The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), often referred to as the jack tree is a type of tree found in the same family as the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit (Moraceae). Its original location lies between the Western Ghats of southern India, Sri Lanka, all of Bangladesh, and the Philippine, Indonesia, and Malaysia rainforests.
Garcia de Orta, a naturalist and physician, referred to the fruit by its common English name “jackfruit” in his work Colóquios de las drogas y simples de India published in 1563.
As evidenced by Southeast Asian names that are not derived from Sanskrit origins, the jackfruit was adopted independently in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Most likely, Austronesians in Java or the Malay Peninsula were the ones who originally domesticated it. Later, while both were parts of the Spanish Empire, Filipino settlers brought the fruit to Guam. It is both the state fruit of Kerala and the national fruit of Bangladesh.
The evergreen Artocarpus heterophyllus tree develops to a relatively short trunk and a dense treetop. It can easily climb 10 to 20 meters in height (33 to 66 feet).
and 30 to 80 cm diameters for the trunk (12 to 31 inches). Sometimes, it develops buttress roots. The jackfruit tree has smooth, reddish-brown bark. A milky fluid is discharged when the bark is damaged.
The arrangement of the leaves is spiral and alternating. They are separated into a petiole and a leaf blade and are thick and gooey. The petiole measures from 2.5 to 7.5 cm (1 and 3 inches). The oblong to ovate-shaped leathery leaf blade measures 20–40 cm (7–15 inches) in length and 7.5–18 cm (3–7 inches) in width.
The leaf edges of young trees have erratic lobed or split edges.
The leaves are rounded, dark green, and have a smooth leaf border on older trees. The leaf blade has a noticeable main nerve and six to eight lateral nerves that begin on either side. The stipules range in length from 1.5 to 8 cm (916 to 3), and are egg-shaped.
