Breadfruit

According to DNA fingerprinting studies, the wild seeded ancestor of breadfruit is the breadnut (Artocarpus camansi) which is native to New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines. It was one of the canoe plants spread by Austronesian voyagers around 3,000 years ago into Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, where it was not native.[4][9][8][10]

Extent of the Austronesian expansion that carried crops like breadfruit, bananas, and coconuts throughout the Indo-Pacific islands

A. camansi was domesticated and selectively bred in Polynesia, giving rise to the mostly seedless Artocarpus altilis. Micronesian breadfruit also show evidence of hybridization with the native Artocarpus mariannensis, while most Polynesian and Melanesian cultivars do not. This indicates that Micronesia was initially colonized separately from Polynesia and Melanesia through two different migration events which later came into contact with each other in eastern Micronesia.[4][9][8][10][6][7]

Sir Joseph Banks and others saw the value of breadfruit as a highly productive food in 1769, when stationed in Tahiti as part of the Endeavour expedition commanded by Captain James Cook.[7][11] The late-18th-century quest for cheap, high-energy food sources for slaves in British colonies prompted colonial administrators and plantation owners to call for the plant to be brought to the Caribbean. As president of the Royal Society, Banks provided a cash bounty and gold medal for success in this endeavor, and successfully lobbied his friends in government and the Admiralty for a British Naval expedition. In 1787, William Bligh was appointed captain of HMS Bounty, and ordered to proceed to the South Pacific to collect the plants; this voyage was interrupted by mutiny, and the plants never arrived. In 1791, Bligh commanded a second expedition with Providence and Assistant, which collected seedless breadfruit plants in Tahiti and transported these to St. Helena, in the Atlantic, and St. Vincent and Jamaica in the West Indies.[6][7] Although Bligh won the Royal Society medal for his efforts, the introduction was not entirely successful, as most slaves refused to eat the new food.[12]

A breadfruit tree in Honolulu, Hawaii

Breadfruit trees grow to a height of 26 m (85 ft).[5] The large and thick leaves are deeply cut into pinnate lobes. All parts of the tree yield latex,[5] which is useful for boat caulking.[7]

The trees are monoecious, with male and female flowers growing on the same tree. The male flowers emerge first, followed shortly afterward by the female flowers. The latter grow into capitula, which are capable of pollination just three days later. Pollination occurs mainly by fruit bats, but cultivated varieties produce fruit without pollination.[7] The compound, false fruit develops from the swollen perianth, and originates from 1,500-2,000 flowers visible on the skin of the fruit as hexagon-like disks.

Breadfruit is one of the highest-yielding food plants, with a single tree producing up to 200 or more grapefruit-sized fruits per season, requiring limited care. In the South Pacific, the trees yield 50 to 150 fruits per year, usually round, oval or oblong weighing 0.25–6 kg.[6] Productivity varies between wet and dry areas. Studies in Barbados indicate a reasonable potential of 16–32 short tons per hectare (6.5–12.9 short ton/acre).[5] The ovoid fruit has a rough surface, and each fruit is divided into many achenes, each achene surrounded by a fleshy perianth and growing on a fleshy receptacle. Most selectively bred cultivars have seedless fruit, whereas seeded varieties are grown mainly for their edible seeds.[7] Breadfruit is usually propagated using root cuttings.[6]

Breadfruit is closely related to the breadnut, from which it might have been naturally selected.[6] It is noticeably similar in appearance to its relative of the same genus, the jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus).

Breadfruit has hundreds of varieties and thousands of common names varying according to its geographic distribution, and is cultivated in some 90 countries.[5][6]

The closely related Artocarpus camansi can be distinguished from A. altilis by having spinier fruits with numerous seeds. Artocarpus mariannensis can be distinguished by having dark green elongated fruits with darker yellow flesh, as well as entire or shallowly lobed leaves.[8]

Breadfruit is an equatorial lowland species. It grows best below elevations of 650 metres (2,130 ft), but is found at elevations of 1,550 metres (5,090 ft). Preferred soils are neutral to alkaline (pH of 6.1–7.4) and either sand, sandy loam, loam or sandy clay loam. Breadfruit is able to grow in coral sands and saline soils. The breadfruit is ultra-tropical, requiring a temperature range of 16–38 °C (61–100 °F) and an annual rainfall of 200–250 cm (80–100 in).[5]

Breadfruit is 71% water, 27% carbohydrates, 1% protein and negligible in fat (see table). In a 100 gram amount, raw breadfruit is a rich source (35% of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin C, and a moderate source (10% DV each) of thiamin and potassium, with no other nutrients in significant content.

On Puluwat in the Caroline Islands, in the context of sacred yitang lore, breadfruit (poi) is a figure of speech for knowledge. This lore is organized into five categories: war, magic, meetings, navigation, and breadfruit.[24]

According to an etiological Hawaiian myth, the breadfruit originated from the sacrifice of the war god Kū. After deciding to live secretly among mortals as a farmer, Kū married and had children. He and his family lived happily until a famine seized their island. When he could no longer bear to watch his children suffer, Kū told his wife that he could deliver them from starvation, but to do so he would have to leave them. Reluctantly she agreed, and at her word, Kū descended into the ground right where he had stood until only the top of his head was visible. His family waited around the spot he had last been, day and night, watering it with their tears until suddenly, a small green shoot appeared where Kū had stood. Quickly, the shoot grew into a tall and leafy tree that was laden with heavy breadfruits that Kū's family and neighbors gratefully ate, joyfully saved from starvation.[25]

Though they are widely distributed throughout the Pacific, many breadfruit hybrids and cultivars are seedless or otherwise biologically incapable of naturally dispersing long distances. Therefore, it is clear that humans aided distribution of the plant in the Pacific, specifically prehistoric groups who colonized the Pacific Islands. To investigate the patterns of human migration throughout the Pacific, scientists have used molecular dating of breadfruit hybrids and cultivars in concert with anthropological data. Results support the west-to-east migration hypothesis, in which the Lapita people are thought to have traveled from Melanesia to numerous Polynesian islands.[9]

The world's largest collection of breadfruit varieties was established by botanist Diane Ragone, from over 20 years' travel to 50 Pacific islands, on a 10-acre (4.0-hectare) plot outside of Hana, on the isolated east coast of Maui (Hawaii).[26]

Breadfruit is propagated mainly by seeds, although seedless breadfruit can be propagated by transplanting suckers that grow off the surface roots of the tree.[5] The roots can be purposefully injured to induce the growth of suckers, which are then separated from the root and planted in a pot or directly transplanted into the ground.[5] Pruning also induces sucker growth.[5] Sucker cuttings are placed in plastic bags containing a mixture of soil, peat and sand, and kept in the shade while moistened with liquid fertilizer. When roots are developed, the transplant is put in full sun until time for planting in the orchard.[5]

For propagation in quantity, root cuttings are preferred, using segments about 2 inches (5.1 cm) thick and 9 inches (23 cm) long.[5] Rooting may take up to 5 months to develop, with the young trees ready for planting when they are 2 feet (61 cm) high.[5]

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  Drawing of breadfruit by John Frederick Miller
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  Breadfruit in Mangalore
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  Artocarpus altilis in Hawai'i
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  A polished basalt breadfruit pounder

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Artocarpus altilis.

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• Breadfruit Institute