he jackfruit
Southeast Asia. The name "Jack fruit" is
derived from the Portuguese Jaca, which in turn, is
derived from the Malayalam language term, Chakka. The
fruit is popularly known as ,Kathal, or 'kata-hal' in
Bengali and in Hindi. The Malayalam name 'Chakka' was
recorded by Hendrik van Rheede (1678–1703) in the
Hortus Malabaricus, vol. iii in Latin. Henry Yule
translated the book in Jordanus Catalani's (1678–1703)
Mirabilia Descripta: The Wonders of the East. The fruit is
called a variety of names around the world, such as "Mít"
in Vietnamese. The common English name jackfruit is a
name used by the physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta
in his 1563 book Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India.
Scientific classification
Kingdom Plantae
Division Magnoliophyta
Class Magnoliopsida
Order Rosales
Family Moraceae
Tribe Artocarpeae
Genus Artocarpus
Species Artocarpus heterophyllus
The world's largest fruit has many names – kathal, panasa, jaca, nangka,
kanoon, mít or Artocarpus heterophyllus, its scientific name. India is
considered as the motherland of Jackfruit. 'Chakka', its Malayalam name,
according to some, has given birth to the English name jackfruit. India is
second biggest producer of the fruit in the world.
How much jackfruits we waste? Nobody knows for sure. Some say 75 per
cent. Kerala wastes around 35 crore jackfruits annually. If you Google, you
won't get state-wise area and production figures for jackfruit. When nobody
knows how much is produced, how will we gauge how much is wasted? Still,
assuming one jackfruit costs Rs 3 and the national wastage is 50 per cent,
India is losing Rs 214.4 crore worth of food every year. In Mysore, Bangalore
and Mumbai, you might have to pay Rs 100 for a single jackfruit. But in
Ratnagiri or Kerala, it costs next to nothing. In Kerala, farmers used to hang a
board on their jackfruit tree saying, “Anybody can pluck jackfruit from this
tree.”
Medicinal Values
This fruit is rich in B-complex vitamins, also vitamins C. Jackfruit contains
the minerals, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, thiamin,
niacin, and sulfur. Jackfruit is high in calories, with around 80-100 per
average size fruit. Most of the calories are in the seeds. Studies have shown
this fruit to contain numerous antioxidant rich flavonoids, such as
Artocarpanone and Artocarpus, which inhibit the grow of melanin and
melanoma cells in human skin. Another study demonstrated that jackfruit's
yellow pulp is a good source of provitamin A, carotenoids, although not as
good as papaya. The flavonoids in jackfruit are anti-inflammatory, antibacterial
and anti-tumor. Jackfruit could also help to control diabetes.
Indeed, it has a higher hypoglycemic effect than some antidiabetic drugs.
Marketing Problems
Organised direct marketing has always been difficult. Jackfruit is not
cultivated as a monocrop. It is planted in homesteads, as windbreakers or
shade trees in a scattered way. Panruti taluk in Tamilnadu is the only
exception for this. The peak crop season is the monsoon. Harvesting and
transporting fruits from different trees where roads don't exist is difficult.
Then, fruits on a tree don't mature simultaneously. Selective harvesting
makes it more complex. For an individual farmer, carting a few jackfruits to a
distant city is not practical.
The biggest problem jackfruit growers' face is lack of a supply chain and
processing facilities. In villages there is a shortage of labour. There is hardly
anyone willing to pluck jackfruit, deseed and collect the flakes. Even if that
is done, no one bothers to transport the produce to the city. Further
Forgotten Kalpavriksha Forgotten Kalpavriksha
processing is no problem at all.
In India mango is the king of fruits. In Southeast Asia it is Durian. Others
argue that mangosteen is the king. In Hawaii, Ohelo berry and poha are
considered kings” If all these are kings, then jackfruit is the kingmaker.”
Key for Food Security
“Jackfruit is the real Kalpavriksh. It can fulfill the hunger of an entire
family. Imagine a Jackfruit (JF) tree in your homestead garden. It gives
shade. Keeps your micro climate cool. Sheds bagful of dry leaves for you to
mulch your vegetable and flower plants. Green leaves and roots are used as
medicine. Goats relish these leaves. The tree remains for centuries and
offers very valuable timber when grown. Jack timber, very expensive and
durable, is used in making furniture and musical instruments etc.
