Posted on Leave a comment

Breadfruit – edible wild plant – how to find, identify, prepare, and other uses for survival.

Breadfruit tree

Breadfruit plant (Artocarpus incisa or Artocarpus altilis)

Breadfruit (Artocarps incisa)The Breadfruit is a flowering tree with large, thick leaves.  This tree may grow up to 9 meters (30 feet) tall. It has dark green, deeply divided leaves that are 75 centimeters (29 inches) long and 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide. Its fruits are large, green, ball-like structures up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) across when mature.

Where to find Breadfruit plants

Breadfruit fruitLook for this tree at the margins of forests and homesites in the humid tropics. It is native to the South Pacific region but has been widely planted in the West Indies and parts of Polynesia.

Edible parts of the Breadfruit plant

The fruit pulp is edible raw. The fruit can be sliced, dried, and ground into flour for later use. The seeds are edible cooked. Breadfruit is roughly 25% carbohydrates and 70% water.

Drawing of a BreadfruitHole fruits can be cooked over an open fire and then cored and filled with other foods such as cooked meats or other fruits.  The filled fruit can be further cooked so the flavor of the filling permeates the flesh of the breadfruit.  When cooked the flavor is described as potato-like or similar to bread.

Other uses for Breadfruit plants

The thick sap can serve as glue and caulking material. You can also use it as birdlime (to entrap small birds by smearing the sap on twigs where they usually perch).

Breadfruit plant picture identification guide

  • 1 image thumb62
  • image thumb240
  • 2 image thumb58
  • image thumb237
  • 1 image thumb60
  • image thumb238
  • image thumb241
  • image thumb239
  • 1 image thumb59
  • image thumb61
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *