A study commissioned by AgriFutures has found notable consumer demand for jackfruit products. The statutory corporation commissioned Monash Food Innovation to complete the study as part of the Emerging Industries Program.
The study examined jackfruit and how the industry could drive more consumer demand for the versatile but largely unfamiliar fruit. Its goal was to find ways to process jackfruit into ready-to-eat products and ingredients and more appealing to consumers.
Monash University Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering lead researcher Dr Leonie van ’t Hag said jackfruit had many health benefits; high in fibre, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, and a good source of vitamin A, B1 and B2.
“Compared to other tropical fruits, the protein content in the seed and young fruit is high. It is a good source of lysine, an amino acid that vegetarians and vegans can struggle to obtain in their diet.
“Research also suggests that jackfruit has many classes of phytochemicals that have anti-cancer, anti-hypertensive, anti-ulcer and anti-ageing properties,” van ’t Hag said.
When ripe, its fruit segments are similar to the tropical tastes of banana, mango and pineapple and when unripe, its stringy texture is known to be a meat substitute, increasingly popular in western cuisine.
Its size, shape, and appearance is thought to be a major contributor to its lack of use in Australia. Jackfruit are have a spiky exterior, hard rind and cumbersome size, weighing up to 50 kilos. It is the world’s largest tree-grown fruit.
“Results from the study suggest that Australians are interested in consuming more jackfruit products, due to its high nutritional value and flavour, but a big barrier is the availability of products outside growing regions in northern Australia.
“There are many opportunities for the Australian jackfruit market to capitalise on the development of new products and to help grow the emerging industry,” she said.
Jackfruit production is predominantly located in the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland, but with high transportation and labour costs it has plateaued in recent years.
New research has indicated that the jackfruit industry has the potential to grow significantly with forecasts of production of $5-$10 million by 2025.
R&D on jackfruit and its uses
The multidisciplinary project team from Monash Food Innovation, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and the Monash Business School used innovation methodologies to develop and evaluate new jackfruit products.
Their findings have now been released in a report Processing jackfruit into ready-to-eat products and ingredients published by AgriFutures Australia, which outlines the market opportunities for the industry to grow in Australia.
More than 1000 consumers were engaged in testing and evaluating jackfruit to determine new consumer applications, the potential to utilise greener fruit with the skin and seeds as a by-product, and diverse processing applications for different stages of the fruit’s maturity. This included sensory evaluations, based on sense of taste, smell, texture, feel and sight.
Further research has also helped understand how crop genetics and market capitalisation could grow the jackfruit industry and overcome current supply chain challenges.
The study found processed jackfruit could be introduced to consumers through familiar formats including snacking, treats, meat alternatives, home cooking, ready meals and the hospitality sector.
The estimated gross value of the industry is $2.6 million. The research found that if a quarter of current supply was diverted to processing, an estimated $3.3 million of value would be added each year from existing production.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade’s director of plant industries, Dr Muhammad Sohail Mazhar, said there were opportunities to increase the demand for jackfruit and grow the industry over the next decade.
“Through this research project, we aim to support Northern Territory growers who are planting clonal varieties of jackfruit suitable for processing over the next five years.
"As these trees reach maturity over the next 45 years, there will be an increase in demand for jackfruit species which can be diverted into processing activities.
"This has the potential to substantially boost the jackfruit industry in the Northern Territory and Australia,” said Sohail Mazhar.