If the timber is its owner's fixed deposit, think of the rate of interest it 'pays'
every year without any gap. Even if we don't irrigate, don't put any manure,
even in years of less rainfall, it doesn't fail the owner. You get anything from
one quintal to a ton of food crop from the tree.
Apart from its nutritive and medicinal properties, you won't get a parallel to
this fruit in versatility. It has about four levels of maturity, the tender,
slightly grown, unripe and ripe. If earlier three stages can be used as a
vegetable, the last one has many value addition possibilities like desserts,
squash, pulp etc. Tender Jackfruit is a very tasty vegetable. Our grandmas
have mastered the art of making variety of curries from 'Chakka thoran'
(Jackfruit stir fry) to 'puzukku' and even dosa. Fruit can be eaten fresh.
'Chakka Varatty' made from fruit is a raw material for many more deserts.
Thousands of value added products can be made from this and jack seed
flour will be a popular commercial product in the next decade.
Jackfruit is the biggest organically grown fruit. It dons various roles starting
from a vegetable to a table fruit, raw material for desserts and a number
two staple that can be preserved in households for year round use. No
doubt, it is forgotten Kalpavriksh of India.
Panruti, the 'Jackfruit Paradise'
Panruti, the lesser known 'Jackfruit Paradise' of India is a showcase of the
real production capacity of this wonderful tree. It has many unique features
in Jackfruit farming.
· It is only at Panruti one can see hundreds of pure Jackfruit orchards
– monoculture plantations – ranging from one acre to twenty.
· Jackfruit is available here round the year.
· Considerable numbers of farmers irrigate and manure regularly.
'
· Thinning' – a very interesting agronomic practice – can be compared
to family planning - is followed here by all farmers. It ensures bigger fruits
with good fill and better taste. Insect menace is less. Natural weak fruits are
cut off.
· Panruti produces what may be the biggest jackfruits of the world –
though so far claims to Guinness Book of Records have not been made for
this title. One jackfruit recently harvested weighed a whopping 81 kgs.
Useful Practice of Thinning
A simple technique called thinning produces bigger fruits. At a tender stage,
excessive fruits are cut off allowing only selected ones to grow. The formula
followed is to retain two fruits per age of the tree. Consequently, only
average sized and big fruits flow into the market. You won't see fruits
smaller than 15 kg in the market.
After thinning, farmers get between Rs 50 to Rs 75 for each fruit sold to
middlemen. This price doubles in the market. By the time the fruit reaches
metro cities, its price increases four-fold. A few farmers send fruits as 'part
load' on lorries to Chennai's wholesale market. They get double the Panruti
rate, but have to cough up a fat 15 per cent commission.
Which other crop can ensure a farmer a steady income of Rs 60,000 per
acre? It is drought-resistant, evergreen and helps in groundwater recharge.
It requires hardly any labour. Its leaves are food for goats. If properly used,
jackfruit provides food in various forms for the grower's family and enough
Forgotten Kalpavriksha Forgotten Kalpavriksha
to sell in the market. Beyond 30 years, the timber is ready for sale any time.
At this stage, the farmer can easily earn Rs 10,000 per tree.
World Leader in JF Fruit Chips
Countries like Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and even
our neighboring Sri Lanka have gone far ahead in better utilization and
farming of jackfruit.
Vietnam is the world leader in jackfruit products. It has 20 units that make
chips. Among them Vinamit Trading Corporation is the biggest. In
Vietnamese, mit means jackfruit. This 20-year old company does fruit
processing, produces fruit chips and is a giant in that field. Jackfruit is main
among all the fruits that it value adds. Vinamit is perhaps the world leader
in Jack fruit value addition. It exports jackfruit chips to countries like the
US, Japan, Germany, Russia and China.
“For big landowners in Vietnam growing rubber is profitable. But for small
farmers, jackfruit fetches them more money than rubber,” says Nguyen Lam
Vien, CEO of Vinamit. “Profit from jackfruit is about $ 8,000 to $12,000 per
hectare per year.” The company has jackfruit orchards in about 10,000
hectares. It has entered into an eight year purchase contract with farmers.
As a result, 300 new jackfruit orchards from five hectares to 100 hectares
have been developed.
