Monkey jack: underutilized edible medicinal plant, nutritional attributes and traditional foods of Western Ghats, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Monkey jack<i> </i>(<i>Artocarpus gomenzianus</i> Wall.ex Trecul) an underutilized edible and medicinal plant of Central Western Ghats has been studied for their distribution, harvesting, morphology and juice yield, processing, preservation and powder yield at various regions of Central Western Ghats. The fruits showed variation with respect to morphology, juice yield, powder yield, proximates and nutritive value and also elemental components. The comparative study with RDA value confirms the food supplements properties of monkey jack. The uses of fruits in particular and other parts in general differ from region to region. The harvesting, processing, preservation and marketing are closely related with social and cultural conditions of the particular region. The fruits not only sources of nutrients supplements but also one of the important resources for income generation at middle regions of the Western Ghats. Further, the raw and processed products, is one of the important traditional ingredients for the preparation of local dishes. Among the different regions, the fruits are harvested, processed and used based on traditional methods and knowledge. The study confirmed that conservation of monkey jack needs both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> approaches. The awareness among the local people, encouragement from government organization, voluntary involvement of NGO and involvement of local young people and women for biodiversity conservation help to develop potential of monkey jack linkage of farmers/collectors to market. The importance of monkey jack for the future potential uses is also discussed for the middle regions of the Western Ghats.