fruit garden

The jackfruit is a multi-purpose species providing food, timber, fuel, fodder, and medicinal and industrial products. The primary economic product of jackfruit is the fruit which is used both when mature and immature. When unripe (green), it is remarkably similar in texture to chicken, making jackfruit an excellent vegetarian substitute for meat. In fact, canned jackfruit (in brine) is sometimes referred to as “vegetable meat”. Jackfruit seeds (nuts) can be roasted like chestnuts, or boiled. The fruit pulp is sweet and tasty and used as dessert or preserved in syrup. The fruits and seeds are also processed in a variety of ways for food and other products. Jackfruit value added products include chips, papads, pickles, icecream, jelly, sweets, beverages like squash, nectar, wine and preserved flakes, etc. Additionally, jackfruit leaves, bark, inflorescence, seeds and latex are used in traditional medicines. The wood of tree is also used for various purposes.

It is a nutritious fruit rich in carbohydrates, proteins, potassium, calcium, iron, and vitamin A, B, and C. Due to high levels of carbohydrates, jackfruit supplements other staple foods in times of scarcity in some regions. The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous, and is a source of dietary fibre. The presence of isoflavones, antioxidants, and phytonutrients in the fruits indicate that jackfruit has cancer-fighting properties. It is also known to help cure ulcers and indigestion.

Fruit color is green to yellow on the fruit there is spines, fruit weight 3-40 Kg (can be more) the size 15-50 cm. the fruits have bad fragrant and not recommend to touch them in the hand, to know when to pick up the fruit need to check that the spines get out easily by touch.

Scientific Name: Artocarpus heterophyllus
Common Name: Jackfruit

How to grow and maintain jackfruit:
Soil:
The jackfruit tree flourishes in rich, deep soil of medium or open texture, sometimes on deep gravelly or laterite soil. It will grow, but more slowly and not as tall in shallow limestone. In India, they say that the tree grows tall and thin on sand, short and thick on stony land. It cannot tolerate “wet feet”. If the roots touch water, the tree will not bear fruit or may die.

Planting:
Choose a big open space of your garden that receives full sun, clear it from weeds and dig a hole. To ensure good drainage, mix 1/3 part of compost, sand, perlite and organic matter in a garden soil to prepare rich porous potting soil for planting. Transplant your healthiest plant in the dug space, water it and mulch all around. If you’re planting a grafted plant then don’t cover its bud patch from soil, otherwise it’ll rot down and die.

Watering and Fertilizing:
Jack-natural product tree develops in hot and moist districts of Asia, where high precipitation is normal. It implies you have to water it frequently as it inclines toward soggy, very much depleted soil yet stay away from over-watering particularly when the plant is setting up in initial two years. Once in a year, in the start of blustery season in July or August, spread fertilizer or homestead excrement sufficiently around the plant to lift it up. Sustain it with moderate discharge, adjusted manure twice in a year. At the point when the plant begins to sprout, encourage it with 8-3-9 compost by taking after producer’s guideline for sum and rate.

Harvest:
developing jackfruit and its careWithin three to six years in the wake of planting, jack tree begins to bloom and in two-three months subsequent to blooming, youthful and unripe green cleaned natural products are prepared to be picked as vegetable.Mature organic products are prepared to reap following four-five months of blossoming when they ooze sweet smell and their skin turns from green to yellowish tinge.

Storage:
Jackfruits turn brown and deteriorate quickly after ripening. Cold storage trials indicate that ripe fruits can be kept for 3 to 6 weeks at 52° to 55°F (11.11°-12.78°C) and relative humidity of 85 to 95%.

Pests and Diseases:
The most common pests that attacks it are jack-fruit borer, fruit flies and birds. Jack-fruit borer affects all the parts of plant, but the use of organic insecticide is enough to deter it. On the other hand, covering the fruits is an handy option to save fruits from fruit flies and birds.
Diseases of importance include pink disease, Pelliculana (Corticium) salmonicolor, stem rot, fruit rot and male inflorescence rot caused by Rhizopus artocarpi; and leafspot due to Phomopsis artocarpina, Colletotrichum lagenarium, Septoria artocarpi, and other fungi. Gray blight, Pestalotia elasticola, charcoal rot, Ustilana zonata, collar rot, Rosellinia arcuata, and rust, Uredo artocarpi, occur on jackfruit in some regions. The fruits may be covered with paper sacks when very young to protect them from pests and diseases. Burkill says the bags encourage ants to swarm over the fruit and guard it from its enemies.

Toxicity:
Even in India there is some resistance to the jackfruit, attributed to the belief that overindulgence in it causes digestive ailments. Burkill declares that it is the raw, unripe fruit that is astringent and indigestible. The ripe fruit is somewhat laxative; if eaten in excess it will cause diarrhea. Raw jackfruit seeds are indigestible due to the presence of a powerful trypsin inhibitor. This element is destroyed by boiling or baking.