Moraceae, Artocarpus lakoocha, Monkey jack, Lakoocha, Emerald Jack, Pachoo Phanas (Bangalore), Badahar (Guyana), Selengking (Borneo)
This is the ripe orange bumpy fruit. I was unable to identify it for a long time, just recently found it in a book called Fruits and Cultivated Exotics that I found at Fairchild Botanical Garden.
The taste and texture are very interesting. Taste is tangy and slightly citrus-like. The texture is like that of unripe jackfruit only finer fibers, as a visitor to the site pointed out (see comments), similar to kiwi. I germinated a bunch of seed about five months ago. The small trees are just now about to surpass me in height. Supposedly the tree yields an excellent hardwood, said to be superior to Teak, useful for toolhandles and construction both above and below water. The trees I saw were not cultivated as a hardwood.
This photo was taken a month after transplanting the germinated seedlings, they are growing quickly. I’ll take some up-to-date photos to upload today.
I would love to have a taste! Where did you find the fruit?
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Saprophytic
Where did u find it? It grows up to be huge towering tree in tropical and sub-tropical South Asia, the bark of which is also used for chewing for its high tanin content.
I have two saplings growing in my garden in the West Coast city of Mumbai in India. I got one from the fruit which I picked up and ate in a seaside wildlife sanctuary called Phansad, and I got the other one from a nursery from the Silicon Valley city of India called Bangalore. It’s also called emerald jack (pachoo phanas) in the local language.
It also grows in Guyana, they call it Badahar
I have one in my orchard since one year. I used to call it “the mystery tree” because I lost the label… Then yesterday I found it in the ground! Now i can figure out what it is thanks to the Internet… The fruit looks pretty weird though… Hope it ’s better tasting than the dreaded “noni” (morinda citrifolia)
This plant also found in Borneo. Local peoples call this tree ‘Selengking’. The fruit taste like kiwi and very fresh fruit fragrance so I called this fruit as ‘Bornean Kiwi’. All part of the fruit we can eat exclude the seeds.
Thanks for the comment. Very interesting. I had not previously heard that A. lakoocha seeds were edible. I did know that jackfruit seeds are. I guess it makes sense considering their close relation. Are you aware of any medicinal properties of Lakoocha (Selengking)? I have heard that the bark can be chewed for similar effects as betel nut?
Ah, wait, I just re-read you’re comment Fendie, I see that you said you eat all part of the fruit excluding the seed. Thanks again. Glad I reread that before poisoning myself.