The Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden promotes conservation, study, and use of breadfruit for food and reforestation

NTBG manages the world’s largest living collection of breadfruit, which is located at Kahanu Garden and consists of more than 300 accessioned trees representing more than 150 varieties from more than 30 islands in the Pacific, the Seychelles, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Honduras. Some of the varieties are rare or extinct in their native habitat.

The collection is the core of NTBG’s Breadfruit Institute, which aims to promote the conservation and use of breadfruit diversity through scientific research, curation and collection preservation, sustainable agroforestry, and education. The collection is being extensively studied to: conserve diversity and unique varieties and associated indigenous knowledge; identify nutrient composition; enhance its value for sustainable food security and education.

The Regenerative Organic Breadfruit Agroforestry (ROBA) demonstration plot based in McBryde Garden on Kauai is a platform for public engagement and community science to promote diverse food systems and sustainability.