The Incredible Jakfruit

The Jakfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) aka Jackfruit, is quite certainly the largest tree-born fruit on the planet. It seems to have originated in India and/or Southeast Asia where it is well known.

It is quite well known in South Florida too and has been grown here since the early 1900's. And it is well suited to the climate. Taste wise I think pineapple-banana sums it up pretty well with regard to the ripe fruit. Many say it tastes like bubble gum or JuicyFruit gum which are apt descriptions too. The seeds are also edible, almost like a chestnut in taste (can be boiled, broiled or toasted) and the green, immature fruit make a very hearty vegetable stew with Indian or Italian spicing.

Books and articles often say it takes from 4 to 14 years to fruit and that is quite accurate too, very much depending on the conditions it is given. I planted a seed in 1981 and once established, allowed it to fend for itself at ambient conditions. When it still hadn't fruited by 1995 I managed to graft a known cultivar to a single, small branch, and lo and behold the whole tree suddenly started fruiting from many branches.

Close up of the texture of the Jak. It's related to the Mulberry.

However those bumps dig into your forearms as you carry it to the house. So sometimes it's wise to get the wheelbarrow out just to harvest one (20 Lb.+) fruit.

And on the other hand I've seen more than one tree fruit in two to three years under ideal and pampered conditions of watering, mulching, trimming and fertilizing. Using ultra light, oxygen rich soil with deep pots the seedling can get 3 or 4 feet tall in the first year and 10 to 12 feet by year two (4" to 6" girth) when it can put out some flowers and a couple of fruit. Usually the grower will cut off those precocious fruits to give the tree a year or two more to really begin to set crops of fruit. Seeds don't remain viable for long and must be planted right away.

One explanation for the name Jak/Jack is the South Indian word "Chakka" which the Portuguese converted to “Jaca” as they brought it to the New World. Jaca became Jak/Jack on English speaking tongues. It is less well known in Spanish speaking countries but has always existed in private collections. In the Americas it is very popular in Brazil, Guyana, Trinidad & Jamaica.

When the fruit is plump and full it means it was well pollinated. The trees are self pollinating via insects and breeze. However when you see a lumpy, bumpy fruit you know the pollination was incomplete.

Shiva Chihuahua and I had a series of misunderstandings just before this picture was taken.

For some reason I thought it would be cute if the dog were sitting or standing on the fruit but he wanted no part of that scheme.
It does very well in South Florida and can grow on both coasts as far north as the Space Coast around Merritt Island and perhaps a little farther and about to Tampa on Florida's west coast. It has been fruited in the Orlando area under protected conditions.