Jackfruit is a delicious, sweet and nutritious fruit belongs to Mulberry family. It is one of nature’s miracles, which is related with curing several health complications thus it should be included in diet for promoting wellbeing
Nutritional composition
- It contains significant amount of carbohydrates. It also contains soluble and insoluble fibre. The amount of starch and fibre of jackfruit generally increases with maturity
- It contains desirable amount of proteins as well. It is composed of various important amino acids like cystine, arginine, leucine, methionine, lysine, histidine, tryptophan and threonine
- It is loaded with several imperative micronutrients like Vitamin A, vitamin C, Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, calcium, potassium, copper, iron and magnesium
- It also contains various phytonutrients that exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-carcinogenic activities
Health benefits
Role on immunity
- Consumption of jackfruit is extremely beneficial for improving the immunological responses of the body as it contains numerous immune boosting nutrients
- Its antioxidant activity is also responsible for strengthening the immune system by neutralizing the effects of free radicals
- Its Vitamin C content is accountable for promoting the synthesis of WBC in body that helps to fight against infections
Role on digestive health
- It helps to improve overall digestive health
- Its fibre content plays vital role in preventing constipation as it helps in enhancing bowel movement that promotes regularity and it is also associated with increasing the mass and softness of stool that make defecation easy
- It helps to increase colonic motility hence improves colonic health
- It helps to reduce the prevalence of diverticular diseases
- It is also related with removing carcinogenic chemicals from large intestine thus plays imperative role in protecting the gastrointestinal tract from the detrimental effects of carcinogens
Role on metabolism
- Consumption of jackfruit is closely associated with providing instant energy. It has estimated that 100g of jackfruit is accountable for providing about 94 kcal of energy
- It is packed with good carbohydrates that help to provide instant energy and the carbohydrates present in jackfruit are easily digestible thus its consumption is responsible for providing a quick energy boost
Role on skin
- It helps in promoting skin health
- It helps to prevent ageing as well
- It also helps to protect the skin from the harmful effects of UV ray
- It helps to increase skin elasticity too
- Its consumption is very effective for preventing wrinkles
Role on skeletal system
- It is significantly rich in calcium thus its consumption is very effective for strengthening bones
- It also helps in bone mineralization thus its consumption is thought to be very effective for enhancing bone mineral density
- Its consumption is very much useful for improving the symptoms of bone related disorders like osteoporosis, arthritis etc
- On the other hand its potassium content is related with decreasing calcium losses through kidney thus helps to maintain normal calcium level in body and prevents calcium deficiency
Role on wound healing
- It helps to stimulate the re-synthesis of cells and tissues at the site of wound that accelerates the healing process
- Vitamin C present in jackfruit is related with synthesizing collagen, which is also very important for wound healing as it helps to maintain a healthy connective tissue
- It has antimicrobial property too, which is also responsible for promoting the wound healing process as it helps to decrease the prevalence of sepsis at the site of wound
Role on eye health
- It contains significant amount of Vitamin A that helps in improving eye sight
- It helps to protect the retina from free radical induced oxidative damages thus helps to decrease the prevalence of retinal degeneration, which ultimately reduces the risk of developing cataract
- It is also associated with protecting the eye from microbial infections
- It helps to protect the eye from the harmful effects of UV radiation as well
Role on improving blood quality
- It contains desirable amount of iron that helps in hemoglobin synthesis thus plays vital role in maintaining normal blood volume and blood flow
- Its Vitamin C, copper and magnesium contents are also responsible for improving blood quality
- Its consumption is also very effective for decreasing the risk of developing anemia
Role on nervous system
- Consumption of jackfruit is closely related with boosting up the nervous system as it contains adequate amount of B vitamins that play imperative role in promoting the health and activity of brain
- It is also extremely helpful for preventing stress and fatigue
Therapeutic uses
- It is extensively used as an effective therapeutic agent for preventing hypercholesterolemia as it is related with decreasing the concentration of LDL, VLDL and triglycerides in body. Whereas, it helps to improve HDL level thus its consumption is believed to be extremely beneficial for improving lipid profile
- It helps to reduces the risk of developing metabolic diseases too
- It is also used as an important remedial action for hypertension as its potassium content helps in reducing the tension in the wall of blood vessels and also counteracts the effects of sodium
- It is loaded with phytochemicals that play imperative role in decreasing oxidative stress in body thus reduces the risk of developing cancers. It is also associated with preventing the formation of new blood vessels around cancerous cells and lacking of these blood vessels are responsible for reducing blood supply to cancerous cells hence hinder their growth
- Consumption of jackfruit especially the extract of jackfruit root is very effective for preventing fever
- It also reduces the prevalence of asthma
- Copper component of jackfruit plays imperative role in thyroid metabolism thus helps to maintain the normal production of thyroid hormones. Individual suffer from thyroid disorders should include jackfruit in their diet
- Its consumption also promotes cardiac health as it contains significant amount of fibre, phytochemicals, antioxidant and potassium. It helps to protect arteries from damages, it also prevents hardening of artery by inhibiting plaque formation thus decreases the risk of developing atherosclerosis and coronary artery diseases. It helps to improve the functionality of cardiac muscle as well thus it is considered as an important therapeutic substance, which should be consumed for obtaining a healthy cardiac system
- Its consumption is also very useful for preventing ulcers
- Individual suffer from insomnia can include jackfruit in their diet
Culinary uses
- It can be consumed cooked or raw into both savory and sweet dishes depending on its ripeness
- It has seen that unripe jackfruit basically tastes better in savory dishes whereas the ripe jackfruit is best for desserts due to its sweetness
- Unripe jackfruit can be used to prepare vegetable curry or stew or it can also be used as a side dish with sauteed tomatoes and onions
- Ripe jackfruit can be consumed alone or it can also be consumed along with yogurt and blueberries
General consideration of using jackfruit
- It is better to slice jackfruit first then the yellow coloured fruit pods and seeds should be removed from the skin and from the core
- This peeling of jackfruit is not so easy because of its sticky sap thus it is better to rub it with some cooking oil before slicing
- It is better to store ripe jackfruit in refrigerator because ripe jackfruit spoils more rapidly
Risk factors
It does not show too much side effects but it often develops allergic reactions to some people
Source:
Benkeblia, N., HARNESSING THE NUTRITIONAL AND COMMERCIAL BENEFITS OF JACKFRUIT.
Das, K. and Saha, A., 2020. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.), a potential fruit crop of Tripura and exploring its nutritional benefits. Journal of Medicinal Plants, 8(4), pp.101-103.
Goswami, C. and Chacrabati, R., 2016. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophylus). In Nutritional composition of fruit cultivars (pp. 317-335). Academic Press.
Jadhav, H., Mankar, S.D. and Bhosale, M.S., 2021. A Review on Jackfruit: It is profitable to human beings. Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 13(1), pp.51-54.
Ranasinghe, R.A.S.N., Maduwanthi, S.D.T. and Marapana, R.A.U.J., 2019. Nutritional and health benefits of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.): a review. International journal of food science, 2019.
Swami, S.B., Thakor, N.J., Haldankar, P.M. and Kalse, S.B., 2012. Jackfruit and its many functional components as related to human health: a review. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 11(6), pp.565-576.