Technical Facts on the Current Scenario and Future Potential of Jackfruit Processing

Abstract

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam) is one of the important underutilized fruit belonging to the family Moraceae and is the largest edible fruit. Jackfruit is often called as “poor man’s bread fruit” because it is cheaply available in large quantities during the season. Jackfruit seeds are normally discarded or steamed and eaten as a snack or used in some local dishes; seed flour is used in some biscuit factories in various bakery products, etc. The use of jackfruit bulbs, seeds, and its other parts has also been reported since ancient times for their therapeutic qualities. The health benefits of jackfruit have been attributed to its wide range of physicochemical applications. It contains high levels of carbohydrates, protein, starch, calcium, vitamins, free sugar (sucrose), fatty acids, ellagic acid, and amino acids like arginine, cystine, histidine, leucine, lysine, methionine, theanine, and tryptophan. The jackfruit has diverse medicinal uses especially antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, and antifungal activity. This chapter describes an overview of the functional, medicinal, nutritional, and health aspects of jackfruit.