The tree bearing jack fruit can produce one hundred-fifty to two hundred-fifty fruits a year. Jack fruit hang from the tree and are suspended on sturdy stalks that grow along its main trunk and larger branches.

The largest of all tree-borne fruits, jack fruit is oval-shaped and knobbly-skinned. This fruit can weigh up to eighty or ninety pounds. The average size for a jack fruit is three feet long and eighteen inches wide weighing in at forty to fifty pounds. During the ripening process, the skin turns from light green to yellow-brown and develops an intense sweet fragrance. As many as one hundred one-inch seeds can be found in each fruit, the fleshy segment that encloses each seed is considered the choicest part of the fruit. The flavor of its pink, golden, or cream-colored juicy flesh is very sweet, with a hint of melon, mango, papaya, and banana.

Serving Ideas

Immature fruit is excellent boiled, fried, or roasted like a vegetable. Mix ripe jack fruit in curries and in fruit salad. Baked or cooked, jack fruit makes desserts, preserves, and syrup. Seeds can be boiled or roasted and enjoyed as a snack or ground up and used as a seasoning.

Ethnic/Cultural Info

Asian cuisine uses this special fruit as a condiment and adds slices to their special curries.

Geography/History

Growing in the rain forests, the origin of this fruit is from India to the Malay Peninsula. The name "jack" comes from Portuguese explorers in the sixteenth century, as it sounded like "tsjaka," the Malay word for this fruit. This giant fruit now grows in most tropical areas, including South Florida and Southeast Asia.

Seasons/Availability

Jack fruit can be purchased in chunks, whole, or just as seed segments. Whole fresh jack fruit are available in summer.