Jackfruit
The largest tree fruit in the world, the pre-historic looking jackfruit is believed to be indigenous to the Southwestern rain forests of India. It is widely cultivated in the tropical regions of Indian subcontinent, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil for its fruit, seeds, and wood. Jackfruit is a huge tree that grows to as high as 30 meters.
Young jackfruit has a mild flavor and distinctive poultry-like texture. The cuisines of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit for curries and stir frys. Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet with a smell and flavor similar to juicyfruit gum. It can be eaten as a sweet snack or a variety or used to make sweet dishes.
Jackfruit is rich in dietary fiber, which makes it a good bulk laxative. It is one of the rare fruits that is rich in B-complex group of vitamins. The fruit is made of soft, easily digestible flesh (bulbs) with simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly.
Seeds from ripe fruits are edible and have a milky, sweet taste. In general, the seeds are gathered from the ripe fruit, sun-dried and stored for use in rainy season. The nutritious seeds are very rich in protein and have a potato like taste and texture when cooked.
Fresh jackfruit can be found at Asian food markets. Buy fresh jackfruit that emits mild yet rich flavor and just yields to thumb pressure. Thorn like projections becomes soft in the ripened fruit.
Outside of countries where it is grown, jackfruit can be obtained year-round both canned or dried. It is available canned in sugar syrup, or frozen. Dried jackfruit chips are also available.
Source: www.wikipedia.org, www.nutrition-and-you.com
Image by Balaram Mahalder available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
The largest tree fruit in the world, the pre-historic looking jackfruit is believed to be indigenous to the Southwestern rain forests of India. It is widely cultivated in the tropical regions of Indian subcontinent, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil for its fruit, seeds, and wood. Jackfruit is a huge tree that grows to as high as 30 meters.
Young jackfruit has a mild flavor and distinctive poultry-like texture. The cuisines of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam use cooked young jackfruit for curries and stir frys. Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet wit..
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