Chemical Characterisation of Exotic Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) Varieties

Abstract

A study entitled “Characterization of selected exotic jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) varieties” was conducted at the Department of Fruit Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, from November 2024 to July 2025. Fifteen exotic jackfruit varieties were identified from South Kerala, covering the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Kottayam. No systematic study has been conducted so far regarding the evaluation of exotic jackfruit varieties under Kerala conditions. Therefore, this study focused on the chemical characters, including TSS, Acidity, reducing sugars, non reducing sugars, total sugars and total carotenoid content present in these varieties. The J 33 variety had a high TSS of 40.7°Brix, while Thailand Red and J 13 varieties had the highest acidity level of 0.64%. The Thailand Red variety exhibited the highest reducing sugar level (8.33%), and total sugar content was found to be high in J 33 variety (17.92%). The Red Jack variety had the highest carotenoid content of 4430.13 μg/100g. The results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results indicate that the exotic jackfruit varieties possess distinct advantages and further exploration and utilisation of these varieties is essential for promoting commercial cultivation.