Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) domestication
Domesticación del fruto del pan (Artocarpus altilis)
- Date
- c. 1000 BCE (muy aproximado) · confidence low
- Place
- North coast of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
- Credited to
- New Guinean cultivators and Austronesian seafarers
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Breadfruit was selected from the wild species Artocarpus camansi in New Guinea and carried by Pacific voyagers. Seedless, triploid varieties, cloned from shoots, spread across Polynesia and Micronesia.
Genetic studies (Zerega and colleagues) point to New Guinea and a spread with the Austronesian expansion, but the specific date and place are estimates. Archaeological dating of remains is scarce.
What it led to
- a high-yield tree as an island staple
- fermented pit storage in Micronesia and Polynesia
- transfer of saplings to Jamaica by the Bounty expedition in 1787