Breadfruit: A solution to malnutrition
Debbie Ernarle (5th from left) with fellow officers and members of FOFPRDI.Breadfruit, locally known as K’olo, is a staple fruit across much of the South Pacific, spread by Polynesian people across the Southern Seas during their long sojourns. It can be found in Hawaii, Micronesia, and a variety of other places in between, as long as the weather is warm, because breadfruit cannot tolerate cool climates. Breadfruit is also cultivated in the Caribbean, where it is eaten in a variety of dishes. Breadfruit is a member of the mulberry family and resembles mulberry fruits somewhat, although breadfruit is much larger.
Debbie Enarle, founder of Food for the Future Practical Research and Development Institute (FOFPRDI), owner of Traffix Driving Center and Shelf Service (maker of nutritious cookies), became interested in the seedlings of the breadfruit around two years ago. “I dreamed of the tree for three months, in a corner inside a fence and there was a well with water. Two ladies told me about it. Something was stirring up inside of me, thus, as I was driving through a Petron station in Villa, I saw the breadfruit trees. I went there and was met by two ladies who were spinsters. There was a well, near the corner of the fence, just like in my dreams.
The K'olo plant.“It’s very hard to grow but once it roots, it’s all good from there. It’s a tropical tree and it takes four months for the fruit to ripen,” she said.
Now, apart from selling breadfruit to eat, Enarle has put up a breadfruit and breadnut movement, to identify all existing breadfruit trees and prevent them from being cut down. The movement was launched recently in Oton. She said that her pilot point would be Oton as she found that many breadfruit trees grow there.
Enarle shared how she has turned breadfruit into powder form and chips. “Peel off then slice thinly. Oven dry or sun dry for one day. For sun drying, place the slices on a crystal plate so that there would be heat below the plate as well. If the chips are already dried, have it milled until it’s in flour form. You can add this to any baby formula. You can also make polvoron out of it because of its sweet, honey and milky flavor. The flour can last up to seven months,” she said.
In flour form.She added that a chip would cost only a few centavos and is already affordable on its own. One fruit can already produce half a kilo of flour. It can already make 80 cookies.
“Breadfruit can provide us with food security, alleviate poverty, make water conservation possible as well as prevent soil erosion because the roots grow really deep,” she said.
Nutritional analysis reveals that breadfruit (the seedless variety) is a relatively good source of iron, calcium, potassium, riboflavin, and niacin. The mature fruit is high in carbohydrates, low in fat and protein, and a good source of minerals and vitamins, especially B vitamins. The nutritional composition of breadfruit varies depending on the method of preparation and the ripeness of the breadfruit (ripe breadfruit is more nutritious). Chataigne contains twice the protein of the seedless breadfruit and is also low in fat. There are endless possibilities with it as it can be cooked and eaten in all stages of maturity. It is in demand in the USA because of its health value, a cheap and easy solution to malnutrition.
