Breadfruit

The first cousin to jackfruit in terms of appearance, breadfruit is called sukun, which in Javanese means “seedless”. The ones that grow wild in the forests have seeds, though. Every tree will generously give up to 200 breadfruits annually. The under-ripe ones are widely used in rich flavored broths, such like sayur asam, and sayur lodeh. The ripe breadfruits can be eaten raw – the soft body has a taste that lives up to the nickname. When thinly sliced, the fruit can be deep fried as a crunchy snack. The skin of the tree has a fine fiber that can be used to make clothing, while the latex has been used in the past as birdlime on the tips of posts to catch birds, or as a substance to produce bubble gum. Some even toast the flowers then rub them on the gums around an aching tooth. Various parts of breadfruit are also used to relieve asthma, lower blood pressure, cure thrush on the tongue, and heal skin infections, overcome diarrhoea, and many more.