Proximate Analysis of Ackee Frult (blighia Sapida)

Ackee (Blighia sapida) is Jamaica’s top fruit, its national fruit and when prepared together with salt-fish it is called the national dish. In fact ackee is so much connected to Jamaica that Jamaica has been referred to as the “Big Ackee”, while the distribution of ackee world-wide can be regarded as an ‘indicator species for Jamaican connections’. The aim of this article is to summarize historical and up-to-date knowledge about this tree for the wider public in such areas as agriculture, trade, natural chemicals, toxicology, ethnomedical uses and biotechnological research. Jamaica has taken a tree, little known in its homeland, and made it into a major source of food and income. The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Chemistry Department, since the inception of he University in 1948, has been carrying out cutting-edge ackee research. They have found out what makes the ackee toxic (hypoglycin A – an unusual amino acid), and when levels of this toxin drop (on maturity), thus making the ackee fruit safe to eat. Other Jamaican scientists at several institutions have developed propagation and field cultivation methods, by-product research and produced somatic embryos of ackee. Continuing chemical and biotechnological research into this crop, establishment of purposefully-planted orchards and development of a mature export-orientated agro-processing industry is on-going, further elevating this crop so that it can continue to be what it has always been – jamaica’s fruit