Common name: African breadnut

African Breadnut, also commonly referred to as African Breadfruit, is a native of tropical Africa, its natural range limited to humid parts of Western Africa.

It is a slow-growing evergreen tree up to 30 metres tall. It has a straight, round, prominently ribbed trunk covered in smooth, grey bark and develops a densely foliaged, wide-spreading rounded crown. The leaves are large, red or yellow when young ageing to green. Blooming year-round in humid regions, the flowers are large, brownish-yellow with separate female and male flowers on the same tree. These are followed by very large round fruit. Green at at maturity, they are borne on the trunk or on sturdy branches and can weight up to 12 kg and 40cm in diameter.

Use

An edible, clear brown oil is extracted from the seed and used its native region as a cooking oil and for flavouring food. Seed are removed from the fruit (after fermenting the fruit to soften the pulp), dried, crushed to a paste and boiled to release the oil. Prolonged exposure to air, light or metal can cause the oil to become rancid. It should only be stored in containers which help protect it from exposure to these elements. The seed is also dried, ground into a meal or flour for use in baked products, made into a porridge or re-constituted to create a milk-like drink.

Climate

Grows naturally in humid tropical lowland climates, generally in areas with annual lows of 19 to 24°C, annual highs of 28 to 33°C, and annual rainfall of 1300 to 3500 mm and a dry season of 3 months or less.

Growing

New plants are usually started from seed

Problem features

There are no published reports of it becoming invasive or a weed.