Artocarpus heterophyllus

Botanical Name – Artocarpus heterophyllus 

Common Name – Murajaphala, Panasam, Putaphalah, Champakaluh (Sanskrit), Katthal, Kantthal (Hindi), Phanas (Marathi), Chakka (Malayalam), Halasinahannu (Kannada), Fanas (Gujarati), Kothal (Assamese)

Habit

• Medium sized in dry areas, large sized in moist areas
• Evergreen tree
• Fast growing
  
  

Habitat

• Moist and semi-evergreen forests
  
  

Distribution

• Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
  
  

Specific properties

• Moderate wind and salinity tolerance but no tolerance for “wet feet” (flooded area)
• Wide-ranging root system, used to control soil erosion in farms
• Suitable for forest restoration, soil redevelopment
  
  

Ecology

• Birds feed on ripens fruits
• Mammals like Elephants, Giant squirrels, Civets, Bats feed on the ripen fruits
• Butterfly’s visits ripened/rotten fruits
  
  

Uses

• Pulp of young fruit is cooked as vegetable, pickled or canned. Pulp of ripe fruit is eaten fresh or made into delicacies like chutney, jam, used to flavour ice-cream and beverages, made into jackfruit honey, concentrate or powder form
• To heal ulcers, the ash of jackfruit leaves is burnt with corn and coconut shells and used either alone or mixed with coconut oil
• Leaves are used for curing fever, boils, skin diseases and wounds
• Pulp and seeds of the fruit are cooling tonic
• Fruit latex is anti-syphilitic, vermifuge, cures eye inflammation and sore throat
• A root decoction alleviates fever, treats diarrhoea, skin diseases and asthma
• Seeds are eaten boiled or roasted
• The latex is commonly used as adhesive for mending broken chinaware, earthenware, mending boats etc, it is also used as substitute for rubber
• The wood is termite proof, resistant to fungal and bacterial decay. Good for furniture, for construction and musical instruments
• A rich yellow dye used for dyeing silk and the cotton robes of Buddhist priests is made from the wood chips boiled with alum
• Leaves are fodder and also used for wrapping food and as plates
  
  

Propagation

• Seeds