The jackfruit is the largest fruit in the world. A jackfruit is better known as jackfruit. Nangka is the Indonesian name that is still used by Dutch Eurasians and jackfruit is of course English. Nangka is the official Dutch name of jackfruit. Jackfruit are particularly large fruits, about 5 times the size of a coconut. The inside is full of yellow pieces that can be eaten like fruit. You can also cook the jackfruit as a side dish with rice. Fresh, uncooked jackfruit tastes great and has a vanilla or custard-like aftertaste. NB! This article is written from the personal view of the author and may contain information that is not scientifically substantiated and/or in line with the general view.

Contents:

• The largest fruit in the world
• Distribution of jackfruit
• Eating the jackfruit
• Vitamins jackfruit
• Mineral jackfruit
• Jackfruit against cancer
• Other medicinal powers
• General vitality
• Traditionally used
• Jackfruit eating tips

The largest fruit in the world

The jackfruit is impressive to see. A single fruit can grow from 75cm to a meter and an enormous number of fruits grow close together on a tree. If someone in the tropics has a jackfruit in the garden, he or she has more than enough to eat. Moreover, he can regularly go to the market to sell his harvest. A jackfruit tree can produce 250 large fruits annually, varying in weight from 3 kilos to as much as 30 kilos. The fruit is easy to pick as many grow close to the trunk and low above the ground.

Distribution of jackfruit

This fruit is almost impossible to buy in the West, but it is even more so in tropical countries such as India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The fruit comes from South East Asia but has now been introduced into all tropical areas. It is also grown in tropical Africa, Suriname, Jamaica and Brazil.

Eating the jackfruit

The fresh fruit has a thick, green skin with a kind of geometric grid pattern and can be broken apart into small bite-sized pieces that you don’t even have to cut. They are ocher yellow and slightly slippery, but very tender and deliciously sweet. You can quickly fill two large bowls from a single fruit. It is an ideal snack fruit. The jackfruit is cooked as a vegetable, in some countries this is done with young jackfruit and in other countries with the slightly older jackfruit. Cooked jackfruit tastes quite neutral and looks somewhat glassy pink; very different from the snack fruit version.

Vitamins jackfruit

Jackfruit contain various minerals and vitamins. It contains most vitamin B6 or pyridoxine. Per 100 grams it contains no less than 25% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Vitamin C is present in sufficient quantities, 25% of the RDA per ounce. The thiamine content of this large tropical fruit is quite high: 9% of the RDI. Folic acid (B11) and niacin (B3) both contain 6% of the RDA in nangka. Furthermore, this whopper of a fruit contains 4% of the RDA of riboflavin (B2) and 3.5% of the RDA of vitamin A.

Mineral jackfruit

Minerals always contain lower amounts in fruit than vitamins. Yet minerals from fruits are important for the body. It is important that the entire spectrum of nutrients is sufficiently supplied to the body. The values of 9% of the RDI for magnesium and manganese are high for a type of fruit. In addition, it contains 8% of the RDA of iron. It contains 7% of the RDA of potassium. It also contains the minerals phosphorus (5% DV), calcium (3.4% DV) and zinc (4% DV).

Jackfruit against cancer

Jackfruit contains many phytonutrients in the form of isoflavones, lignans and saponins. These have medicinal properties; they prevent cancer. Phytonutrients, like vitamins A, C and E, work as antioxidants that fight free radicals in the body. In addition, phytonutrients strengthen each other’s effect and the effect of vitamins and minerals. This allows the body, which is always looking for recovery, to produce more adequately the substances it needs at that moment.Source: Flyingbird, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)

Other medicinal powers

Besides its medicinal properties against cancer, the phytonutrients in jackfruit prevent stomach ulcers and high blood pressure. All symptoms of old age such as wrinkle formation, stiffness and dull skin are also dampened by regularly eating jackfruit. People will look younger if they eat jackfruit more often. Jackfruit is also good for digestion. Anyone who suffers from indigestion in the tropics would do well to eat a portion of jackfruit every day. Both diarrhea and constipation seem to be combated by eating this wonderful fruit.

General vitality

The jackfruit contains a lot of natural sucrose fructose, which is completely different from artificial, synthesized fructose in almost every jam and soft drink from the supermarket. The natural fructose from jackfruit is immediately absorbed by the body and converted into energy, making your body feel much more vital.The bite-sized nangka pieces that come out of the large fruit / Source: Mullookkaaran, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)

Traditionally used

The root of the jackfruit is used as a traditional medicine. It is applied to the skin against skin infections, redness, skin allergies and insect bites. Internally it is sometimes prescribed against fungal infections and especially against asthma. Drinking jackfruit root tea can help you breathe better.

Jackfruit eating tips

It can be eaten as a snack vegetable or added to a fruit salad. In Indonesia it is cooked and served with green vegetables or made into soup. When cooked, it is an ideal side dish as a vegetable. As a soup it is suitable for a meal soup. You can make jam or jelly from it and in tropical countries jackfruit jam is sold in stores. The seeds of the jackfruit are healthy and especially rich in minerals. They are used in curry recipes in India and Thailand. The seeds are boiled and preserved in syrup for a tasty lemonade. The flesh of the jackfruit has a light bite, much like chicken flesh. For that reason and because it is very healthy, it is used in vegetable mixes as a meat substitute.