Breadfruit

Breadfruit was brought here in 1793 by Captain Bligh – today roasted breadfruit with fish is the national dish of Saint Vincent.

A stately tree of the mulberry family, growing to 20 m, with huge, deeply lobed, glossy leaves and milky sap. The large, round fruits with green, rough skin weigh 1–4 kg and contain starchy flesh which, when roasted or boiled, tastes like bread or potatoes. The species comes from New Guinea and the Pacific islands, where it has been a staple food for thousands of years. A single tree can yield more than a hundred fruits a year.

Significance in the country

After his failed voyage and the mutiny on the Bounty, Captain William Bligh brought breadfruit seedlings from Tahiti in 1793 to the botanic garden in Kingstown, from where they spread across the Caribbean; roasted breadfruit with fried jackfish is the national dish, and an annual festival is devoted to the fruit.

Where it grows

All over the island of Saint Vincent and on the larger islands of the Grenadines – by houses, in orchards and at field edges; most abundant in the moist valleys of Saint Vincent.

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