CHAMPADA
(Artocarpus integer)

A portion of chempada tree

Family: Moraceae

Synonyms: , Artocarpus chempeden, Artocarpus integrifolia, Artocarpus polyphema.

English name: Chempedak.

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Champada is a fruit of South East Asia.  It is widely distributed in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.  Champada is a common tree in secondary forests and locally abundant in primary lowland rainforest in its area of natural occurrence. It is a long living sub-canopy tree and can grow at altitudes of up to 500 m in Thailand, often on wet hillsides.

Description

An evergreen monoecious tree, upto 20 m tall and seldom buttressed;  bark is grayish brown with bumps on the trunk and main limbs where leafy twigs are produced, which bear the fruits brown wiry hairs 3 mm long cover twigs, stipules and leaves.

            Leaves obovate to elliptic, 5-25 × 2.5-12 cm in size, base is cuneate to rounded, margin entire, apex acuminate; lateral veins in 6-10 pairs, curving forward, with 1-3 cm long petiole.

            Inflorescences solitary, borne on the axillary position of short leafy shoots; male heads cylindrical, 3-5.5 × 1 cm, whitish-yellow, peduncle 3-6 mm long;  female heads occur with simple filiform styles exserted to 1.5 mm.

            Fruit a syncarp, cylindrical to nearly globose, 20-35 × 10-15 cm,  600-3,500 g, yellowish, brownish, or orange-green smells strongly at maturity, pericarp, including the seeds, ellipsoid to oblong, about 3 × 2 cm; cotyledons unequal, thick and fleshy; germination epigeal.

Utilization:

Fruits are eaten fresh or cooked.  The flesh is typically yellow or orange and sometimes white to pinkish, is soft and mushy with a strong and very characteristic smell. The flavour is sweet, resembling durian and mango.

            Young fruits are cooked in coconut milk and eaten as a curried vegetable or in soup.

A cut fruit of champada showing pulp

            Seeds are roasted or boiled in salty water for 30 minutes and then eaten.  These have a nutty flavour.

            Champada is one of the smelliest fruits, second only to durian. The smell and taste of the fruit are rather overwhelming and for the uninitiated it is easier to appreciate dishes made of the seeds

            The dark yellow to brown wood is strong and durable and is used for building construction, furniture and boats. Bark can be used to make rope and the latex for the preparation of lime.

Cultivation:

Champada is strictly tropical and always restricted to regions without a distinct dry season. The tree thrives on fertile well drained soils, but prefers a fairly high water table. It can survive periodic flooding even with acid swamp water.

            New plants of champada trees are generally raised from seed.  It is better to collect the seed from trees bearing superior quality fruits.

            Champada can also be propagated asexually by budding or suckle-grafting on seedling rootstocks of champada or other Artocarpus species, including jackfruit. The rootstock should be 8-11 months old at the time of budding.  Budding can be performed at any time of the year.

            In southern Thailand, the fruit is often bagged on the tree to protect the4se from rodents and bats.  Champada tree is a quite prolific bearer and therefore the yields are good and comparable with that of Jack fruit.

Most information drawn from an article by:

Late Prof. Dr. Suranant Subhadrabandhu
of Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand