Text Credit: Shibul Pavithran

Jackfruit is the international trending super food this year. It is one of the heaviest and largest tree-borne fruits, famous for its rich taste and aroma. For many years in Kerala, its existence was unsung in many ways, despite its highly impressive health benefits. Jackfruit offers numerous health benefits: its high potassium content helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, flavonoids protect against cancer and antioxidants fight various other ailments, including anaemia. Jackfruit helps develop immunity, promotes hair growth and provides energy. It’s rich in fibre;  is high in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, phytonutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, and contains unsaturated fats or cholesterol.

Source: dekochi.com

Chakka in Malayalam originates from ‘Che-Kai’, meaning a group of green fruits (kai) joined together. One jackfruit has many individual fruits joined at the core with a spiky green jacket. The name changes to idi-chakka (panasam apakvam in Sanskrit) when tender, and chakka-pazham (panasam pakvam in Sanskrit) when it is a fruit. The name Jackfruit originates from the Malayalam name Chakka, which Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese scholar, wrote as ‘jaca’ in 1563. It later became jackfruit in English.

After the state animal, bird, flower, and fish, Kerala now has its official fruit as well. And it is none other than the jackfruit. The state government made a formal declaration in this regard on March 21, based on a proposal by the Agriculture Department. The government also plans to promote the ‘Kerala Jackfruit’ as a brand in markets across the country and abroad, highlighting its organic and nutritional qualities. State Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said the core objective of the government is to encourage the production and sale of jackfruit and its value-added products.”Though jackfruit is one of the most widely produced fruits in the state, we are yet to tap its potential completely. Crores of jackfruits, that also of different varieties, are produced in Kerala every year,” he said.

Detailing the qualities of the ‘Kerala jackfruit’, he said,  it is organic and tasty as it is produced in a very natural way without using any chemical fertilisers or pesticides. Kerala produces 30 to 60 crore jackfruits annually. “Our people do not use any fertiliser for production of jackfruits. They are grown in a very natural way in villages without any special care.”

The government plans to distribute jackfruit tree saplings among the public to grow it in their backyards as part of plans to expand the cultivation. The agricultural office in Ambalavayal, Wayanad will be the research station for the crop.

James Joseph, a former Microsoft director, has been searching for myriad ways to make his favourite fruit available all year round and is the owner of the established brand called Jackfruit 365. His brand specialises in selling the nutrient-rich freeze-dried fruit. In an exclusive interview with FWD Media, we asked him why he chose jackfruit and not coconut? He answered, “Jackfruits being so tasty and nutritious are not available because it is seasonal and messy. As a result, 80 percent of it is getting wasted in a country that has jackfruits worth Rs 2,000Cr out of which Rs 550Cr is in Kerala”.

A movie has been made with jackfruit as the theme and recently a ‘Chakka Pattu’ from the movie Kuttanpillayude Shivarathri got released, garnering attention from all.

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