Rice Substitutes Series: “Sukun, a Staple Food in Polynesia”
"More than 100 Islands in French Polynesia use sukun (breadfruit) as their staple food. Most local Polynesians even call breadfruit the tree of life, as it can meet the needs of many people"Published by : Kurnia HD - 18/10/2024 13:10 WIB
3 Minutes read.
Sukun (Artocarpus altilis) is well known in more than 90 tropical countries in the world, including Indonesia. The widespread distribution of the breadfruit plant was inseparable from the British botanist, Sir Joseph Bank. In 1768, he offered a gift to anyone who could bring 1,000 breadfruits to the West Indies. Starting from this competition, breadfruit spread to tropical areas of the world.
filsafood.com
According to some experts, sukun has the potential as substitute for main staple food. This is because sukun has many beneficial minerals needed by the body, such as complex carbohydrates, potassium, thiamine, sodium, calcium, niacin, fiber, and vitamin C.
Quoted from food.detik.com, sukun trees in Hawaii are able to support at least 1,000 orphans every day. Josh Schenider, a horticulture expert from Global Breadfruit said that every time he planted a breadfruit tree, he felt we could minimize the danger of hunger in the world.
kisuta.com
In fact, compared to rice and potatoes, sukun has a higher nutritional content as carbohydrate source. The mineral and vitamin content are also more complete. In addition, the antioxidant content of sukun is also quite high due to the presence of flavonoids.
Apart from being the substitute of rice, sukun also has various benefits for our health, including:
- Lowering blood sugar levels
- Lower blood pressure
- Maintain heart health
- Overcoming inflammation
- Prevent the growth of cancer cells in the body
- Maintain healthy hair
- Source of omega 3 and 6
So, interested to have a taste of this superb sukun? You may have it in various cooking ways, like steaming, frying, or even turning it into other dishes such as sukun cake, sukun pie, and others.
References
https://rimbakita.com/buah-sukun/
https://www.alodokter.com/kandungan-dan-manfaat-buah-sukun-bagi-kesehatan
https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/vert-tra-44400210
https://food.detik.com/info-sehat/d-2415064/sukun-jadi-makanan-super-untuk-atasi-kelaparan-dunia
