Jack of all fruits
Jackfruit jam and pickle made by Panasa
A jackfruit revolution has been in the making at Chappath, Vizhinjam. Santhigram, located here, has been at the forefront of launching a centre to promote jackfruit-based products and acting as a facilitator for Panasa Farmers Producing Company. Panasa brings together small-scale farmers by making them shareholders of the Company and supporting them by giving a market for their jackfruit-based products. “What brought jackfruit into focus was the National Jackfruit Festival held in 2011. The event led to the formation of Jackfruit Promotion Council, which has been creating awareness about benefits of jackfruit, which is a fruit, vegetable and medicine,” says L. Pankajakshan, director of Santhigram. Training was given by Panasa to make 25 products, including jam, pickle, cookies, biscuits, squash, cakes...
However, a lot remains to be done, he adds. “We need to create a demand for the products. More research and development have to be undertaken. Right now, the demand is for products such as unniyappam and payasam, whereas we need to push the demand for chakka puzhukku, dried jackfruit bulbs and jackfruit seeds among others. You can also make wine from jackfruit, but our wine policy comes in its way,” he adds.
Sweet favourite
Jackfruit peda
Jackfruit is the star of the moment in the state, but for Milma the flavoursome pulp inside the thorny fruit has been a bestseller for a while now. Their jackfruit-flavoured peda and ice-cream, made from the fruit pulp, have been favourites among customers since their inception more than an year ago. An initiative of Milma Thiruvananthapuram chairman Kallada Ramesh, it was borne out of a need to do something about the fruits that fall and waste away owing to no demand, causing huge loss to local farmers. “Apart from that, they were also creating a health issue. The rotting fruits were attracting flies and worms. That was when we decided to launch these products to help out the farmers,” he says. Apart from the peda and the ice-cream, the Malabar Regional Cooperative Milk Producers union, which comes under Milma, sells Milky-Jack, a sweet made of milk, jackfruit pulp, dried coconut chips and sugar.
Click for chakka
Keralathanima.in an online portal for organic food and produce, is flooded with demand for ripe jackfruit. “Varikka is popular and every day we get an order for eight to 10 kg of the fruit, which we clean and pack for our clients. Chakka puzhukku is another favourite item. Chakka unniyappam and chakka kumbilappam also have enough takers. We are now selling jackfruit pickle too on demand,” says Manoj K. G., managing director of the enterprise.
All year round
James Joseph, founder of Jackfruit365.
James Joseph and his initiative Jackfruit365 has been championing the cause of the bulbous fruit since 2013. Jackfruit365 aims at creating an organised market for Indian jackfruits, 80 per cent of which is reported to be wasted every year, says James.
“By introducing jackfruit in freeze-dried form to five-star hotels, Jackfruit365 re-branded the humble jackfruit from an inferior food to a superior food. An accidental discovery about the benefits of green jackfruit for diabetes led to Jackfruit365’s scientific research on its health benefits. After learning about the diabetes research, late Dr. Abdul Kalam suggested (us) to find a way to add green jackfruit to traditional Indian meals so that a wider population of the country could use it to control diabetes. Encouraged by this, we developed (patent pending) Green Jackfruit Flour. This all-purpose flour can make almost all Indian meals with rice flour or wheat flour diabetic-friendly, and at just Rs 5 per plate, it is very much affordable for the wider population.”
Fruitful ventures
The jackfruit has a special place in our cinema, music and theatre. Chakka paattu, sung by Sannidhanandan and Nimmy, is one of the trending songs in the film Kuttanpillayude Sivarathri, which releases next month. Moreover, in the evergreen film Maheshinte Prathikaram , it was this large fruit that leads to a tragedy and a turning point in the movie.
If that was not all, the catalyst in Hello Namasthe is a jackfruit tree. The film, scripted by Krishna Poojappura and starring Vinay Forrt, Sanju Sivram, Miya and Bhavana among others, revolved around the tree!
Thrissur Nataka Sangam’s production, Chakka, is a satire that highlights the ill-effects of globalisation and commercialisation on rural, indigenous traders and villagers.
