• Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a tropical tree, related to figs and Jackfruit
• Reliable, low-maintenance and highly productive source of food in tropical regions
• Yields high-quality, gluten-free carbohydrates
• Starch yield per hectare and year twice that of maize or other crops
• Plants start bearing fruit 2-3 years after planting, remain productive for decades

• Traditional and highly-prized food source in South Pacific region for thousands of years
• Regional selections adapted to a wide range of growing conditions
• Capt. Bligh’s ill-fated mission on the HMS Bounty was to bring breadfruit saplings from the South Pacific to the Caribbean
• Breadfruit is now grown in may tropical areas, but commercial plantations have not previously been possible
  

Breadfruit has a wide range of adaptability to ecological conditions. It grows best in equatorial lowlands below 600-650 m but is found at elevations up to 1550 m. It flourishes at 21-32° C and does not yield well where the temperature exceeds 40° or drops to 5° C. The latitudinal limits are approximately 17° N and S; maritime climates extend that range to the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Optimum annual rainfall is 1500-3000 mm, but trees can yield regularly on Pacific atolls that receive 1000 mm. Deep, fertile, well-drained soils are preferred although some varieties are adapted to the shallow sandy soils of coral atolls.

The nation of Samoa is located roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. Two thirds of Samoa’s workforce is employed in agriculture, with one of the most prominent crops being Breadfruit, or ‘Ulu as it is known in Samoan. Samoa is a center of Breadfruit diversity, having actively selected and cultivated Breadfruit for thousands of years. There are countless food uses ranging from steamed Breadfruit cut into bite-size pieces, to whole fire-roasted fruits that taste entirely bread-like. And Breadfruit is more than just a staple crop: the fruit, wood, flowers and latex have found numerous traditional uses in Samoa. To this day, Breadfruit remains central to Samoan culture.

árbol de pan, fruta de pan, pan, panapen, (Spanish)
arbre à pain, fruit à pain (French)
beta (Vanuatu)
bia, bulo, nimbalu (Solomon Islands)
blèfoutou, yovotévi (Bénin)
breadfruit (English)
brotfruchtbaum (German)
broodvrucht, broodboom (Dutch)
cow, panbwa, pain bois, frutapan, and fruta de pan (Caribbean)
fruta pao, pao de massa (Portuguese)
kapiak (Papua New Guinea)
kuru (Cook Islands)
mazapan (Guatemala, Honduras)
meduu (Palau)
mei, mai (Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Marquesas, Tonga, Tuvalu)
mos (Kosrae)
rata del (Sri Lanka)
rimas (Philippines)
shelisheli (Tanzania)
sukun (Indonesia, Malaysia)
‘ulu (Hawai‘i, Samoa, Rotuma, Tuvalu)
‘uru (Society Islands)
uto, buco (Fiji)