Artocarpus lacucha, also known as monkey jack or monkey fruit, is a tropical evergreen tree species of the family Moraceae. It is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.Pankaj Oudhia, Robert E. Paull. Monkey Jack Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb., Moraceae p485-487.Encyclopedia of Fruit and Nuts - 2008, J. Janick and R. E. Paull - editors, CABI, Wallingford, United Kingdom The tree is valued for its wood; its fruit is edible and is believed to have medicinal value.Lakoocha: A Multipurpose Tree of Warm Climate In Northeastern Thailand, the wood is used to make pong lang, a local traditional instrument. This tree is mentioned in the Arthashastra.Arthashastra/Book XIII
Uses The stilbenoid oxyresveratrol can be isolated from the heartwood of Artocarpus lacucha as well as in Puag Haad, the light brown powder obtained from the aqueous extract of the wood chips of A. lakoocha by boiling, then slow evaporation, followed by cooling. This traditional drug is effective against the intestinal fluke Haplorchis taichui or against taeniasis.
Experiments have shown that the heme-peroxidase enzyme from Artocarpus lacucha has the ability to protect against oxidative damage in vitro and possesses wound healing properties. This stable enzyme also has anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potential candidate for use in biotechnological and industrial applications.Sonkar, K. S., Manendra Pachauri, Amit Kumar, Ankita Shukla, Monika Patel, & Jagannadham., M. V. (2015). Heme-peroxidase from medicinal plant Artocarpus lakoocha: Purification, characterization and wound healing studies. Biocatal Agricu Biotechnol, 4, 180-190.
See also Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia Barharwa: A town in India named after the Hindi word for Artocarpus lacucha (Barhar)
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Antioxidant and toxicity activities of Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb. heartwood extract Fruit with foliage