NutriDex

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Jackfruit

Artocarpus heterophyllus

Giant tropical fruit and emerging diabetic staple

Preliminary evidence 🍎Fruits

✚ Updated · How we grade evidence

Evidence tier
Preliminary
Research weight
Citations
9 verified / 9
Classification
Fruits
❝
What the evidence says. Early or small human trials; promising but not yet conclusive.

Nutrition per serving 1 cup sliced (165 g)

165gSERVING
  • Water 121.3 g74%
  • Sugars 31.5 g19%
  • Fibre 2.5 g2%
  • Other carbs 4.4 g3%
  • Protein 2.8 g2%
  • Fat 1.1 g1%
What's in one serving, by weight — average composition (USDA).
Vitamin C25%Vitamin B632%Potassium16%Magnesium11%Copper14%Fiber9%
One serving as % of the adult daily requirement (FDA Daily Values). The bold outer ring = 100% of a day's needs.
157 kcal2.8 g protein2.5 g fiber1.1 g fat
NutrientPer serving% daily value
Vitamin C23 mg25%
Vitamin B60.54 mg32%
Potassium739 mg16%
Magnesium48 mg11%
Copper0.13 mg14%
Fiber2.5 g9%
Riboflavin (B2)0.09 mg7%
Calcium40 mg3%

Composition data: USDA FoodData Central ↗

What is Jackfruit?

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a fruit used for glycemic control: green (unripe) jackfruit flour substituted for rice/wheat lowered hba1c, fasting and postprandial glucose in a small t2dm rct. NutriDex grades the human evidence as Preliminary. Direct human evidence for jackfruit is limited and early-stage. The strongest signal is a single randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (40 patients with type-2 diabetes) in which 30 g/day of green jackfruit flour replacing rice or wheat for 12 weeks reduced HbA1c, fasting and postprandial glucose versus placebo flour. Older human work (a 1991 glucose-tolerance study) suggested hot-water leaf extracts improved glucose handling in normal and maturity-onset (type-2) diabetic subjects, and glycemic-index testing places the related Artocarpus food boiled breadfruit in the low-GI range. Beyond glycemic effects, claims of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, wound-healing and anticancer activity rest almost entirely on in-vitro, in-silico and animal studies of isolated compounds such as artocarpin, not on whole-fruit human trials. Ripe jackfruit is itself fairly high in natural sugars, so the favorable metabolic findings apply to the unripe/green fruit and its flour, not to large servings of sweet ripe flesh. No systematic reviews or meta-analyses of clinical endpoints yet exist, and the available trial is small, short and single-site. Overall the human evidence is best graded preliminary and promising for green-jackfruit glycemic substitution.

Purported Benefits

✓Glycemic control: green (unripe) jackfruit flour substituted for rice/wheat lowered HbA1c, fasting and postprandial glucose in a small T2DM RCT
✓Lower-glycemic carbohydrate source vs. refined grains, owing to fiber, resistant starch and intact food matrix
✓Dietary fiber for satiety, bowel regularity and as a plant-based meat-substitute texture
✓Antioxidant capacity from carotenoids, vitamin C and prenylated flavonoids (mechanistic/preclinical)
✓Source of potassium and vitamin B6 supporting blood-pressure and metabolic needs
✓Traditional/preclinical wound-healing and antimicrobial actions attributed to leaf and flavonoid constituents

Dosing & Compounds

Typical Dose
About 1 cup sliced (165 g) of raw ripe fruit; the clinical glycemic trial used 30 g/day of green jackfruit flour (split between two meals) replacing an equal volume of rice or wheat for 12 weeks.
Active Compounds
Carotenoids (lutein, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene) — yellow flesh pigments with provitamin-A/antioxidant rolesPrenylated flavonoids (artocarpin, cycloartocarpin, artocarpanone) — signature Artocarpus phenolicsFlavonoids and flavanones (morin, dihydromorin, norartocarpetin) with antioxidant activityPhenolic acids (ferulic, gallic, caffeic) contributing to total antioxidant capacityJacalin and artocarpin lectins — mannose/galactose-binding proteins (immunology reagents)Resistant starch and dietary fiber in unripe/green fruit and flourVitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)Potassium and magnesium mineralsVolatile esters (isopentyl/butyl esters) responsible for the characteristic ripe aroma

Safety & Cautions

Generally recognized as safe as a food. Ripe flesh is high in fermentable sugars and fiber and can cause bloating, gas or laxative effects in large amounts. Birch-pollen/latex-fruit cross-reactivity and rare jackfruit-specific oral allergy syndrome have been reported—those with latex or pollen allergy should be cautious. Because green-jackfruit flour and leaf preparations can lower blood glucose, people on insulin or sulfonylureas should monitor for additive hypoglycemia and consult a clinician. Its potassium content is modest per serving but worth noting for those on potassium-restricted (e.g., advanced renal) diets. Seeds should be cooked before eating, as raw seeds contain antinutrients/lectins. Educational only — always check with your doctor or pharmacist before combining Jackfruit with any medicine.

