Peak season: January to May

The jackfruit is the shape of a large melon. The fruit has a grey skin, and contains a great number of pips or kernels which are about the size of a "pigeon’s egg". These, when roasted, taste like chestnuts. The fruit is yellow and succulent, has a sweet taste and powerful smell. Thus wrote Simon de la Loubere, a French visitor to Thailand in the 17th century, and his description of the popular jackfruit still holds true. Thais eat the yellow flesh alone, with ice cream or mixed with other fruits and coconut milk in a compote. The cooked seeds find their way into many dishes.

Nutritional value: High vitamin A, sulphur, calcium and phosphorus Fruiting season: January - The fresh can be kept in the refrigerator for 5 - 7 days and can be kept by deep freezing for more than 2 months.  Jackfruit becomes sweeter as it ripens. When served chilled, the chewy flesh has a crunchy texture to it.Given its natural sweetness and fragrance, jackfruit is often used as a topping to enhance awide range of Thai desserts such as a rich traditional home-made coconut ice-cream, Ruam Mit - a light dessert with young coconut meat, an assortment of cooked strips of rice flour, syrup and a dash of coconut milk topped with shaved ice, or Jackfruit served with Sticky Rice, plain and simple. Deep-fried jackfruit is also a popular snack and dessert. Jackfruit ice-cream is gaining popularity.
A versatile fruit, every part of the jackfruit is edible and leaves, flowers and seeds are featured in savoury dishes such as curries or served with nam prik chilli dips.
The provinces of Chonburi, Utaradit, Nakhon Ratchasima are famous for their jackfruit.

Varieties
There are many jackfruit varieties in Thailand and these varieties are separated into 2 main groups as follows:

 Preparation and eating

1. Use a knife to divide the fruit lengthways into two pieces.

2. Wipe out all the sap with paper.

3. Carve out all its core.

4. With the skin of the fruit on the floor, use your hands press down along its edge in order to separate each seedy section.

5. Pull out each seedy section.

6. Use a knife to cut, open the flesh and take out the seed.

Nutritional value
High vitamin A, sulphur, calcium and phosphorus.

Fruiting season
January - May

Uses
Eating fresh / Mixing with fruit punch, ice-cream / Preserving in various forms, such as dehydrating, paste, deep-freezing and canning ( in syrup ).

Storage
The seedy sections can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, and can be stored in the deep-freeze for more than 2 months.