I am impressed by the amount of latex. I am wondering if the fact that I put my 11 pound Bangkok Lemon in the fridge for a day or two before I cut it up was the reason I did not have any of that latex at all. Are there any pics of your tree posted on here?

OK Never mind I just needed to read the previous post. How big was the tree when you got it? It is 3 1/2 yrs old now?
I have seedlings of Mai 3 and Bangkok Lemon growing that I sprouted in September.

Marin,

At the moment, I can't recall if it is 3 1/2 or 2 1/2. Also don't recall if I bought it as a 25 gal or 50 gal...

This year the tree ha put on a lot of size. The trunk almost doubled in girth.

It was a pleasure trying this seedling jakfruit and I was most appreciative of Sleep to ask me over to try it. My thoughts about this fruit should be prefaced with a general statement that unless you try jakfruits in a side by side comparison, it is very difficult to really say that this one or that one tastes better (that is if you have top tier jakfruits you are comparing). I also think there is some year to year variability. I very often taste a fruit in a particular year and for some reason, my memory has it tasting better or worse than the previous year. Admittedly, this may be an issue of imperfect (and growing more imperfect with time) memory. I also should say that for me, jakfruit falls into three categories. I rate them in three tiers....top, middle and low. Taste and texture are the main factors considered. After that is latex content and fruit flesh to seed ratio.

So turning to this fruit, I found it had a strong but pleasant fruity aroma. The overall size of the fruit was slightly below the average size of a fruit, but good side for a first time seedling tree of this size. The fruit was not competely pollinated. The top portion of the fruit showed incomplete pollination...but again, that can happen with a seedling from a solo tree with limited blooming. The fruit showed good potential for flesh to seed ratio based upon the areas of the fruit that were completely pollinated. The perianth (edible portion) walls were very thick, firm and beautifully colored. Many of the seeds had already begun gerninating with a few having thrown out roots protruding through the wall of the perianth. This is not uncommon and confirms the ripeness of the fruit (or even overripeness in other fruits) This fruit was perfectly ripe, in my opinion.

The taste of the fruit was markedly lemony.....and so the name fits. I have not had the grafted Bangkok Lemon fruit, so I can't compare it. Sleep says this was not as good as my Black Gold x Tabouey. If that's true, his memory is much better than mine (or perhaps he was just being polite). I would not be able to categorically say that this fruit was not as good as mine. It may have been more lemony than mine, or not quite as sweet, but I really can't say that with any degree of certainty without comparing side by side. In anycase, I would certainly rank it as a top tier fruit in taste and texture. On the latex front, it was a 4 on a 10 point scale with 0 being no latex and 10 being gorilla glue innundated. I was struck by the coloration of seed coverings. In all of the fruit that I have tried, I remember having a brownish, sort of slick seed covering. This fruit's seed covering was golden yellow and very appealing. Looked good enough to eat....I tried it, but it looked better that it tasted. The more developed portion of the rag was quite edible and nicely flavored.

So, overall, this is a keeper. There may be improvement as the tree matures....but even if not, I would be most happy to have it in my yard.

Harry

Glad to hear the positive reviews. Hopefully mine will hold a fruit next season.

Harry, what are some of your favorites out of all of the varieties that you have?

Harry - just curious, how sweet, juicy and how much flavor did it have compared to jaks you had earlier in the season? I have had a bunch of jaks in the last few weeks (Bankok Lemons, Red Mornings, Excalibur Gold, Tong Pracers (sp)) and they truly have not been as sweet or flavorful as the jacks from earlier in the season Out of all of the varieties mentioned, the Red Morning by far have been the best (late season results only). I am sure being late in the season has something to do with it but I also feel after we had that two/three week stretch of heavy rains, the flavor/sweetness of the jaks were not as impressive.

Rob

Do you think that the reason my Bangkok Lemon jackfruit had no real noticeable latex is because I put in in the fridge for 2 days before I cut it up? I pulled a picture of it from my facebook page. you can see right after cutting it in half...NO latex at all!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150457645238154&set=a.429477273153.216898.634673153&type=3

Marin,

I'm not sure ... maybe. I stored the perianth and some of the rag in ziplock bags in the refrigerator. Now, a couple of days later, I have to say that the fruit seems to have improved, and is now definitely top tier. Very, very good.

So did the fruit actually get better with refrigeration? I can't really say. Maybe my taste was a bit off when we first opened the fruit up. I had just run 10 miles, was tired, and had recently had some very high sugar sports supplements. Whatever the case, the BL is definitely a keeper !

