Plant
Jackfruit
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Also known as: Artocarpus heterophyllus
A large evergreen tree in the fig family (Moraceae), native to the Western Ghats of India — the producer of the largest tree-borne fruit on Earth. Mature jackfruit weigh 10–25 kg; record specimens exceed 50 kg. Foundational to South Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, and Southeast Asian cuisines; recently popularized globally as a vegan meat-texture substitute (young unripe jackfruit pulls apart with a meat-like texture).
Scientific
Artocarpus heterophyllus is in the fig family Moraceae, closely related to [[fig]] and to [[breadfruit]] (A. altilis). The fruit is a multiple — like the pineapple, what looks like a single jackfruit is actually a fusion of many smaller fruits formed from a many-flowered inflorescence.
Mature individual fruits commonly weigh 10–25 kg; record specimens exceed 50 kg. Trees can produce 200–500 fruits per year, all borne directly on the trunk and large branches — a structural pattern called cauliflory (the same pattern seen in [[cacao]]).
Cultural and culinary
Jackfruit is one of the foundational [[tree-crops-permanent-agriculture|tree crops]] of South Asia. In Bangladesh it is the national fruit. In Kerala, jackfruit cultivation and consumption have been continuous for thousands of years — every part of the plant is used (ripe flesh fresh or in desserts; unripe flesh as a vegetable; seeds boiled like chestnuts; wood as a fine timber).
The 21st-century global popularization of young unripe jackfruit as a vegan pulled-pork or pulled-chicken substitute (jackfruit BBQ, jackfruit carnitas) introduced the species to Western kitchens. The texture is genuinely meat-like when cooked appropriately; the marketing leap to “jackfruit replaces meat” has helped expand commercial Indian and Sri Lankan exports.
Global production
Top producers: India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[fig]] · [[cacao]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
- Cousin of: [[breadfruit]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Jackfruit
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Scientific
cousin of
- Breadfruit auto-linked from body mention
Cultural
shares approach with
- Bodhi tree auto-linked from body mention
2 inbound links · 4 outbound