Soft jackfruit variety

[Julie]

The owner told me that he thought it could be a named variety since that’s what the original owner was going for but he didn’t know for certain. I have a chance to try gold nugget from a newer grove this summer so I can report back on if it is gold nugget. Hopefully I will be able to get a grafted tree from the grower or if not learn to graft and take a cutting.

[brian]

Does anybody know what kind of jackfruit is typically sold at grocery stores in US?  Grown in Mexico it says.  This is the only type I've ever had, I don't know if it is considered a soft or hard type.  It isn't exactly crunchy, but not squishy either. 

[bsbullie]

Does anybody know what kind of jackfruit is typically sold at grocery stores in US?  Grown in Mexico it says.  This is the only type I've ever had, I don't know if it is considered a soft or hard type.  It isn't exactly crunchy, but not squishy either.

Most likely picked underripe and just let to get soft and not truly ripe.  As to variety,  same scenario/situation as with OP, no way to truly know and very good chance they are seedlings.

[ben mango]

Ok Ben fair enough and if you have seen that it must be the case. That has not been my experience with the softer skin and lack of latex near the skin. Do you know the variety and definitely smooth growing tips?
I can say that the pictured fruit does not appear to be the gold series, cheena or cochin which are of Queensland origin also and not a Malaysian J series. So maybe it is a seedling of unknown parentage.

Mike, as you may know the growing tips is not enough to go off alone because cheena or other hybrids that Ive seen do not have the hairs that one associates with cempedak. I can think of 2 particular soft fleshed jackfruits growing in hawai on the big islands, most likely which are seedlings brought from Filipino migrant workers that have a pure jackfruit taste

[ben mango]

Does anybody know what kind of jackfruit is typically sold at grocery stores in US?  Grown in Mexico it says.  This is the only type I've ever had, I don't know if it is considered a soft or hard type.  It isn't exactly crunchy, but not squishy either.

Most likely picked underripe and just let to get soft and not truly ripe.  As to variety,  same scenario/situation as with OP, no way to truly know and very good chance they are seedlings.

i suspect they are from grafted trees because jackfruit from seed is way too variable for a commercial farm to rely on having consistent quality.

[bsbullie]

Does anybody know what kind of jackfruit is typically sold at grocery stores in US?  Grown in Mexico it says.  This is the only type I've ever had, I don't know if it is considered a soft or hard type.  It isn't exactly crunchy, but not squishy either.

Most likely picked underripe and just let to get soft and not truly ripe.  As to variety,  same scenario/situation as with OP, no way to truly know and very good chance they are seedlings.

i suspect they are from grafted trees because jackfruit from seed is way too variable for a commercial farm to rely on having consistent quality.

All of the old jackfruit farms in Miami-Dade that I have been to were all seedlings.  Some if these farms are easily 15-20 years old.  Grafted jackfruit were just not that popular that long ago and the available named varieties were minimal.

[cbss_daviefl]

I have spoken to a few commercial growers that have only seedlings planted. Here, jakfruit  are not marketed by variety names. I have never seen a variety labelled fruit being sold in a market. Grafted trees do not offer specific seasonal harvest calendar advantages that most other fruits would. There is also a widespread belief that seedlings are very similar to the parent (I disagree). There is little to no advantage for a commercial grower to use grafted trees. Average time to fruit is generally a year or so faster with seedlings, in my experience.

Does anybody know what kind of jackfruit is typically sold at grocery stores in US?  Grown in Mexico it says.  This is the only type I've ever had, I don't know if it is considered a soft or hard type.  It isn't exactly crunchy, but not squishy either.

Most likely picked underripe and just let to get soft and not truly ripe.  As to variety,  same scenario/situation as with OP, no way to truly know and very good chance they are seedlings.

i suspect they are from grafted trees because jackfruit from seed is way too variable for a commercial farm to rely on having consistent quality.

[ben mango]

because they aren’t sold under a certain name doesn’t mean that they aren’t from
A selected variety or 2. Whenever I’ve bought cherimoya in California the vendor never has the variety listed. The culture for this fruit is not to the point where most people would really care anyway.

There is definitely an advantage to planting grafted varieties. I would think a farm of jackfruit seedlings would be a mess in that many will be junk trees , and eventually the farmer would select a handful of the best and top work the junk trees

Frank Sekiya has attempted jackfruit on a commercial scale and he has no seedling trees. The best producer and probably best seller is what he named Ng’s red, an orange-fleshed variety he brought back from Malaysia.

[cbss_daviefl]

The owner doesn't know so anything is possible and this conversation will not answer Julie's question. I personally would grow grafted trees if I were to start a commercial jakfruit grove but my choice, your choice, and Frankie's choice all being consensus and knowing other growers have chosen to grow seedlings does not allow us to conclude what the original grower may have chosen.  Julie can try to find a matching fruit from a different seller that can specify the variety of fruits sold, which can be its own fun adventure, but she may never solve her mystery.  Visual identification, like with mango, can be impossible. If the purpose of identification is to grow this variety or seedling, I would recommend asking the owner for genetic material to propagate.

[bsbullie]

because they aren’t sold under a certain name doesn’t mean that they aren’t from
A selected variety or 2. Whenever I’ve bought cherimoya in California the vendor never has the variety listed. The culture for this fruit is not to the point where most people would really care anyway.

There is definitely an advantage to planting grafted varieties. I would think a farm of jackfruit seedlings would be a mess in that many will be junk trees , and eventually the farmer would select a handful of the best and top work the junk trees

Frank Sekiya has attempted jackfruit on a commercial scale and he has no seedling trees. The best producer and probably best seller is what he named Ng’s red, an orange-fleshed variety he brought back from Malaysia.