Nguyen Lam Vien built his company from scratch through sheer hard work.
When all the Taiwanese business people he contacted refused to buy his fruit
chips, he sat on the footpath and offered samples to all and sundry. In
China's crowded passenger trains, he followed the same strategy.
Malaysia – Forging Ahead in Fresh Fruit Marketing
Jackfruit is available round the year in Malaysia. In recent years, among
other local fruits, Malaysia has given top priority for the development of
Jackfruit. It is included in its National Agriculture policy.
Jackfruit plays an important role in the country's economy. Extensive
planting is done for local and export markets. FAMA, Federal Agriculture
Marketing Authority, a marketing agency established by the Government
under the Ministry of Agriculture is offering good marketing infrastructure
and support to farmers. MARDI, Malaysian Agricultural Research and
Development Institute has developed Minimal Processing technology that has
opened new doors for its fresh fruit exports.
Minimally processed jackfruit can be kept for 3 weeks at 2°C, 1 week at
10°C and 2 days at 25°C. The achievable storage life provides sufficient
marketing planning for distribution both for local and export markets.
Today, three Malaysian companies are using the technologies for commercial
handling of minimally processed jackfruit for export markets. Minimal
Processed fruits are exported to Europe, Middle East and Singapore, UK,
Thailand etc. The technology has a potential for export not only by air but
also by sea shipments to markets such as Hong Kong, China and Taiwan as
traveling time is only between 5-7 days.
Malaysia's per-capita consumption of jackfruit fruit is expected to increase
from 0.8 kg/person /yr in 2000 to 1.0 kg in 2010. Production area of
jackfruit is expected to increase from 6,000 hectares in 2000 to 55,000
hectares in 2010.
Forgotten Kalpavriksha Forgotten Kalpavriksha
Sri Lanka will Never Starve
Jackfruit is a part and parcel of Sri Lankan life for centuries. It is known as
'Bath gasa' or Rice tree in Sinhala language.
Mature fruit is boiled and eaten with coconut. This is almost a staple food
among most rural people. It is cheapest as well. Jack curry occupies a
prominent place even in weddings. 'Kos Mama's campaign succeeded in
making Srilankans aware about the importance of JF in local food security.
In recent decades, Sri Lanka has gone far ahead in the value addition of
Jackfruit. Rural Enterprises Network, a voluntary organization is producing
about ten tonnes of unripe JF flakes. This apart from being sold locally is
being exported to even countries like Europe. Preserving in brine is also
followed commercially on large scale. Polos (tender Jackfruit) in brine, Jack
seeds in brine are some of the commercial products. Sri Lanka has at least a
dozen companies that among other products produce value additions of
Jackfruit for export. Ready to Eat Polos Curry in tin/bottles is a very popular
product that is exported to several countries like Australia, California and US
etc.
In Sri Lanka, you can find minimally processed form in many urban areas.
Since JF value additions of Sri Lanka are low-tech and has given more
emphasis in using it as a vegetable, it is more doable and ideal for India.
Untapped Potential
Unfortunately, we in India have taken the potential of this Kalpavruksha,
Jackfruit – for granted. More than half of the fruits go waste without even
harvesting. Once it ripens, the soft fleshed type – koozhachakka has
practically no takers at all.
Though we are growing a huge amount of jackfruit, efforts to commercialize
the same is next to nothing. How many branded jackfruit products we have?
Only around a dozen. Even these products never cross the boundaries of the
producing state. To name a few: Kerala has three brands of Jack Varatty –
Saj, Saras and Double Horse. Amar brand of tinned tender jackfruit from
Maharashtra is the only product of that kind. So is vacuum fried fruit chips
produced by Gokul fruits of Karnataka. The only modified atmosphere
packed jackfruit chips come out of Aditya agro foods of Lucknow. Mayoora
brand jackfruit papad from Kadamba marketing co-operative of Sirsi and
Chirag brand of papads from Shivapura, Karnataka are two branded papads
in the country. Jackfruit jam from Grandmas, pickle from some northeastern
states, fruit papad, burfi etc from Yojak Associates of Ratnagiri are
some other products worth mentioning. Parayil Food products of Kottayam is
exporting a dozen of jackfruit products like tender jackfruit thoran (stir fry),
Varatty etc.
