Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

Know our Plant

Systematic Classification:

Division   : Angiospermae 
Class      : Dicotyledons
Order      : Rosales
Family     : Moraceae
Genus      : Artocarpus
Species    : heterophyllus

Common Name:

Jack fruit, Pilavu, Kottachakka, Chakka maram,

General Information:

Evergreen trees grow up to 20 m tall. Trunk usually tubercled; bark blackish-grey, lenticels reddish-brown, irregularly flaky; blaze cream. Branchlets terete, glabrous. Latex white, profuse. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules oblong or lanceolate, to 5 x 1.8 cm, caducous, leaving annular scar; petiole 1-3 cm long, planoconvex, glabrous; lamina 9-23 x 5-12 cm, usually narrow obovate sometimes elliptic, apex shortly acuminate or obtuse, base cuneate, margin entire (or 3-lobed in saplings), coriaceous, dark green above, glabrous; midrib raised above; secondatry nerves 6-10 pairs, ascending; tertiary nerves broadly horizontally percurrent. Flowers unisexual, in spikes enclosed by spathe-like bracts; male flowers in narrow cylindrical-oblong catkin on young branches; female flowers usually cauliflorus. Fruit and Seed Syncarp (sorosis), large, oblong, with short hard echinate processes.

Economic Importance:

  • The several parts of jack tree including fruits, leaves, and barks have been extensively used in traditional medicine due to its anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and hypoglycemic effects.
  • Several countries have developed different food products such as jam, jellies, marmalades, and ice creams using pureed jackfruit.