Bread fruit, a prickly oval fruit, is planted in Hawaii from Southeast Asia (also known as? Ulu? ), in fact, it really tastes like a mixture of freshly baked bread, banana and potato. However, the super power of breadfruit far exceeds its taste. This kind of fruit is a close relative of jackfruit and a promising way to solve the food problem? Especially in the tropics, bread trees flourish, but they don't need careful care.
Only one breadfruit weighs about 3. 1 kg, sometimes as high as 5.4 kg, and contains enough carbohydrates for a family of five. Bread trees are also considered as one of the most productive food crops on earth? A bread tree can produce 50 to 150 fruits every year, which can supply a family of four for decades.
According to Diane, director of the breadfruit research institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Hawaii? Lagun said that breadfruit is also a highly sustainable crop. ? For a long time, it has been an important self-sufficient crop in many tropical areas. In the past ten years, farmers began to plant more bread trees to ensure local food and economic security; Another factor is that for the health and well-being of human beings and the earth, it is urgent to adopt and expand the sustainable renewable agricultural planting system. ?
A bread tree can bear 50 to 150 fruits every year and maintain a family of four for decades.
A brief history of breadfruit
Bread fruit, probably from its ancestor-New Guinea? Bread nuts? It has been the main crop of Pacific islanders for thousands of years.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, early explorers saw breadfruit on the Pacific island and took it to Jamaica as a gift. Slave food? . But slaves all over Jamaica are more interested in plantains. They don't like this fruit. It took about 50 years for breadfruit to enter Caribbean recipes.
Its roots in Hawaii can be traced back to more ancient times.
Polynesians who sailed far away brought breadfruit trees to today's? Hawaii breadfruit port? . Hundreds of years before Hawaiians came into contact with westerners, this fruit became a part of the cultural and spiritual life of ancient Hawaii. It is said that the old Hawaiian bread orchard is enough to accommodate 75,000 people. Some trees in Hawaii today are descendants of fruit forests planted centuries ago.
Today, breadfruit trees only grow in tropical regions of the earth, including Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Ghana and Myanmar. Ragon said that it decays easily. It will soften in a few days after harvest, which means that this kind of fruit is difficult to travel far when it is fresh.
A popular way to eat breadfruit is to fry it like French fries.
How does it taste?
Bread fruit is safe to eat and cook at all stages of growth. Most people eat it when it is ripe but still hard? Boil, steam or bake.
As a famous starch crop, breadfruit can replace potatoes or pasta, and it is an excellent substitute for potato chips or chips. When it is green and hard, it tastes like artichoke, but it is also delicious when eaten raw. When the breadfruit is very mature, it will have a creamy sweetness, which is very suitable for dessert or muddy baby food.
But these have not shown the potential of breadfruit at all. Nowadays, local entrepreneurs are trying to process fresh fruits, cook or freeze them, or dry them and grind them into powder, and then make them into value-added products, such as French fries, toast or white wine, which are more supplied to local and export markets.
Bread fruit is rich in complex carbohydrates, fibers and minerals such as potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and zinc.
Extra benefits
Bread fruit is good for health. This crop is rich in carbohydrates, fibers and minerals, such as potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and manganese. It also contains no gluten and can be dried and ground into gluten-free flour.
In addition to the strict health benefits, breadfruit has many additional advantages. It is a natural insect repellent, and male breadfruit flowers can repel mosquitoes; The juice of breadfruit can be used to fill ships and houses; The fiber of breadfruit bark is used to make mosquito nets, clothes and works of art; Leaves and rotten fruits are nutritious feed for animals.
In addition, the harvest and ecosystem benefits of breadfruit are not disappointing.
The food security provided by breadfruit trees contributes to diversified regenerative agriculture and agroforestry, and improves soil conditions and watersheds; And valuable environmental benefits, including reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This fruit also provides much-needed shelter for plant pollinators and seed dispersers, such as birds, bees and bats.
Only the benefits brought by fruits are still far from enough. The trunk of breadfruit trees can grow to 25.9 meters high, and the wood is strong enough to support canoe outriggers and even houses.
It seems that this magical fruit is really expected to become the next super food!