Breadfruit : Planting Tips For Beginners In Garden Farm | Aplus Farms
The story of breadfruit is a tropical plant and intertwined with the history of oceania, asia and the caribbean
Breadfruit is so strongly associated with dramatic historical events it's hard to think of it as an edible plant to grow in the modern garden. It features in the sad story of slavery and also makes a cameo appearance in Australia's early history.The dispersal of breadfruit across the Pacific is used to chart the spread of peoples through the region.
History Of Breadfruit
Genetic models suggest that this nutritious fruiting tree is related to the breadnut, a tree from New Guinea, and spread from there across the Pacific. It has been grown in Hawaii for more than 1000 years.The fruit captured the interest of Europeans in 1769 when Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks visited Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus en route to exploring the East Coast of Australia.
They recognised the large, oval green fruit with its taste of freshly baked bread as a useful high-energy food.Mature trees are prolific, producing up to 150 fruit a year. Indeed, Banks thought so highly of the tree he suggested it could be grown in the West Indies to feed slaves. Once back in England, he set the wheels in motion to gather plants for trial crops in Jamaica.
Eventually, William Bligh was sent as commander of the HMS Bounty to gather breadfruit plants in Tahiti for Banks' trial crop. Although some 1000 plants were collected, the voyage ended in mutiny in April 1789, when the plants were tossed overboard — along with Bligh and 18 seamen, who were set adrift in the Pacific in an open longboat.While the breadfruit didn't make it to the West Indies, Bligh managed to reach Timor and, eventually, England.
Bligh was later promoted to captain and returned to Tahiti to gather more breadfruit. This time the cargo did make it to Jamaica. Despite all this effort, breadfruit never became popular with the African slaves, although it was eventually established and is eaten throughout the West Indies.
On his long journey to Timor, Bligh had rowed through the Great Barrier Reef and around Cape York, but his lasting link with Australia was to come later. After a long naval career, in 1806, Bligh was appointed governor of the colony of New South Wales. Two years later, during the Rum Rebellion, a protest against an attempt to cut the colony's supplies of rum, he was arrested by the military. He returned to England in 1810 and died in 1817.
Uses Of Breadfruit
Individual breadfruits weigh around 3-4kg each and are high in gluten-free carbohydrate but also provide vitamins and protein. The fruit is eaten traditionally by baking it whole in the fire, but it can be prepared like potato and boiled, roasted, mashed or made into chips. It is also made into flour. The seeds, too, are edible. The breadfruit bounty doesn't stop with its nutritious starchy fruit.
Its lightweight timber is used for house and boat building (including outrigger canoes) and its latex sap is a useful sealant. As it is tall (reaching 25-30m high) with large, handsome, glossy green leaves, it forms an attractive shade tree in a tropical garden. To grow your own crop of horticultural history, plant breadfruit trees in a warm, sheltered spot.
Planting Tips and Tricks
Breadfruit is related to another large tropical fruit tree, the jackfruit. Both are in the mulberry family.
Scientific Breadfruit
- Common names: Breadfruit, canoe plant, poi, ulu
- Botanical name: Artocarpus altilis
- Family: Moraceae
- Aspect & soil: Full sun to part shade; well-drained soil
- Best climate: Tropics, subtropics
- Habit: Evergreen tree
- Propagation: Seed
- Difficulty: Moderate