Jackfruit: The indigenous Nutritious Fruit from India

Co-authors:  Seema S. and Sowmiya Mahadevan, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) – National Food Laboratory (NFL), Chennai, India

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam) is a complex fruit grown worldwide. It is a species of tree that belongs to the same family as fig, mulberry, and breadfruit (Moraceae). It is an evergreen tropical tree believed to be indigenous to the rainforest of the Western Ghats of India. According to Indian archaeological discoveries, jackfruit was first grown 3,000 and 6,000 years ago (1). Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka are the leading producers of jackfruit. East African nations are also home to jackfruit, such as Brazil and the Caribbean, as well as in places like Uganda, Tanzania, and Mauritius countries like Jamaica. The major jackfruit-growing states in India are Assam, Bihar, and Kerala.

The tree produces the most giant tree-borne fruit in the entire world. It also goes by the name “poor man’s meal.” The Portuguese word “jaca,” which was taken from the Malayalam language “chakka,” is where the term “Jackfruit” comes from. In India, several vernacular names are given like Kathal, Panas (Hindi), Phanas (Gujarati and Marathi), Kanthal (Bengali), Palaa (Tamil), Halasu (Kannada), and, Chakka (Malayalam) (2), Kathal (Bangladesh), Kanun (Thailand), Nangka (Malaysia), Katar (Nepal), Giaca (Italy), Jaca (Portuguese), Nanga (Indonesia), Jacquier (French).

The Jackfruit tree is a monoecious (have separate male and female flowers on the same tree) tree with dark green leaves that are elliptical, oblong, or ovate and measure 1 to 5 cm (3). Flowering occurs between mid-November and mid-February, depending on location, geography, and variety. Cross-pollination is used for fertilization, and seeds are primarily used for propagation. The fruit development process varies by country and takes three to seven months after pollination. In the beginning, the ratio of male flowers is more compared to female flowers. By the end of the season, the female flowers outnumbered the male flowers as the latter lost their pollen viability (4).

The Jack tree is a medium-sized tree with fruit on its side and main branches, called a cauliflory type. The fruit can weigh between 2 to 36 kg, and the maximum length is 90 cm (5). The jackfruit is a large, green fruit with a rough peel that turns dark yellow when ripe. It has a strong peduncle and a fibrous central rachis (core). The fleshy aril, known as the bulb, makes up 20-30% of the fruit and has a unique flavour (6). The seeds are light brown and spheroid-shaped, enclosed in a thin white membrane. There are two primary varieties of jackfruits: one is small and fibrous, with sweet carpels that have a texture like raw oysters, and the other is crisp and crunchy but not very sweet.

Jackfruit is a versatile fruit that offers numerous health benefits. It can be consumed when ripe or used as a vegetable when green. The mature bulbs are commonly eaten fresh or processed into canned products. In Asia, plants are widely consumed for their medicinal properties as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-anthelmintics agents (7). Jackfruit also contains bioactive compounds like lignans, flavones, and saponins, which exhibit anti-cancer, anti-ulcer, anti-hypertensive, and anti-aging activities (8). Ripe perianth requires about 2 Megajoules of energy per kg/wet weight for fruit processing.

Different parts of the jackfruit:

Please take a look at the figure for parts identification.

Peel / Rind: The jackfruit’s exterior portion (rind) has a green to yellow-brown fruit skin that consists of hexagonal, bluntly conical carpel apices. The rind covers a thick, rubbery, whitish-to-yellowish wall protecting the fruit. Food processing industries and vendors typically discard jackfruit rinds as waste. To reduce waste and its negative environmental impact, beneficial components like pectin can be extracted from jackfruit rinds (10). Using jackfruit rind powder to produce food items like cookies, biscuits, muffins, and bread can benefit consumers and industries. Jackfruit rind flour is also used to make jellies and syrups because of its high pectin content. Jackfruit rind is a rich source of essential nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, fat, minerals, and fiber.

Rags: Rags are fibrous strands that connect the rind and core of the jackfruit and are found between the pulps.

Pulp: Jackfruit pulp is the edible part of the fruit. It is mainly consumed fresh but can also be processed into preserves such as canned pulp, dried pulp, jam, or syrup (11). The pulp is bean-shaped and is surrounded by fibrous strands, which are attached to the core. The seeds are present inside the pulp. The pulp contains several functional ingredients and bioactive components, including a high vitamin C content.

Seed: Jackfruit seeds have a thin brown seed coat called spermoderm, surrounded by a white layer. The brown spermoderm contains white cotyledon, rich in protein and starch. These seeds have a lot of potential benefits, particularly in the cosmetics, paper, pharmaceutical, and bio-nanotechnology industries.

Core: The core is located along the central longitudinal axis of the jackfruit, which is connected to the rind with the help of rags and in-between pulps are present.

Nutritional value of jackfruit:

The composition of jackfruit varies by variety. Jackfruit has higher iron, protein, thiamine, and calcium content than tropical fruits. A recent study found that ripe jackfruit contains more minerals and vitamins than apples, apricots, avocados, and bananas (12).

Carbohydrates: Some studies reported that jackfruit perianth and seeds contain high starch. The flesh of jackfruit contains increasing amounts of starch and dietary fibre as it matures.

Proteins: Jackfruit contains amino acids like histidine, tryptophan, lysine, arginine, threonine, cystine, methionine, and leucine. Kushwaha et al. (2021) found that the protein content of jackfruit seeds decreased from 18.56% to 12.15% as they matured (13). Jacalin is the major protein present in jackfruit. The crude extract of jackfruit seeds contains over 50% protein, primarily composed of Jacalin.

Vitamins and Minerals: Jackfruit is rich in vitamin C. It is also one of the rarest fruits with vitamin B complexes and a good amount of pyridoxine (vitamin B6), folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and niacin. Jackfruit is a rich source of minerals such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, zinc, copper, etc.

Fibre content (3): Fibre content in jackfruit ranges from 0.33-0.40%, and there are no significant differences in fibre content in different portions of the fruit during various ripening stages. The fibre content of immature and ripe jackfruit stands at 2.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Additionally, there may be slight variations in fibre content among different varieties of jackfruit flesh, ranging from 0.50% to 0.90%.

Fat: Jackfruit contains only about 1 gram of fat per cup and is considered heart-healthy due to its low-fat content and absence of saturated and trans fats.

Health benefits of jackfruit:

Constipation

Diabetes

Ulcer

Skin problems

Cancer

High blood pressure

References:

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