John:

The top tiered jakfruits in my experience include Cochin, J-30, J-31, Mai 1, and, of course, my Black Gold x Tabouey seedling cross. I have had several other seedling crosses that were in the top tier as well. However, I do not know the crosses they came from. There are still quite a few on my "still to try list."

Rob:

As I said earlier, I am not that good at remembering jakfruit flavors without a side by side comaparison. That being said, I do not recall there being any real difference in overall flavor or sweetness between the earlier and later fruits. On the juiciness front, this fruit was particularly dry....which I frankly like better than more juicy fruits.

Marin:

Good question. Frankly, I have never refrigerated a whole or even part of a jakfruit prior to cleaning it. I have refrigerated the cleaned fruit which I'll discuss further in my response to Sleep. I think you also said your fruit was from a grafted Bangkok Lemon. Either that is the case or you have had a different seedling fruit because your fruit is very different from the fruit I tried at Sleep's house. That could account for the difference in latex. Latex levels can differ from year to year even in one cultivar. Degree of ripeness is, of course, a factor also. Generally, the more ripe the fruit, the less the latex. This can be seen when the fruit is removed from the tree. The latex will pour out profusely when most jakfruits are harvested. Once they become overripe, the latex sap stops or greatly reduces in its flowing. Now, the question is, was Sleep's fruit at the peak of ripeness? I opined earlier that it was, based upon the growth of the seeds in the fruit, as well as the strong fruity frangrance and exterior feel and coloration. Would it have been sweeter with further ripening? Maybe, but there would be degradation of the fruit with the seeds growing roots everywhere.

Sleep:

Refrigeration, in my experience, has never enhanced the flavor of jakfruit. In fact, for me, very much to the contrary. So, I think your taste buds were off when I was over and you first tasted the fruit. The flavor of your fruit was excellent....period, end of story.

Harry

Didn't know you could eat the rag. All of it or certain parts?? Thanks

Jay:

Most of the rag (undeveloped perianths) in most jakfruits is very tough and perhaps even fibrous with very little, if any flavor. Some varieties have edible rag to varying degrees. Cochin, for example, has a very high percentage of edible rag....and the rag is as good as the fruit itself....just smaller. Sleep's fruit was in the moderate range of rag edibility. The larger pieces were quite good....as good as the fruit. As the pieces became smaller, the flavor reduced and texture became less enjoyable.

Harry

So I was asked, why is the edible potion of interior of a jakfruit called a perianth....and not an aril or a carpal?I know the edible potion of a mangosteen, pomegranate, lychee and longan is called an aril. I think the exterior on a jakfruit is where the parts are called carpals. I have tried to do some research on this but I can't seem to find a definitive answer. I have no explanation other than that is what I was taught in class and is confirmed by the Julia Morton book as well as most of the scholarly articles from the Indian sub-continent. Have we any botanists out there who can give us some guidance and explanation? Obviously it has to do with the part of the reproduction potion of the plant that it develops from. And I see that the term perianth has two different meanings. One is as part of the actual flower and the other as a structure like in the jakfruit. Anyway, thanks in advance for anyone that can shine some light on this question.

Harry

Long time First time. I was lucky enough to try Sleep's BL Jack yesterday and although I am not an experienced jackfruit eater as some of you here I would rate it as an excellent tasting, crisp, clean, smooth, lemony flavor. Definitely the best tasting jackfruit I have ever had. I am excited about growing out some seeds that he gave me and adding a seedling to my collection. I am currently growing a gold nugget and a sweet fairchild jackfruit but still have a couple of years before they give any fruit. Thanks sleep for the Saving me some it was awesome and now I can't wait to have some fruit of my own.

I know some people like the rag as much as or better than the "edible plugs", or perianth. In other ethnicities, the rags are often used in cooking. I have seen the edible quality of the rag vary from fruit to fruit and variety to variety. I have seen Bangkok Lemons with good rag and with mediocre rage, same with Mai 1s and Red Mornings.

I have also found that the fruit actually seems to get a little sweeter and jucier a day or two after being cleaned, bagged and refrigerated (and this is from the jak being cut and cleaned at a very ripe stage).

Rob

Rob:

I will give you that bagged, refrigerated jakfruit does seem get wetter (you call it juicier). But to me, that is a negative (a matter of personal preference, of course). I have not experienced it getting sweeter or more flavorful with refrigeration. I have tried to dehydrate the flesh, as the dessciated flesh I would have expected to be sweeter as the flavor is more concentrated. I haven't ever gotten a good dehydration method or result that improves the overall quality of fruit taste. There are some commercial dryings that are quite good...but I think they involve some sort of frying or freeze drying process.

Harry

Wow Sleep, what a beauty of a fruit and thanks to you and Harry for the report. Sounds like a CV. I might eventually want to track down.

-Ethan