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JACKFRUIT, JACK FRUIT
(The largest Jackfruit in the photo on the right weighs about 60 lbs. and is about 2 feet long The fruits in the photo on the bottom right are about 15 feet high in the tree and weigh about 20-50 lbs)
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) also known as jakfruit, jaca, and nangka, is a tropical tree originally from western India. It is a member of the mulberry family, and a relative of the bread fruit.
The jack fruit is a melon shaped starchy vegetable that can reach a length of 3 feet, and weigh up to 100
 pounds, making it the largest tree-borne fruit in the world. The fruits grow both from the tree trunk and from branches in the tree. They have a rough spiny skin and the uncut ripe fruit has a strong unpleasant smell, resembling rotting onions - but the cut fruit has a strong aroma similar to papaya or pineapple.
The interior consists of large bulbs of pulp enclosing a seed up to 1 inch long, with from 100 to 500 seeds per fruit. The flavor is similar to pineapple & banana but less juicy. The green
 unripe flesh is cooked as a vegetable and used in curries and salads. When ripe and sweet, it is eaten as a fruit. The large seeds are roasted and have a flavor and texture similar to chestnuts.
Jackfruit are rarely available fresh in the U.S., but can be found canned in Asian grocery stores.
Photos by Chef James, taken at Fruit & Spice Park, Homestead, FL
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