Introduction: Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L) is indigenous to India and is widely grown in Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brazil and other tropical countries. When ripe, jackfruit contains about 7-15% weight sucrose with a very specific aroma and taste. This aromatic fruit is usually consumed fresh. Unfortunately, due to low shelf life of the ripe jackfruit, the pulp will start to wither and rot thereafter.
Jackfruit is quite popular in Eastern and Southern India and is cultivated widely in Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar islands. The total area under jackfruit in India is approximately 1.02 lakh hectares. Jack Fruit is cultivated in an area of about 0.11 lakh hectares mostly in Southern Plains and Western Ghats of Maharashtra and Karnataka producing about 2.6 lakh tones of fruits per annum