Micronesian Market

Micronesian Market

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Breadfruit

Breadfruit is obtained from the huge tropical rain-forest fruiting tree in the mulberry family. It is closely related to the other tropical fruits such as jackfruit, breadnut, figs, and mulberries.

Binomially, the fruit belongs to the family of Moraceae, in the genus: Artocarpus. Scientific name: Artocarpus altilis.

Breadfruit is a very large evergreen tree found commonly in the tropical rain forests of Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and southern India. It actually used as subsistence food in line with other tropical staples such as rice, sweet potatoes, taro, banana, and coconut in many of the East Asian, Micronesia, Polynesian, and Caribbean countries.

Breadfruit tree has many similarities to jackfruit in all respects except that their fruits emerge out from the terminal ends of small branches. In case of the jackfruit, the fruit-buds arise (erupt) directly from the trunk and large branches.

Adult breadfruit tree bears hundreds of fruits during each season. The fruits, however, can come in variety of colors, size and shapes. Each fruit generally features round or globular shape and weigh about 1 to 5 kg. Its outer surface is covered with spikes similar to that in breadnut, jackfruit, and durian. Cut-section shows thick rind covering smooth white to cream color pulp. Some of breadfruit varieties feature smooth, brown color seeds interspersed in between soft flesh. The seeds are edible, have nutty texture and flavor.

Mature fruits ripe rather quickly and feature soft, sweet, creamy flesh that can be eaten raw. Almost all parts of the breadfruit plant can exude thin, milky-white latex upon inflicting damage in similarity with jackfruit.
Health benefits of breadfruit
As in line with other tropical fruits, breadfruit too holds lot of calories. 100 g fresh fruit provides 102 calories. The major fraction of this comes from the carbohydrates. Ripe fruits are sweeter since their starch content is converted into sucrose and simple sugars like fructose and glucose.

Its pulp has more fiber than in jackfruit, which makes it a good bulk laxative. Dietary fiber helps reduce blood cholesterol by preventing its absorption in the gut, reduce obesity, blood pressure and help protect the colon mucous membrane by warding off cancer-causing chemicals from the colon.

It has small amounts of flavonoid anti-oxidants in the form of xanthin and luein. Yellow-orange varieties have more of these compounds.
Breadfruit has more <>vitamin-C than jackfruit, and banana, provides about 29 mg or 48% of RDA. Vitamin-C (ascorbic acid) is a strong water-soluble antioxidant. Consumption of fruits rich in the vitamin C help body develops resistance against infectious agents and scavenges harmful free radicals.

The fruit has moderate levels of essential vitamins, and minerals. Like other tropical delicacies, it is rich in many vital B-complex groups of vitamins. The fruit is a moderate source of vitamins, especially thiamin, pyridoxine, and niacin.

Fresh fruit is an excellent source of potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that help regulate heart rate and blood pressure. Its pulp is good in copper, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Breadfruit seeds contain average levels of protein; 100 g seeds provide 7.4 g or 13% of daily-recommended values. However, they are excellent sources of minerals like potassium, iron, calcium, zinc, selenium, manganese, etc.

http://cyrilusa.com/fruits/bread-fruit/