THRISSUR: Green, spiky and with a strong, sweet smell, the bulky jackfruit has morphed
from a backyard nuisance in India’s south coast into the meatsubstitute darling of vegans
and vegetarians in the West.
Part of the South Asia’s diet for centuries, jackfruit was so abundant that tonnes of it went
to waste every year.
But now India, the world’s biggest producer of jackfruit, is capitalising on its growing
popularity as a “superfood” meat alternative touted by chefs from San Francisco to
London and Delhi for its porklike texture when unripe.
“There are a lot of enquiries from abroad… At the international level, the interest in
jackfruit has grown manifold,” Varghese Tharakkan tells AFP from his orchard in Kerala’s
Thrissur district.
The fruit, which weighs five kilogrammes (11 pounds) on average, has a waxy yellow fleshWhen unripe, it is added to curries or fried, minced and sauted. In the West, shredded jackfruit has become a popular alternative to
pulled pork and is even used as a pizza topping.
“People love it,” Anu Bhambri, who owns a chain of restaurants in the US 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”.
Jack of all fruits
The COVID19 crisis, Joseph says, has created two spikes in consumer interest.
“Coronavirus 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 explains.
Global interest in veganism was already soaring prepandemic, buoyed by movements such as Meat Free Mondays and Veganuary, and
with it the business of “alternative meats”. Concerns about health and the environment a 2019 UN report suggested adopting more of a plantbased diet could help mitigate
climate change mean consumers are turning to brands such as Impossible and Beyond Meat for plantbased replications of chicken,
beef, and pork.
But they are also using substitutes long popular in Asia such as soybased tofu and tempeh, and wheat derivative seitan, as well as
jackfruit.
This boom has meant more and more jackfruit orchards have sprung up in the coastal state.
“You get a hard bite like meat that’s what is gaining popularity and like meat it absorbs the spices,” comments Joseph.
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 adds. 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.
And while India’s jackfruit growers like the wider agriculture sector have been hit as the nationwide coronavirus lockdown causes a
shortage of labour and transport, international demand shows no sign of slowing.
Sujan Sarkar, the Palo Altobased executive chef of Bhambri’s restaurants, believes even meateaters are becoming jackfruit converts.
He adds: “It’s not only vegetarians or vegans, even the meateaters, they just love it.”
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