We have a rich tradition and knowledge of using jackfruit of different
growths for hundreds of food purposes. First of all, we have to shed our
mental block or inferiority complex about this wonder fruit. Let us start
using it at our homes, in weddings and even in social functions etc. We have
to start a conscious 'Eat well – waste nil' attitude about JF. Let us introduce
the fruit to our children, and sensitize them about the importance of a
bountiful & nutritive fruit like Jackfruit.
From consumers' point of view, major constraint in utilizing jackfruit is the
cumbersome process involved in cutting and scooping out the bulbs and
making it ready. Another problem is its huge size. No family can finish it in a
day.
RTC & RTE Packs for Cities
Making jackfruit in Ready to eat (RTE) and Ready to cook (RTC) forms is the
only solution for these two problems. Making selected and branded fruit
bulbs in take home packets is a good idea. Such efforts have begun in many
super markets in the country. But it has to be still geared up.
The process of making the fruit ready to cook/eat is called as 'Minimal
processing.' This in a small way has started in cities like Goa,
Thiruvananthapuram etc even for unripe jackfruit to be used for vegetable.
In Singapore, leading hyper markets do this in a very systematic and hygienic
manner.
It is high time for agencies to come up to minimal process and supply
jackfruit in ripe/unripe and tender forms to super and hyper markets. Some
R & D is necessary to extend the shelf life of this highly perishable produce.
Have more awareness programs and make available in urban areas in
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minimally processed or processed form. Preservation techniques have to be
standardized to make the seasonal fruit available round the year.
Off-Season Orchards
Another thrust area is identification and popularizing off season, twice
bearing and early season bearers. Studies in Kerala and Karnataka have
clearly shown that we have such genotypes in the respective states. Story is
not different in Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu. All season and early season fruits
will bring higher revenue for farmers.
It would be wise to develop jackfruit orchards with all season and off season
bearers in low rainfall areas. Consider this marketing potential of Panruti
jackfruits that is untapped till now. By arranging a steady supply chain
through night-bus or trains, sourcing jackfruits from Panruti, super markets
in Trivandrum, Kochi, Bangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore, Madurai, Chennai etc
can sell fresh jackfruits in cling wrapped packets round the year.
One immediate step towards this goal is making conscious efforts to increase
domestic consumption of jackfruit. 'Eat well, waste nil' should be our
objective. With proper utilization of this local fruit in many ways, we can
bid good-bye to vegetables and fruits that has to come from hundreds of
kilometers away and most of them with pesticide residues.
If all of us join hands, we can ensure a deserving place for this fruit. Better
utilization and stopping its wastage is the first step towards its
development.
Some Useful Webpages
http://www.itfnet.org/index.jsp?page=1&process=11&mid=1&fid=22
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/jackfruit_ars.html
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/jackfruit.html
http://www.bijlmakers.com/fruits/jackfruit.htm
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/jack_fruit.html
http://www.virtualherbarium.org/tropicalfruit/jackfruit-recipes.html
http://www.tarladalal.com/glossary-raw-jackfruit-739i
Blogs
http://panasamwonders.blogspot.com/
http://www.jackfruitfest.org/
http://greenjackfruit.blogspot.com/
Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1L8gJHZUhc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLwGJyVDPRk
http://www.videokeralam.com/kerala-videos/peeling-of-jack-fruitvideo_
e209fc9b0.html (Malayalam)
http://www.malayalamtube.com/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/11
85/-/2-day-jackfruit-festival-in-ernakulam#axzz1MtCk7GTz (Jack Fest –
Malayalam)
Other References
http://www.icuc-iwmi.org/files/News/Resources/Factsheets/jackfruit.pdf
http://www.agroforestry.net/tti/A.heterophyllus-jackfruit.pdf
http://www.da.gov.ph/tips/jackfruit.pdf
http://www.tropicananutritioninstitute.in/swf/jackfruit.pdf
National Jackfruit Fest
National Jackfruit Fest
Co-ordination Office:
Santhigram, Kazhuvur P.O; Pulluvila-695 526,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, S. India
Phone: 0471-2269780, 6452511, 2722151
E.mail: jackfruitfestkerala@gmail.com
Web : www.jackfruitfest.org.
