Langka
Artocarpus heterophyllus · Jackfruit
- Names in the 1901 book
- Nag̃ka, Tag.; Jack Fruit Tree, Eng.
- Names in the 1985 book
- English: Jackfruit; Tagalog: Langka; Visayan: Nangka
- Used for
- Wounds, burns and boils
- Colours
- flowergreenfruityellow, green
- Native range
- Western Ghats, southern India
- In the Philippines, per the book
- It grows in all parts of the Archipelago and is commonly known.
- Family
- Moraceae, filed in the book under Urticaceæ
- Printed in 1901 as
- Artocarpus integrifolia, Willd.
- Printed in 1985 as
- Artocarpus heterophylla Lmk.
- Sources
- Page 223 on Project Gutenberg · Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 105 · Wikipedia
The plant today
The jackfruit or jakfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a fruit tree in the mulberry family of Moraceae. Native to India, the species was first described under the name Artocarpus heterophyllus in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique in 1789 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, based on a specimen collected by botanist Philibert Commerson. The jackfruit tree is a large evergreen tree that can grow up to 30 m (98 ft) tall. It has a dense foliage with leathery leaves which are smooth on one side and rough on the other. Fine hairs cover various parts of the tree, and the bark and leaves produce a sticky, milky sap.
Excerpt from “Jackfruit” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang langka o nangka (Ingles: jackfruit) ay isang uri ng prutas. Mabango ang mga bunga nito na kamag-anak ng mga rimas na matatagpuan sa ibang mga tropikal na pook.
Sipi mula sa “Langka” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 221 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 44 provinces, most often Davao del Norte (29), Zamboanga del Norte (22), Metropolitan Manila (10), Davao del Sur (8), Iloilo (6), Lanao del Norte (6), Bukidnon (5), Cebu (5), and 36 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The huge fruit of this tree is well known to the Filipinos and well liked by them as an article of food, eaten fresh or in sweet preserves. The arils and pulpy envelopes of the seeds are the parts eaten, also the seeds themselves, boiled or roasted. According to Padre Mercado the roasted seeds have an aphrodisiac action.
The heated and powdered leaves are applied to wounds and given internally for congestions. The resin of the trunk is a useful application to ulcers and in India they give it internally to cure la melena, the dose, one “tola” mixed with the same amount of manga resin and a little lime water. The same resin if heated makes an excellent cement for broken china.
Botanical description
A tree, 20° or more in height, with abundant milky sap. Leaves alternate, oval, acute at both ends, slightly wavy and revolute borders, tough, glabrous and dark green upper surface; light green, slightly rough under surface. Petioles short. Flowers greenish, monœcious, growing on root, trunk and branches. Calyx very small, monophyllous, of about 7 deciduous lobules. Staminate: On a club-shaped receptacle, 3′ or 4′ long, bristling with the stamens; filaments very short, anthers 2-celled. Pistillate: On a common, oblong receptacle which ripens to the great fruit; style 1, short; rarely 2 divergent styles; stigmas acute. Fruit about size and shape of a small watermelon, beset with many sharp eminences, containing many seeds enveloped in thick arils.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- Abscesses and boilsMilky sap from the trunk with vinegar as a warm compress.A little vinegar to the sap. Warm it, soak small pieces of clean cloth and hold them on for 20 minutes, twice a day.Page 12
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Langka” on page 105. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) in health and disease: a critical review
- The characteristic VOCs of different parts of Artocarpus heterophyllus fruit based on HS-SPME-GC-MS and PTR-TOF-MS
- Recent developments in Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (jackfruit) polysaccharides: Nutritional values, structural characteristics and health benefits