Boiled and cooked with salt pork or salt fish, ackee is considered to be one of Jamaica’s greatest delicacies. Initially, this fruit was imported to Jamaica from West Africa, and now is produced in large quantities, with bearing from January to March and from June to August.
Ackee grows on an evergreen tree, about 10 meters tall, with a dense crown and a short trunk. Jamaica is the only place where it is widely eaten. It has been, of course, introduced into Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad, Antigua, as well as into Florida and Central America but are known there by different names. Ackee does not thrive in large quantities.
Markets, in which Jamaican canned ackee is exported and sold, are patronized by expatriate Jamaicans. One serving of this canned fruit includes Protein, Water, Energy, Fat, Cholesterol, Iron, Dietary fibre, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, vitamin A and C, folacin, riboflavin, thiamin, and so on.
Crushed and immature ackee produces a foam which is used as soap. The wood of ackee tree is also a termite resistant and may be used in many different constructions.
