The Miracle Fruits that can safe your life.
Jackfruit is a tropical tree fruit grown in Asia, Africa and South America. belongs to the same plant family as figs and mulberries.
The scientific name for jackfruit is Artocarpus heterophyllus.
Growing up we use to eat Jackfruit as ordinary poor people snacks, little did we know that what we were eating was pack full of nutrients that help the body, no wonder we were not falling sick easily because we were eating close to nature and that help us to boost our immune system.
Today most of those foods we were seen as suffer men food is now sought after internationally.
With the help of scientific research, we are make to appreciates our grand parents who had the pre knowledge of eating organic foods, leaving close to nature as possible, then seen chemicalize food products as poison.
.jpeg)
Jackfruit contains vitamin A, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, calciu wem, potassium, iron, sodium, zinc, and niacin, among many other nutrients.
Jackfruit has a low caloric content; 100 g of jackfruit only contains 94 calories (Mukprasirt and Sajjaanantakul, 2004). Jackfruit is a rich source of potassium, with 303 mg found in 100 g of jackfruit. Studies show that food rich in potassium helps lower blood pressure.
Another benefit of eating jackfruit is that it is a good source of vitamin C (Table 1). The human body does not make vitamin C, so one must eat food that contains vitamin C to reap its health benefits. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects the body against free radicals.
Jackfruit
strengthens the immune system, and keeps gums healthy (Umesh etal., 2010). Jackfruit contains phytonutrients, including lignans, isoflavones, and saponins that have wide ranging health benefits. These phytonutrients have anticancer, antihypertensive, antiulcer, and antiaging properties.
The phytonutrients found in jackfruit, therefore, can prevent the formation of cancer cells in the body, can lower blood pressure, can fight against stomach ulcers, and can slow down the degeneration of cells that make the skin look young and vital. Jackfruit also contains niacin, known as vitamin B3 and necessary for energy metabolism, nerve function, and the synthesis of certain hormones.
A portion of 100 g of jackfruit pulp provides 4 mg niacin (Soobrattee and others, 2005). Boiling the root of the jackfruit and extracting and consuming it with its high nutritional content have been found to control asthma.
Jackfruit root has also been used to treat skin problems. The extract of jackfruit
extract of jackfruit root is believed to be able to help cure diarrhea and fever.
.jpeg)
Table 1. Composition of jackfruit (100 g edible portion), fresh weight basis
| Nutrients | Young fruit | Ripe fruit |
|---|---|---|
| Water (g) | 76.2–85.2 | 72.0–94.0 |
| Protein (g) | 2.0–2.6 | 1.2−1.9 |
| Fat (g) | 0.1−0.6 | 0.1−0.4 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 9.4–11.5 | 16.0–25.4 |
| Fiber (g) | 2.6−3.6 | 1.0–1.5 |
| Total sugars (g) | NA∗ | 20.6 |
| Total minerals (g) | 0.8 | 0.8–0.9 |
| Calcium (mg) | 30.0–73.2 | 20.0–37.0 |
| Magnesium (mg) | NA∗ | 27.0 |
| Phosphorus (mg) | 20.0–57.2 | 38.0–41.0 |
| Potassium (mg) | 287.0–323.0 | 191.0–407.0 |
| Sodium (mg) | 3.0–35.0 | 2.0–41.0 |
| Iron (mg) | 0.4−1.9 | 0.5−1.1 |
| Vitamin A (IU) | 30.0 | 175.0–540.0 |
| Thiamine (mg) | 0.05−0.15 | 0.03−0.09 |
| Riboflavin (mg) | 0.05−0.2 | 0.05−0.4 |
| Vitamin C (mg) | 12.0–14.0 | 7.0–10.0 |
| Energy (kJ) | 50−210 | 88−410 |
Sources: Soepadmo (1992); Gunasena et al. (1996); Azad (2000).
