What Are The Benefits of Jackfruit?

First of all, what is jackfruit? jackfruit is the largest edible fruit in the world. Being that grows in tropical climates, it is native to India, but can also be found in Asia, Africa, South America, and even some parts of the Caribbean. The fruit, as well as its seeds, leaves, and bark, can all be used to eat or make medicine.

With that being said, jackfruit is rich in different kinds of vitamins and minerals, making it very beneficial to eat. The most common vitamins found in jackfruit are vitamin C and vitamin B. For minerals, potassium and calcium are the most common ones found in jackfruit.

So what does all this mean? What is the fruit actually doing to the human body? It can help reduce certain heart diseases, chances of stroke, and bone loss. Vitamin C within the fruit helps to protect the skin, keeping it both firm and strong. Calcium helps to strengthen bones, which prevents bone loss and weak bones in the long run. Another great component that jackfruit contains is fiber, which helps prevent constipation.

There are many other health benefits from jackfruit, so why isn’t it as widely known and eaten? Some of the reasons include the fruit’s large size, how quickly it spoils, the unique (and often unfavorable) flavor, and how hard the fruit is to peel. All of these things make it harder to harvest the fruit and keep it on the grocery store shelves. However, as it becomes more widely known, more people are seeing the fruit in their local grocery stores and taking advantage of all it has to offer.

Author: Kayjah Taylor

Editor: Sophia Galvez

Health scientist: Hira Mughal

@werise4wellness

References

Ranasinghe, R., Maduwanthi, S., & Marapana, R. (2019). Nutritional and Health Benefits of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.): A Review. International journal of food science, 2019, 4327183. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfs/2019/4327183/