Jackfruit

Ken Love1 and Robert E. Paull2 1 Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers, 2 CTAHR Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, 2011

The evergreen, latex-producing jackfruit tree can reach up to 80 feet in height, with a straight stem that branches near the base. The tree produces a long taproot. All parts have milky white, very sticky latex. The jackfruit flowers are borne on short shoots on the trunk and older branches. The thick, rubbery rind has short, blunt spines, and the fruit can have up to 500 seeds. Average fruit size is about 35 pounds, but they are often much larger. In 2010, at a jackfruit festival in Kerala, India, a 144-pound fruit was featured. The largest Hawaiian fruit was 79 pounds and held the Guinness book of records for a number of years. In locations where the fruit is relished, only the rind and core are inedible. The fruit odor can be described as blend of grapefruit, banana, and cheese, or something between spoiled onions and sweaty gym socks, and cloyingly sweet.