May 21, 2020
India is the biggest cultivator of India’s ‘superfood’ jackfruit. Superfood because during COVID-19, scarcity of meat and poultry pushed the demand as meat substitute in Indian market. This ever-green, spiky, huge and bulky fruit has a strong, sweet smell. Jackfruit has morphed as a backyard nuisance in India’s south coast soon to become darling of vegans and vegetarians in the West.
“There are a lot of enquiries from abroad… At the international level, the interest in jackfruit has grown manifold,” Varghese Tharakan said from his orchard in Thrissur district.
The jackfruit generally weighs 5 kgs on an average. It has a silky yellow flesh when ripe and is eaten fresh or used in preparing other delicacies like cakes, juices, ice creams, breads and crisps. When unripe fruits are harvested they are used in curries, saute vegetable, veg Shaami Kebabs, Biryanis and may such interesting cuisine.
Alternatively in the Western countries, shredded jackfruit has become a popular alternative as meat and is even used as a pizza topping. “People love it,” Anu Bhambri, who owns a chain of restaurants in the U.S. and India, explains. “The jackfruit tacos have been a hit at each and every location. The jackfruit cutlet — every table orders it, it’s one of my favourites!” James Joseph quit his job as a director at Microsoft after spotting Western interest in jackfruit “gaining momentum as a vegan alternative to meat”.
Joseph said, “The COVID-19 crisis has created two spikes in consumer interest -* Corona virus caused a fear for chicken and people switched to tender jackfruit. * In Kerala, lockdown caused a surge in demand for mature green jackfruit and seeds due to shortage of vegetables due to border restrictions”, he explained.
Joseph commented, “You get a hard bite like meat — that’s what is gaining popularity and like meat it absorbs the spices. His firm sells jackfruit flour which can be mixed with or used as an alternative to wheat and rice flour to make anything from burger patties to local classics such as idli. Joseph worked with Sydney University’s Glycemic Index Research Service to establish any health benefits. “When we did a nutritional analysis, we found jackfruit as a meal is better than rice and roti (bread) for an average person who wants to control his blood sugar,” he added.
Tharakan has worked hard on Jackfruit farming after leaving rubber plantation and with success in superfood, has not looked back since. Tharakan has a variety that he can cultivate year-round. “When I cut down my rubber trees, everyone thought I had gone crazy. But the same people now come and ask me the secret of my success,” he smiles. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala alone, demand for jackfruit is now 100 metric tons every day during the peak season yielding a turnover of $19.8 million a year, says economics professor S. Rajendran of the Gandhigram Rural Institute.
Bangladesh and Thailand are proving to be rival countries. Jackfruit’s newfound international fame is a massive turnaround for a plant that while used in local dishes, has long been viewed as a poor man’s fruit. Each tree can yield as 150-250 fruits a season.
Tharakan recall, “It was not unusual to see notices in private gardens asking people to take away the fruit for free because they were so plentiful, they would simply rot and attract flies”.
While India’s jackfruit growers — like the wider agriculture sector — have been hit as the nationwide lockdown which has caused shortage of labour and transport, international demand for the fruit shows no sign of slowing down.
Sujan Sarkar, the Palo Alto-based executive chef of Bhambri’s restaurants, believes even meat-eaters are becoming jackfruit lovers. He said, “It’s not only vegetarians or vegans, even the meat-eaters, they just love it”.