Kathal

Description

Jackfruit tree info finds these trees cultivated in India. This otherworldly looking oddity has a very thick rubbery rind with short blunt spikes and up to 500 seeds. The average fruit is around 35 pounds but in Kerala, India a 144 pound jackfruit was displayed at a festival! All but the rind and core of the fruit is edible and the odor is in another category of scents than can be imagined. In fact, the fruit of growing jackfruit trees have been described as smelling either like a combination of grapefruit, banana and cheese or akin to spoiled onions blended with sweaty gym socks and cloyingly sweet. I can’t bear to think of the latter description!

All parts of the jackfruit tree produce opalescent, sticky latex and the tree has a very long taproot. Growing jackfruit trees have flowers borne on short branches extending from the trunk and older branches.