KELEDONG
(Artocarpus lancifolius)

A portion of keledong tree 

Family: Moraceae

Other names: Tarap merah

Keledong is a fruit which is very little known outside its native region inspite of the fact that it is very tasty fruit and very popular with local people.  It is a native of Borneo.  There are natural forests of this fruit.  It has also been called “forgotten fruit” by some fruit explorers.

Description:

An evergreen tree growing upto 10 m.

            Leaves broad, slightly hairy.

Fruits of keledong

            Fruits, irregularly spherical, 20-25 cm, borne like jack fruit, orange, pulp sweet at maturity.

Utilization:

The fruits are sweet and tasty to eat.  The flavour is a mix of ripe jackfruit and mangosteen.  The fruits are eaten by local people.

A cut fruit of keledong showing the edible portion.

Cultivation:

Though keledang fruits are consumed in large quantity in Indonesia and also offered for sale and can be bought 5 fruits for one US dollar.  But still these are not cultivated as orchard fruits.  All the fruits come from wild or semi-wild trees.

            New plants can easily be raised from seed.  The seedlings start bearing fruits after five years.