I recently learned that you can eat jackfruit seeds, and they taste really good.
So, I wanted to know whether they are healthy, as well as the benefits of eating them.
I looked into the nutrients found in jackfruit seeds and here’s what I found.
In this article, I will explain whether you can eat jackfruit seeds raw if jackfruit seeds are poisonous, the disadvantages of eating jackfruit, and the benefits of roasted jackfruit seeds.
Can You Eat Jackfruit Seeds Raw?
Jackfruit can contain many hundreds of seeds, and it would be easy to eat them as you’re eating a jackfruit.
But, is it OK to eat jackfruit seeds raw?
It’s generally not recommended to eat jackfruit seeds raw.
Although there aren’t any known health risks associated with eating raw jackfruit seeds, they contain more nutrients when cooked.
Raw jackfruit seeds are also difficult to chew because they are very hard.
Jackfruit contains antinutrients that bind to the beneficial nutrients and makes them harder for your body to absorb.
Beneficial minerals such as magnesium will bind to other molecules.
Once antinutrients bind to the beneficial minerals in jackfruit seeds the body has a hard time breaking them down and therefore you can’t absorb nearly as many beneficial nutrients.
The way to tell when jackfruit seeds are cooked is by poking them with a fork to see if it goes all the way through the jackfruit seed.
Once it does, they are ready. Before they’re cooked they are hard like almonds and tough to chew.
When softened by cooking they are much nicer to eat.
It also brings out the natural flavors. Jackfruit seeds are quite large and about the size of Brazil nuts.
But, unlike nuts, they have a flavor similar to legumes and starchy vegetables like a potato.
Some people describe the flavor as tasting similar to a chestnut.
Whereas, others say it tastes like a mix between a potato and chickpea, or potato and taro.
Best way to cook jackfruit seeds
Generally, people will boil, fry or bake jackfruit seeds.
When baking jackfruit seeds it’s best to slightly crush them, similar to how you do with garlic.
If you bake them whole, they can explode and make a mess in your oven.
Use a rolling pin, or something with a bit of weight to it to bang the jackfruit seeds to partially crack them.
Some people also will boil them, and then fry them.
Frying jackfruit seeds take a long time, and you need to mix them quite often. So boiling or baking them is generally easier.
Fried foods are also known to be bad for your digestion, but unfortunately in my opinion fried jackfruit seeds taste the best.
Always remove the casing after cooking
Before cooking jackfruit seeds it’s difficult to remove the casing which is inedible due to the fact that it doesn’t taste very good.
During cooking though the casing can open, and is much easier to remove.
You can generally peel the casing off using your fingers.
Note, that this is quite a time consuming, as the casing often comes off in small pieces. And can still be attached quite strongly.
Here’s a video showing how to remove the casing of cooked jackfruit:
The casing is white in color.
Beneath the casing, the jackfruit seeds will have a thin brown layer which is perfectly fine to eat.
Below the brown skin, the jackfruit seeds are white in color.
Are the Jackfruit Seeds Poisonous?
Certain seeds are poisonous or are only poisonous if consumed raw.
Therefore, I wanted to know whether jackfruit seeds are poisonous since I’m looking to avoid getting an upset stomach or worse.
Jackfruit seeds contain about 40% to 70% of the recommended daily intake of iron per cup.
When you factor in that other foods you eat also contain iron, eating a maximum of about a cup a day is a good ballpark figure.
If you consume jackfruit seeds every day, then it’s best to consume less, say ½ a cup to ⅔ of a cup.
Consistently going over your recommended daily iron requirements can cause health problems (source: National Institute of Health).
Interestingly, another seed that is high in iron is cumin seeds.
Which is a very delicious spice.
I explained the nutrients in cumin seeds, whether they’re healthy, and if you can eat them raw.
Click this to read about whether you can eat cumin seeds raw.
Jackfruit Disadvantages
Jackfruit is one of those fruits that isn’t too popular in the West.
But, in Asia they are grown a lot and generally easy to find in stores.
Since I haven’t eaten much jackfruit I wanted to know whether there are any disadvantages to jackfruit.
It’s relatively easy to stop the sap from getting onto your hands and knife.
The trick is to coat the knife you’re using in regular cooking oil.
The oil makes the white sap fall off the knife easily.
It’s also a good idea to oil your hands when you peel the jackfruit open after cutting it.
That will make it very difficult for the sap to stick to your hands.
Some jackfruit comes with a bit of stem attached which makes it easier to cut as you can hold onto the stem.
But, if the stem is removed, you can poke a pair of scissors, or a butter knife into the part where the stem used to be.
Doing that gives you a firm handle that you can use to hold the jackfruit as you cut it.
And stops the white sap from getting onto your hands, which is hard to remove.
If you’ve ever harvested a banana you will know that it also has a sticky brown sap that is virtually impossible to remove from your clothing.
Which has similar properties to jackfruit sap.
It’s also quite hard to remove from your hands. But, if after a few days your skin will shed a bit and the sap will come off.
Roasted Jackfruit Seeds Benefits
I find roasted vegetables particularly delicious, and jackfruit seeds though technically not a vegetable taste like a vegetable and are also particularly delicious.
But, other than that, are there any benefits to roasted jackfruit seeds?
Like starchy vegetables and lentils such as chickpeas and beans, they are very versatile and can be used in various different dishes such as curries, stir fry, and even eaten on their own with a bit of salt.
Are Jackfruit Seeds Good For Weight Loss?
It seems the older I get the harder it is to keep off the pounds, and I’ve been researching how fattening different foods are. So, are jackfruit seeds good for weight loss?
When you take into account that most people consume around 3 to 4 meals a day.
One meal of jackfruit seeds says 1 cup of jackfruit seeds plus other vegetables like onions, garlic, and salad, contains about 20% to 25% of the recommended calorie intake for an adult.
And if you consume 4 meals a day you’ll still be in a healthy calorie range.
This means your body won’t generally put on body fat, as you will burn off more calories than you eat.
When compared to foods that are particularly high in calories like desserts, sugary snacks like donuts, and sodas that contain sugar, jackfruit seeds are far better.
And on par with other vegetables and fruits in terms of how good they are for weight loss.
Sugary snacks often generally have about double the calories of fruits and vegetables.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.