Beyond the Bounty: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) for Food Security and Novel Foods in the 21st Century.

Andrew Maxwell Phineas Jones, Diane Ragone, Namulauulu Gaugau Tavana, David W Bernotas, Susan J Murch
Ethnobotany Research & Applications, Vol 9
2011.

ABSTRACT: The Food and Agriculture Organization recently reported the number undernourished people has reached a record high of 1.02 billion, most prevalent in the tropics. Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg, is an underutilized Oceanic staple crop long recognized for its potential to alleviate hunger in tropical climates. Breadfruit can be grown sustainably with minimal agricultural inputs and can be multicropped with high value cash crops such as coffee, pepper, or vanilla. A great diversity of cultivars with varying nutritional and agronomic characteristics exists, yet few cultivars are widely cultivated. Recent developments in micropropagation have made possible large scale propagation and dissemination but to fully utilize this resource, a deeper understanding of the nutritional characteristics, and the development of new products and markets are needed. This review will highlight and describe the state of our current knowledge and the potential for breadfruit as a sustainable crop to provide new foods for Western markets and food security for the growing global population.

http://lib-ojs3.lib.sfu.ca:8114/index.php/era/article/view/478

Posted in Journal Articles on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Diversity of Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae) Seasonality: A Resource for Year-Round Nutrition.

A. Maxwell P. Jones, Susan J. Murch and Diane Ragone.
Economic Botany (64)4:340-351.

ABSTRACT: Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg, is an important but underutilized staple crop cultivated throughout Oceania and much of the wet tropics. Indigenous peoples have selected and cultivated cultivars with different fruiting seasons to effectively extend fruit production for most of the year. In the present study, the seasonality of 219 breadfruit accessions originating from 17 Pacific island groups, the Seychelles, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and now growing in the National Tropical Botanical Garden’s (NTBG) Kahanu Garden, Hana, Hawaii, were evaluated. The predominant season of male flower production for most cultivars was from May to September, and fruit was produced most frequently between August and January. However, there were differences in the duration of the fruiting season from year to year and among cultivars. Over the 10-year period, 14 cultivars did not reliably produce fruit; most of this group were "ulu afa" trees collected from Tokelau. About 24 cultivars exhibited very little seasonality and produced fruit throughout the year. The rest of the cultivars could be clustered into seasonality groups with characteristic fruiting patterns. Comparison of literature values indicates that unlike Hawaii, the breadfruit season in most locations begins around the date the sun reaches zenith prior to the summer months and extends throughout the summer months. Five cultivars asexually propagated from the NTBG collection growing in Kiribati (1 28'N) exhibit similar fruiting patterns as in Hawaii, except that they begin 2-3 months earlier. These data predict that cultivarswith complementary fruiting seasons in Hawaii may experience a temporal shift in their seasonality but will maintain their compatibility when cultivated in different locations and could enable year-round fruit production in many regions.

KEY WORDS: Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, seasonality, fruiting, flowering, phenology.

Posted in Journal Articles on Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

Sensory Evaluation of Fruit Quality and Nutritional Composition of 20 Breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae) Cultivars

Diane Ragone and Catherine G. Cavaletto
Economic Botany 60(4):335-346
2006

ABSTRACT: Twenty breadfruit cultivars growing in a field genebank at Kahanu Garden, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hana, Maui, Hawaii, were evaluated for sensory attributes and nutrient composition. A taste panel scored eight flavor/aroma attributes, five textural attributes, and color. There were significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) in aroma, visual texture, flavor intensity, sweetness, starchiness, moistness, stringiness, firmness, and color. The greatest differences were in color and texture. Nutrient analyses showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) for energy, carbohydrates, ash, crude protein, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron, copper, and zinc. Considering the versatility of breadfruit as a food, its ease of production, and its nutritional value, the numerous good quality flavorful cultivars should be more widely grown for sustainable agriculture and food security.

KEY WORDS: Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus mariannensis, breadfruits, cultivars, Pacific Islands, Seychelle Islands, texture, flavor, tropical, proximates, nutritive value, vitamins, minerals, fiber, carotenoids.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/m430u84r77t0806u/

Download file: breadfruit_nutrients.pdf

Posted in Journal Articles on Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Complex Origins of Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae): Implications for Human Migrations in Oceania.

Nyree J.C. Zerega, Diane Ragone, and Timothy J. Motley
American Journal of Botany 91(5):760-766
2004

ABSTRACT: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae), a traditional starch crop in Oceania, has enjoyed legendary status ever since its role in the infamous mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty in 1789, yet its origins remain unclear. Breadfruit?s closest relatives are A. camansi and A. mariannensis. DNA fingerprinting data (AFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphisms) from over 200 breadfruit cultivars, 30 A. camansi, and 24 A. mariannensis individuals were used to investigate the relationships among these species. Multivariate analyses and the identification of species-specific AFLP markers indicate at least two origins of breadfruit. Most Melanesian and Polynesian cultivars appear to have arisen over generations of vegetative propagation and selection from A. camansi. In contrast, most Micronesian breadfruit cultivars appear to be the result of hybridization between A. camansi-derived breadfruit and A. mariannensis. Because breadfruit depends on humans for dispersal, the data were compared to theories on the human colonization of Oceania. The results agree with the well-supported theory that humans settled Polynesia via Melanesia. Additionally, a long-distance migration from eastern Melanesia into Micronesia is supported.

KEY WORDS: Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus camansi, Artocarpus mariannensis, amplified fragment length polymorphisms, breadfruit, human migration, Oceania, origin of domesticated plants.

Download file: Zerega_Ragone_Motley_2004.pdf

Posted in Journal Articles on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Chromosome Numbers and Pollen Stainability of Three Species of Pacific Island Breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae)

Diane Ragone
American Journal of Botany 88(4):693-696
2001

ABSTRACT: Chromosome numbers were determined for 48 accessions of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, A. mariannensis, and A. camansi [Moraceae]) from 16 Pacific Island groups, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Artocarpus camansi and A. mariannensis exhibit counts of 2n = 56; 2n = 56 (diploidy) and 2n = 84 (triploidy) were observed for A. altilis. Most diploid cultivars of A. altilis were seeded, but two cultivars with reduced seed number were observed. Micronesian accessions included putative interspecific hybrids between A. altilis and A. mariannensis. The majority of these accessions were seedless diploids, but triploid putative hybrids were also observed. Pollen stainablility was shown to correlate with the degree of seediness.

KEY WORDS: Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus camansi, Artocarpus mariannensis, breadfruit, chromosome number, pollen stainability, Moraceae, Pacific Islands.

Download file: Ragone_2001_breadfruit_chromosomes.pdf

Posted in Journal Articles on Friday, May 29th, 2009