Rare "exotic" jackfruit with meter-long fruit that looks like a mutation
This jackfruit variety, which can weigh up to 40kg, still seems quite unfamiliar to many Vietnamese people. Its strikingly elongated shape has taken many by surprise.
This strange jackfruit has led many to suspect a "mutation" — but is that really the case?
Jackfruit is the fruit tree whose ripe fruit is thought to be the largest borne by any tree. Vietnamese people are generally familiar with oval jackfruits measuring 30–60cm long and 20–30cm wide, with a rough rind covered in small spikes.
Yet every now and then we come across oversized jackfruits, about 1 meter long, with a "dangling" shape that looks like a mutation. So where do these jackfruits come from?
To the naked eye, this jackfruit has a green rind and is about 1 meter long. The flesh inside is ripe and golden, with a great many bulbs.
According to our research, this is an extra-long jackfruit variety imported from Malaysia. It has many advantages and is well suited to Vietnam's soils and climate.
Its defining feature is that the fruit, when ripened on the tree, is very long and heavy. Each fruit can exceed 1m in length and weighs 25–40kg on average. It usually takes two to three people to carry a single one.
The fruit contains very few seeds and little fiber, while the bulbs are very long and thick, with a crisp texture and a fragrant, delicious taste.
Inside an "extra-long" jackfruit originating from Malaysia.
According to some growers, this variety is highly profitable, bearing abundant fruit about 2–3 years after planting. Each tree can produce more than 200kg of fruit per year on average.
A few years ago, this "supersized" jackfruit variety caused a craze, with many people hunting for it. Although it is better known today, Malaysian jackfruit remains very hard to find on the market because it is scarce.
Even when young, the fruit is already very long.
When ripened on the tree, the fruit can hang down almost to the ground because of its elongated shape.
Each jackfruit can be more than 1m long and weigh 25–40kg on average.
According to the literature, jackfruit is described as a sweet fruit of the tropics. In temperate regions it is usually sold canned in syrup, although the United States and Europe later began importing fresh jackfruit as well.
Ripe jackfruit bulbs can be eaten fresh and taste very sweet thanks to their high content of sugars such as glucose and fructose (10–15%). Besides the bulbs eaten as they are, jackfruit is also dried or cut into thin slices and fried until crisp.
Besides its delicious fruit, the jackfruit tree also yields Group IV timber under Vietnam's wood classification, sometimes used to make musical instruments such as xylophones in Indonesia. In Vietnam, jackfruit wood is favored for carving religious statues.
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