Beyond the Bounty: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) for food security and novel foods in the 21st Century

Artocarpus altilis and Pandanus tectorius: Two Important Fruits of Oceania with Medicinal Values

“…Most of the trees are grown for subsistence with small quantities of the fruits sold in town markets. Fruits generally weigh 1-2 kg and the edible portion is 70-75% of the fruit (Jones et al, 2011). Edible and dry weight fruit yields of 6 t/ha have been reported.…”

“…To date, there are at least six reviews on A. altilis (Ragone, 2006;Deivanai and Subhash, 2010;Jones et al, 2011;Sikarwar et al, 2014;Mohanty and Pradhan, 2015;Turi et al, 2015) and three reviews on P. tectorius (Thomson et al, 2006;Lim, 2012;. Breadfruit has also been reviewed under the genus Artocarpus (Hakim, 2010;Jagtap and Bapat, 2010;Hari et al, 2014).…”

Dwarfing of Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) Trees: Opportunities and Challenges

“…The millennia of selective breeding by the indigenous peoples of Oceania has resulted in great diversity in morphological, agronomic, and nutritional characteristics among cultivars [2], resulting in hundreds of cultivars [3], some of which have been globally distributed including Central and South America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, northern Australia, as well as Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Maldives and Mauritius [4]. Breadfruit is regarded as an energy food, a source of complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals [5].…”

“…Breadfruit bears fruit with edible dry mass up to 6 t/ha, comparing favourably with other common staple crops, and has been recognized for its potential to alleviate hunger in the tropics [6]. Breadfruit makes a significant contribution to the local food security, often a major tree crop within an indigenous agroforestry system which can be grown sustainably with relatively low agricultural inputs [3].…”

“…This is due to the high labor cost for ongoing pruning, removal of dead or diseased branches, and challenging harvest. Mechanical harvesters have not been utilized for most of breadfruit cultivation, therefore labour intensive (frequent climbing) remains the only viable option [3]. This method of harvesting results in a high proportion of either damaged fruit, or fruit with a limited shelf-life after falling to the ground during harvest.…”