Breadfruit, (Artocarpus altilis), tree of the family Mulberry (Moraceae), and its large fruits which are a basic food of the South Pacific and other tropical areas. Breadfruit is rarely eaten raw since it contains a lot of starch.
Roasted, baked, boiled, fried, or dried and crushed into flour are all options. The fibrous inner bark is used to make cloth, the wood is used to make boats and furniture, and the milky liquid is utilized to make glue and caulking material in the South Seas.
How to Eat Breadfruit?
When breadfruit is mature but not ripe, it is categorized as a vegetable, and when it is ripe, it is classified as a fruit. Breadfruit is particularly starchy when mature but not quite ripe, and is used more like a potato.
Breadfruit is sweeter when ripe and can be eaten like fruit. According to some estimates, there are about 200 different types of breadfruit. Because most of these have a purgative effect when eaten raw, they are usually prepared for human consumption, whether steamed, boiled, or roasted.
Breadfruit tastes amazing mashed or sautéed with garlic and olive oil. Also good mashed with coconut milk and cooked in banana leaves. It’s commonly used in coconut curries in Sri Lanka, and it’s customarily served with salted codfish in Puerto Rico. Breadfruit French fries can be candied, pickled, or chopped into strips using this versatile fruit. Breadfruit pulp is also used to produce paper by some individuals!
How to cut Breadfruit?
Step 1. Cut off the top & bottom.
Step2. Cut the skin into strips.
Stage 3. Cut into two and admire the strange center.
Step 4. Cut into segments lengthwise.
Stage 5. Cut the core and all porous parts of the flesh.
The exterior looks like snakeskin, and the interior looks strangely porous like bread.
Step 6. Cut into 1/4″ to 1/8″ strips and cook as desired.
How Can You Tell if Breadfruit is Ripe?
Ripe breadfruit is solid and has a greenish-yellow skin, an almost gluey texture with only a little brown cracking, and has a sweet, aromatic fragrance. Can be eaten raw when it ripens. When cut, unripe fruits have vivid green flesh and leak a white fluid.
How to keep breadfruit fresh?
From May through September, the breadfruit season overlaps with other tropical abundances such as durian, mango, jackfruit, and so on. Some of the kinds are accessible all year. Fruits that are mature but not quite ripe, harvested by hand from the tree.
Breadfruit comes in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors in local markets. In the marketplaces, you may come across seedless or seed varieties.
The mature but unripe fruit is preferred as a vegetable and can be used in curries, stews, and dumplings. Even after being picked from the tree, the fruit continues to ripen. As it ripens, the brilliant green tint fades to a light brown.
Ripe fruits have a sour-sweet, custard apple-like flavor and a fragrant-rich aroma that reminds you of freshly baked sourdough bread. The starch in the fruit changes to sugar as it ripens, giving it a pleasant and increased fruity aroma.
Breadfruit spoils quite quickly. It can only be kept in the refrigerator. The water in the fruit will freeze and create crystals if you put it in the freezer. Freezing absolutely destroys the flavor of such a delicate delicacy.
Fruit should be kept whole in the refrigerator. As soon as a portion of the fruit is removed, the air around it begins to consume it. Breadfruit does not require a container; it may just be placed on the refrigerator rack. Chopped breadfruit should be stored in an airtight container and used within 24 hours.
Freezing cooked breadfruit
Steamed, cooked pieces should cool to room temperature before being frozen (to avoid freezer burn). Quality will be preserved for up to a year when using a freezer-grade plastic bag. Breadfruit that has been thawed and processed in this manner retains its texture and flavor quite well. Boiling is not a good idea.
Freezer burn is a common occurrence in frozen breadfruits. The fruit has an awful “sappy” flavor in frozen uncooked fruits. When it becomes thawed, then takes on a new flavor.
Breadfruit that has been frozen should be defrosted before it cooks. And also, it can restore to its original texture by heating it before use.
Health Benefits of Breadfruit
As in line with other tropical fruits, breadfruit also holds more calories. 100 g fresh fruit provides 102 calories. Carbohydrates make up a significant fraction of this energy. As the fruit ripens, much of this starch is converted into sucrose and simple sugars like fructose and glucose. Hence, the ripe fruits are sweeter and have a pleasant custardy aroma.
Its pulp has more fiber than that in jackfruit which makes it a good bulk laxative. Dietary fiber helps reduce blood cholesterol by preventing its absorption in the gut, reduces obesity, blood pressure, and helps protect the colon mucosa by warding off cancer-causing chemicals from the colon.
It has small amounts of flavonoid antioxidants in the form of xanthine and lutein. Yellow-orange varieties have more of these compounds.
Breadfruit carries more vitamin C than jackfruit and banana; it provides about 29 mg or 48% of RDA. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a strong water-soluble antioxidant. Consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge 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 moderate 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.
