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Botany
Large tree with milky sap, growing
to 15 m tall. Leaves are alternate, large, coriaceous, ovate to oblong,
up to 50 cm long, wide, deeply pinnate, lobed and acuminate. Stipules
are large and deciduous. Fruit
is seedless with the surface marked with polygonal faces.
Distribution
Common plant in and around towns.
Occasionally planted as an ornamental in parks and gardens.
Parts utilized
Bark, leaves, fruit.
Properties
and constituents
Study has yielded papayotin, enzyme
and artocarpin.
Uses
Folkloric
• Decoction of the bark used
as vulnerary (wound healing). In the Visayas, decoction of the bark
used in dysentery.
• Used as emollient.
• In the Carribean,
leaves are used to relieve pain and inflammation.
• In Jamaican folk
medicine, leaf decoction used for hypertension.
Nutritional
Crop considered a carbohydrate food source.
Fruit can be fried, boiled, candied or cooked as a vegetable.
High in starch, it is also high in Vitamin B, with fair amounts of B
and C.
Studies
• Phytochemical: (1)
Study concluded that the starch of Artocarpus altilis showed a high
degree of purity. Physiochemical and rheological characteristics suggest
the starch could be useful in products that require long heating process,
with an excellent digestibility that might be advantageous for medical
and food use. (2) Study showed percent recoveries of amino acid, fatty
acid and carbohydrate content showed 72.5%, 68.2% and 81.4%. The starch content is 15.52 g/100 g fresh weight.
• Cytoprotective: Study yielded cytoprotective components - ß-sitosterol and six
flavonoids with good potential for medicinal applications.
• Antiinflammatory:
Extract of breadfruit leaves was shown to contain compounds with significant
anti-inflammatory activities.
• Phenolic Compounds / Cytotoxicity:
Study isolated isoprenylated flavonoids - morusin,
artonin E, cycloartobiloxanthone and artonol B - that showed high toxicity
against Artmia salina. Result of cytotoxicity test showed the presence
of an isoprenyl moiety in the C-3 position in the flavone skeleton,
an important factor for its activity.
• Negative Inotropic Effect:
Leaf extract study exerted a weak, negative chronotropic and inotropic
effect in vivo in the rat. The mechanism of action of the inotropic
agent was not cholinergic and may involve decoupling of excitation and
contraxction.
Availability
Wildcrafted.
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