Often we see content on the web about jackfruit or breadfruit in which many times, not being sure of the information, they are listed as the same fruit.
Usually, the initial thought is that breadfruit and jackfruit are the same food with just different names for them, however:
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Is jackfruit the same as breadfruit?
The answer is no, jackfruit is different from breadfruit. They have some features in common as both belong to the Moraceae family, which is why they are similar externally and in terms of tree leaves.
What are the differences between jackfruit and breadfruit?
Now that you are clear that they are different fruits, you may still want to know what other ways are there to differentiate jackfruit from breadfruit so as not to confuse them again.
Let’s see, jackfruit differs on the inside because it has a similar color to mango, while breadfruit is white and has a similar texture to traditional bread, hence its name.
Another thing that differentiates the jackfruit from the breadfruit is that the jackfruit is known in Latin America as the fruit with the flavor of all fruits, this title is exclusive to the jackfruit.
What is breadfruit?
Breadfruit, or Artocarpus altilis, is the name given to the fruit of the breadfruit tree. This fruit is so named because, when you slice it or open it, you can see that its fleshy pulp looks very similar to bread and when cooked, its smell is also similar to bread.
However, its exterior is not like that, the peel has a green color appearance and is surrounded entirely by small bumps. The fruit can measure 30 cm in diameter. And it may or may not have seeds.
If you want more information, here is a complete guide to breadfruit.
What is jackfruit?
The jackfruit or Artocarpus heterophyllus is a fruit, a relative of the breadfruit.
This fruit is much larger than most, measuring up to 90 centimeters and weighing 50 kilograms.
As mentioned before, this fruit’s pulp is yellow like the mango and has seeds 2 to 3 cm long.
The trunk of the jackfruit tree yields very beautiful yellow wood that is widely used for construction and furniture.
Are the breadfruit tree and the jackfruit tree similar?
By now you’re probably also wondering if their tree is also similar and if people also confuse them.
To answer your question, their tree is fortunately different, so you can use this as a guide to know which one is which.
How to tell the difference between breadfruit and jackfruit?
What differentiates the jackfruit from the breadfruit tree (name of the breadfruit tree, not to be confused with the fruit “breadfruit”) is that the color of its trunk can be brown combined with red, different from the traditional brown of the breadfruit plant.
Another difference in the trees is that the jackfruit tree has no hairy covering like other plants, neither on its trunk nor on its leaves.
What is breadfruit used for?
This fruit is consumed as an appetizer either fresh or cooked and its latex is used in the field of naturopathic medicine to combat bone pains, stomach aches, skin diseases, the appearance of fungi and diarrhea. On the other hand, the leaves of its tree are also used to treat ailments such as hypertension and diabetes.
What is jackfruit used for?
Some of the benefits of this fruit are:
- Increases magnesium levels in the body.
- Supports the immune system with its high amount of antioxidants.
- It is rich in fiber
- It is useful to prevent colon cancer.
- It promotes eye health by preventing diseases such as night blindness.
What is jackfruit?
People also asked about a fruit called jackfruit and how is it related to fruit bread.
In this case, the truth is that they are related in the same way that jackfruit and breadfruit do, simply because jackfruit is the name given to jackfruit in English so, once again we would go back to jackfruit or jackfruit, it is a different food than breadfruit for the reasons previously mentioned.
To sum up
As we have discussed in this article, jackfruit is not the same as breadfruit even though they have some features in common such as their appearance.
Beyond the discussion in this answer post, we recommend you to check our blogs where you’ll find much more information about breadfruit and other interesting foods that have much more to contribute to our health than is usually thought.