Key Studies

Systematic review Akter & Acharjee 2023 ✓ Full text
Scoping review of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) bioactive components found ethnopharmacological and in vivo evidence for antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity, but concluded robust human clinical trial data remain limited.
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial Rao 2021 ✓ Full text
RCT (n=40, 12 wk): 30 g/day green jackfruit flour replacing rice/wheat reduced HbA1c (mean difference -0.25% vs +0.02% placebo, p=0.006), with significant drops in fasting (p=0.043) and postprandial glucose (p=0.001) in type-2 diabetes.
RCT Fernando et al. 2021 (Nutr Diabetes) ✓ Full text
Double-blind RCT (n=40 T2DM, 12 weeks): replacing rice/wheat with 30 g/day green jackfruit flour lowered HbA1c (-0.25% vs +0.02% placebo, p=0.006) and reduced fasting and postprandial plasma glucose.
Randomized crossover clinical trial Widanagamage 2009 ✓ Full text
Crossover GI testing classified boiled breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, a close relative) as a low-GI food (GI ~57 vs white bread); GI correlated negatively with insoluble fiber, soluble fiber and protein content.
Critical review Gupta 2022 ✓ Full text
Critical review: jackfruit supplies minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals; preclinical antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and wound-healing activities, with leaf preparations showing antidiabetic action in humans.
Literature review Sitorus 2022 ✓ Full text
Literature review of Artocarpus species summarizing bioactive secondary metabolites with reported antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and anti-glycation activities.
In silico + in vitro study Gotsurve 2025 ✓ Full text
In-silico plus in-vitro screen of flavonoids/alkaloids (including jackfruit's artocarpin, cycloartocarpin, artocarpanone) as NF-kappaB inhibitors for oral cancer; jackfruit flavonoids were docked and assayed, though the lead inhibitor was an alkaloid (hydrastine) from a co-screened plant rather than a jackfruit compound.
In vitro and in vivo (mouse) study Yeh 2017 ✓ Full text
Artocarpin, a prenylated Artocarpus flavonoid, accelerated wound healing in vitro and in vivo by promoting fibroblast/keratinocyte proliferation, collagen synthesis, re-epithelialization and angiogenesis via P38/JNK/ERK/Akt pathways.
Human glucose-tolerance study Fernando 1991 ✓ Full text
Hot-water extract of Artocarpus heterophyllus leaves (dose equiv. 20 g/kg of starting material) significantly improved oral glucose tolerance in both normal human subjects and maturity-onset (type-2) diabetic patients.
9 sources cited · 9 verified Search all studies on PubMed ↗

Common questions about Jackfruit

What is Jackfruit used for?

Jackfruit is most often taken for Glycemic control: green (unripe) jackfruit flour substituted for rice/wheat lowered HbA1c, fasting and postprandial glucose in a small T2DM RCT, Lower-glycemic carbohydrate source vs. refined grains, owing to fiber, resistant starch and intact food matrix, Dietary fiber for satiety, bowel regularity and as a plant-based meat-substitute texture, Antioxidant capacity from carotenoids, vitamin C and prenylated flavonoids (mechanistic/preclinical). Giant tropical fruit and emerging diabetic staple

Does Jackfruit work — what does the evidence say?

Preliminary evidence. Early or small human trials; promising but not yet conclusive. Direct human evidence for jackfruit is limited and early-stage. The strongest signal is a single randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (40 patients with type-2 diabetes) in which 30 g/day of green jackfruit flour replacing rice or wheat for 12 weeks reduced HbA1c, fasting and postprandial glucose versus placebo flour. Older human work (a 1991 glucose-tolerance study) suggested hot-water leaf extracts improved glucose handling in normal and maturity-onset (type-2) diabetic subjects, and glycemic-index testing places the related Artocarpus food boiled breadfruit in the low-GI range. Beyond glycemic effects, claims of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, wound-healing and anticancer activity rest almost entirely on in-vitro, in-silico and animal studies of isolated compounds such as artocarpin, not on whole-fruit human trials. Ripe jackfruit is itself fairly high in natural sugars, so the favorable metabolic findings apply to the unripe/green fruit and its flour, not to large servings of sweet ripe flesh. No systematic reviews or meta-analyses of clinical endpoints yet exist, and the available trial is small, short and single-site. Overall the human evidence is best graded preliminary and promising for green-jackfruit glycemic substitution.

What is the typical dose of Jackfruit?

About 1 cup sliced (165 g) of raw ripe fruit; the clinical glycemic trial used 30 g/day of green jackfruit flour (split between two meals) replacing an equal volume of rice or wheat for 12 weeks.

Is Jackfruit safe? Any cautions or side effects?

Generally recognized as safe as a food. Ripe flesh is high in fermentable sugars and fiber and can cause bloating, gas or laxative effects in large amounts. Birch-pollen/latex-fruit cross-reactivity and rare jackfruit-specific oral allergy syndrome have been reported—those with latex or pollen allergy should be cautious. Because green-jackfruit flour and leaf preparations can lower blood glucose, people on insulin or sulfonylureas should monitor for additive hypoglycemia and consult a clinician. Its potassium content is modest per serving but worth noting for those on potassium-restricted (e.g., advanced renal) diets. Seeds should be cooked before eating, as raw seeds contain antinutrients/lectins.

How many studies support Jackfruit?

NutriDex cites 9 sources for Jackfruit, graded "Preliminary".

Cite this page
APA

Peh, D. (2026). Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus): Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects & Evidence. NutriDex — The Supplement Research Compendium. Retrieved 26 Jun 2026, from https://nutridex.info/s/jackfruit

BibTeX
@misc{nutridex_jackfruit,
  author       = {Peh, Daryl},
  title        = {Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus): Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects \& Evidence},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {NutriDex --- The Supplement Research Compendium},
  url          = {https://nutridex.info/s/jackfruit},
  note         = {Reviewed by Dr Daryl Peh, MBBS Singapore, MMed FM. Accessed 2026-06-26}
}

For medical claims, citing the underlying primary studies linked above is preferred. NutriDex is an educational reference, not medical advice.

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