You are comparing apples to oranges and ignoring facts you have no knowledge of.  Please give it a rest.

[ben mango]

Because you toured some commercial jackfruit operations in FL that trumps my experience ? FL isn’t even supplying other states with their jackfruits so how large or successful can they really be. I really am curious about Mexico’s operations since they seem to be supplying the whole country with jack

[ben mango]

Thought of this soft-fleshed jack that was from a grafted tree on a friends farm , not sure of the name, definitely pure jack

[bsbullie]

Because you toured some commercial jackfruit operations in FL that trumps my experience ? FL isn’t even supplying other states with their jackfruits so how large or successful can they really be. I really am curious about Mexico’s operations since they seem to be supplying the whole country with jack

You are comparing your experiences to what is in South Florida.  That is my point exactly.  There isn't a large commercial jackfruit industry here and what is here, especially of older farms in Miami-Dade, are not planted out with trees before most nurseries were grafting anything on any "commercial" scale. As Brandon stated, there are many who take, or at least used to take, the stand that seedling jacks come very close to almost true to its parents.

I don't try to make any claims or facts on what is grown in Hawaii, maybe best for you to do the same with what is grown in Florida.

[cbss_daviefl]

I do not think this fruit and Julie's fruit look the same. The spines are different. On Julie's fruit, the spines have a hard black tip which your fruit does not have. I bet Julie's fruit is painful to carry when they are heavy. The bulbs on your fruit have good definition and distinct shape and a nipple. On Julie's fruit, the bulbs are mush where they meet the outer skin.

Thought of this soft-fleshed jack that was from a grafted tree on a friends farm , not sure of the name, definitely pure jack

[ben mango]

I wasn’t saying that it’s the same fruit man, just elaborating on the fact that there other soft fleshed jacks that have easy to open skin with little to no latex and no cempedak in its genetic makeup

[Julie]

Thanks so much everyone for your help and responses. The pictures are great. Makes me more motivated to try more jackfruit varieties!

[Mike T]

Looking at your definite jackfruit pic Ben based on taste has me thinking. I am wondering id some of the floridian jacks were chempajacks and no none realised especially if some have sandpapery tips and softer skin. Cheena is elongate btw and very sandpapery growing tips.

[ben mango]

Mike ive seen the tree too and it did not show any signs of it being a hybrid. the cempejaks or cheena fruits that ive eaten have a certain cempedak-ness to them in the taste and smell. have you had hybrids that have a purely jackfruit taste to them? once i had a very small jackfruit in kota kinabalu that i was assumed was a hybrid or cempedak just by looking at the size of it, it was about a kilo or slightly more, but the smell and taste were both purely jack to me so i  assumed it was 100% jack.

[Mike T]

I have eaten the dwarf jacks recently and they are just small jacks with small foliaged small trees. They too have tough skin with latex even when soft.Crosses can sometimes have much more of a jack taste yes. An hour ago I was looking at 2 jacks and a cross.

I am sure everyone can pick which is the hybrid and I won't insult your intelligence and say which it is......just yet. Anyway I digress. I am yet to find a pure jack with soft latex free skin you can tear open or a chempa x jack with tough skin. I stand by that and that sandpapery growing tips are a good indicator of chempa blood (sap).

[Mike T]

They are all ripe so lets chop the jack mystery seedling.

Ok orangey rag yellow orange flesh and low layes except for the core. Crisp flesh of modest thickness.Mmmmmmmm. does it make the grade? No a reject as the flavour profile is just not rich enough. It just can't compete with the likes of say J33 or amber.

[joeventra1]

I have eaten the dwarf jacks recently and they are just small jacks with small foliaged small trees. They too have tough skin with latex even when soft.Crosses can sometimes have much more of a jack taste yes. An hour ago I was looking at 2 jacks and a cross.

I am sure everyone can pick which is the hybrid and I won't insult your intelligence and say which it is......just yet. Anyway I digress. I am yet to find a pure jack with soft latex free skin you can tear open or a chempa x jack with tough skin. I stand by that and that sandpapery growing tips are a good indicator of chempa blood (sap).

Hi Mike,
The dwarf jacks you're referring to are they the nangka mini? If so wanted to know your thoughts of thr fruit?
Cheers

[Mike T]

Yes that is it and there are a dew fruiting in Australia.The tree is quite gracile and can get fairly tall but nothing like a regular jack. They fruit at a small size and the fruit are not all round and very small and can be a couple of kg and a little more egg shaped. They are a soft fleshed yellow of quite good taste.

[joeventra1]

Yes that is it and there are a dew fruiting in Australia.The tree is quite gracile and can get fairly tall but nothing like a regular jack. They fruit at a small size and the fruit are not all round and very small and can be a couple of kg and a little more egg shaped. They are a soft fleshed yellow of quite good taste.

Thanks for the information mate. I'm growing a few jacks now and just added the nangka mini to my collection along with amber and j33. Sounds like it could be an interesting one especially given the small fruit

[dm]

Hi Julie!

Care to share the name of this local grower so I can try this particular fruit?

Thanks

[Saone]

Don't know about the variety of it, but here in Vietnam they call it mít ướt, and around where I live there are tons of different tasting ones. They are all from old trees and aren't really liked as much as the crisp jackfruit here, they are much cheaper to buy. Lots of people grow jackfruit from seed around here and most people are getting rid of these mít ướt kinds. I find the taste to have a larger range from terrible to amazing with weird quirky flavors in between than the crisp varieties. I have had one that had the fizzy taste like the bubble on your tongue from carbonated beverages. I have had my tongue sweat like when you lick a coin or a battery with a low charge.