The jackfruit is having its moment this year. After being widely lauded as a vegan alternative to meat, the vegetable- fruit has suddenly found a new band of followers: chocolatiers.
It all started when a recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry mentioned that vacuum-fried and powdered jackfruit seeds emanate aromas that mirror the fragrance of ground cocoa. Companies like Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (Campco) and Liso Chocolatier — keenly following the news — jumped at the opportunity, and some have also completed trials. The resultant product, they claim, is very similar to chocolate made with 100% cocoa.
All in the seed
Of every fruit used for its pulp at jackfruit processing units, dozens of seeds are amassed as waste. Most producers struggle to utilise them productively and getting rid of the biomass is a task. It was this wastage that led Suresh Bhandary, MD of Campco, to roast and grind the seeds at their chocolate facility at Puttur, Karnataka. “We wanted to check if we can process them in our factory.” This trial found properties similar to cocoa and his team has also tested using dehydrated jackfruit pulp in chocolate bars, as a replacement to almond.
While the chocolate bars with bits of dried jackfruit pulp are still under observation for stability and shelf life, the powder has already been tested in Winner , Campco’s popular chocolate drink. “In terms of taste, flavour and miscibility with milk, it is perfect,” says Bhandary, adding that the team is now looking at getting a nutritional report on the sample, which will help them decide future course of action.
Into bar or biscuit
On the other hand, the folks at Liso Chocolatier in Kochi are close to coming out with the final product. “We are at the final stages of testing chocolate with approximately 10% jackfruit flour,” says Jacob Joy, MD. The chocolate, he further informs, not only includes jackfruit seeds but also the pulp. Using only one part, he says, would mean wasting a significant quantity of the fruit and cutting down on its nutritional value. “The chocolate we are working on will be usable in several forms; you can make it into a bar or coat over nuts and biscuits.” Given its additional benefits like it is a slow-release starch, high on protein, and low carbohydrate levels, this chocolate, he feels, will appeal not only to connoisseurs but also the health conscious.
So how long will one have to wait to sample the jackfruit chocolate? While Bhandary says he cannot put a timeline to it, Jacob promises to have an update in the next few months.
