What is Ulu fruit?

What Is Ulu? Nutrition, Uses, and Sustainability

This story is about an exotic and little-known fruit, ulu, or breadfruit, a staple food in Hawaii, the Caribbean, Polynesia, and South Asia for thousands of years. Wondering what ulu fruit is? It’s a delicious and nutritious organic product, enjoyed raw or roasted with a creamy texture. Let’s explore why ulu can be appealing to us as well.

What Is Ulu in Hawaiian Culture?

The Ulub fruit, also known as Breadfruit, is native to New Guinea and spread throughout the planet as people settled new territories during the Age of Discovery. At the same time, ulu grains reached the Hawaiian Islands. Why is this tree called Breadfruit? While cooking, it smells like freshly baked bread.

People noticed the extraordinary ability of this plant – high yield and productivity. Thus, one bread tree can feed a family of 4 people for 70 years. They require little attention and care while producing an abundance of nutritious food. And trees can grow up to 100 years! This is why Hawaiians traditionally plant an ulu tree when a child is born—to ensure the kid will always have food and never face hunger. In addition to being a source of food for survival, this plant also began to be used for life for housekeeping, buildings, and other related elements of everyday life.

What is ulu in Hawaiian culture? Local life showcases the essential products and tools for survival and basic living, along with the potential for community growth and development. Ulu symbolizes prosperity and abundance. Ancient Hawaiians valued the tree for its nutritious fruit and because it could grow in a variety of soil types, providing food even in resource-limited environments.

Ulu Fruit Nutrition Facts: Why It's a Superfood

Ulu is easy to grow, store, and prepare. It can be eaten as unripe for sweet dessert or ripe for cooking. You can eat ulu in a baked, steamed, fried, or roasted meal). The traditional recipe is roasting the fruit in deep fire pits, called “imu.”

You can find another name for ulu – a potato-like product. It got this name for its ease of preparation and its taste. Ulu has more protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals than white potatoes and its glycemic index is lower. The nutrient list of ulu is rich in antioxidants, carotenoids, fibers, protein, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Copper, Iron, Niacin, Vitamin A, Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, etc.

What Is Ulu Used For? Traditional and Modern Uses

The locals learned to build houses and equip the insides of them from wood, build canoes for fishing and traveling from island to island, weave ropes and tackle, and make waterproofing from glue to protect cracks. The ripe fruits and leaves were also used as animal feed and even fish bait. Dishes, fabrics, and even medicines were made from the leaves of ulu.

Talking about what is ulu in Hawaiian modern life, it is the main material for making canoes and surfboards, firewood, drums and other musical instruments, as well as preparing drinks (smoothies), desserts and other delicious dishes.

Sustainability of Ulu: An Eco-Friendly Crop for the Future

Ulu trees help to sequester carbon, reducing the carbon footprint and slowing the overheating of the atmosphere. They also reduce the need for tillage or weed control, eliminate the need to use harmful chemicals and pesticides that destroy vegetation, and reduce the population of butterflies and insects. In addition, ulu trees are heat—and drought-tolerant, so they do not require excess water to grow, as, for example, avocados.

Hawaiian activists have created a project involving 16 different organizations for the sustainable development of the “Ulu Project”. Their goal is to promote and research possible problems of food insecurity around the islands.

FAQ

Still have questions? We have collected the top requests. They are attached below with detailed explanations.

What does ulu fruit taste like?

Breadfruit has a wide range of flavors. When raw, depending on the degree of maturing, the variation of tastes is from juicy and fresh (like an artichoke) to sweet and rich (like a ripe fruit). Cooked ulu tastes like a root vegetable.

Is ulu the same as jackfruit?

No, they are two different fruits. They are easily distinguished by the following features – ripe ulu is creamy inside, while jackfruit has seeds inside. Also, ulu is mostly eaten before it ripens, while jackfruit is eaten only when fully ripe.

Why is ulu called breadfruit?

Breadfruit got its name after people noticed that while cooking, it smelled like freshly baked bread. Its high nutritional value is comparable to bread.

What is ulu good for?

It’s good for health as a gluten-free product with a low glycemic index. It contains vital vitamins, minerals, protein, and dietary fibers. Thus, all these properties make ulu easy to cook and provide the opportunity to be used as raw for manufacturing gluten-free flour.

What is ulu good for?

Traditionally, the ulu plant played an important role in Hawaiian culture – its fruits were a source of nutritious and vital food, and its wood was used to build houses and canoes and make other household items (ropes, fabrics, and even medicines).

Summarizing all the facts mentioned above we would like to describe what ulu fruit is in globe scales. The ease of growing ulu could create greater food security for Hawaii and reduce demand for unsustainable food imports. At the same time, just like familiar exotic fruits like citrus or bananas, ulu will soon be available in any grocery store. Local farmers are already working with international traders and are seeking to carve out their niche as purveyors of a nutritious, sustainable, and eco-friendly product.