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Exotic Monkey Jack fruit gains popularity


Published : 22 Mar 2021 09:59 PM

Monkey jack is a common fruit in the villages and rural areas of Bangladesh. Also known as Dewa, scientifically it is known as Artocarpus lacucha. Most of the people know this sour-sweet fruit as it was a popular fruit variant of rural areas of the country.

A rare scene of tree full of monkey jack fruit has been seen in Jhahurul Islam’s backyard at Badalgachhi Upazila. Dewa tree is a large tree with many branches. It is about 20-25 feet high and its skin is gray-brown. Colour of this fruit is bright yellow with a thin soft skin. Leaves of this tree look like jackfruit tree leaves. Thus it also earned a name of wild jackfruit in many areas. The inner shell of the fruit is reddish yellow with a transparent look. 

For a long time, this fruit lost its appeal to urban people due to its size. Recently, this fruit regained some of its popularity for its exotic taste. Dewa fruit is beneficial to healthy diet as medicinal quality of this fruit helps to reduce weight. Mixing the pulp of Dewa with cold water and drinking it can reduce excessive weight. It also works as appetizer. Researchers have found out that Dewa fruit works well against gastric issues and reduce diseases of bile and liver.