Research Article A SOCIETY FOR PLANT RESEARCH PUBLICATION Thottiam Vasudevan Ranganathan Vegetos 31(1) March, 2018 Doi: ϭϬ.ϱϵϱϴ/ϮϮϮϵ-ϰϰϳϯ.ϮϬϭϴ.ϬϬϬϬϵ.ϱ Page No: 67-73 Jackfruit Taxonomy and Waste Utilization Antony Allwyn Sundarraj and Thottiam Vasudevan Ranganathan * Introduction Artocarpus Artocarpus is a genus of nearly 60 trees and shrubs of Southeast Asian and Pacific origin belong to the mulberry family, Moraceae (Zerega and Motley 2001). Description All Artocarpus species are lactiferous trees that are collected of leaves and stems capable of produce a milky sap. The fauna type is monoecious and produce unisexual flowers; in addition, both sexes are present in the same plant. The plants generate small, greenish female flowers that grow on tiny, fleshy spikes. Following pollination, the flowers grow up into a syncarpous fruit capable of rising into huge sizes. The stipulated leaves vary from small and entire (Artocarpus integer ) to large (Forst and Forst 2009). Taxonomy The name Artocarpus originated from the Greek words artos ("bread") and karpos ("fruit"). This name was coined by Forster and Forster, a father-and-son team of botanists aboard the HMS Resolution on James Cook's second trip. In the most recent change of Artocarpus, the highly variable species A. communis is a complex of three species of breadfruit: A. altilis, A. mariannensis and A. camansi. Artocarpus species Artocarpus family includes a number of cost- effective species (Grin 2010). Numerous species of the genus bear edible fruit eg. breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), cempedak (Artocarpus integer ), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), kwai muk (A rtocarpus hypargyreus), anjily (Artocarpus hirsutus) etc. Breadfruit and jackfruit are cultivated extensively in tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Sub Genera Modern phylogenetic research, based on leaf collection, leaf anatomical characters and stipules specify the existence of two subgenera in the genus Artocarpus (Forst and Forst 2010): Subgenus 1. Artocarpus: Perianth of fruit is partially connate. Subgenus 2. Pseudojaca: Perianth entirely connate. In the latest review of Artocarpus, highly variable species A. communis is a complex of three species namely A. altilis, A. mariannensis and A. camansi. A. altilis Fosberg - Breadfruit, A. heterophyllus Lam. - Nangka, Jackfruit A. integer (Thunb.) Merr. - Cempedak A. rigidus Blume - Monkey Jackruit and so on The wild jackfruit tree, Artocarpus is significant in tropical and sub-tropical regions, mainly in South and Southeast Asia. Jackfruit has been in cultivated in India from ancient times. It was possibly taken by Arab traders to the East African coast, and now it has extended all over the tropical regions. It is thought that jackfruit originates in the Western Ghats region of India but whether it is found wild or not is still debatable. Some establishment thinks there are associated wild resources in the Andaman Corresponding author: Department of Food Processing and Engineering, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore – 641 114, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: srivarahe@gmail.com Received: 26.9.2017, Revised: 14.1.2018, Published: 31.3.2018 Abstract The present paper reviews the taxonomy, history, production, uses, and the waste utilization of jackfruit. Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam and Artocarpus integer, commonly known as the jackfruit tree and belonging to the family Moraceae, is an exotic tree originally native to the Western Ghats of India. Jackfruit is commonly grown in home gardens of tropical and subtropical countries. The fruits are an im- portant source of carbohydrates, fibers, minerals and vitamins. The bark, roots, leaves, and fruit are mainly used as food and food addi- tives, medicinal properties and textile industry. Jackfruit is considered to be an underutilized fruit where most of the fruits get wasted due to unawareness, lack of post harvest technology and gaps in supply chain systems. A wide gap in the marketing of jack fruits and its wastes can be processed value added products which can be fulfilled for addition- al income as well as food security. Keywords Artocarpus, Jackfruit, Artocarpus integer, Moraceae, Waste Utiliza- tion. All articles published in Vegetos: International Journal of Plant Research are the property of SPR, and is protected by copyright laws. Copyright © 2018, SPR, All Rights Reserved. Vegetos: An International Journal of Plant Research & Biotechnology