How many calories are in jackfruit?
Ripe jackfruit is about 95 kcal per 100 g. Raw green jackfruit is about 50 to 60 kcal per 100 g. Same tree, same word, roughly half the energy — because “jackfruit” covers both a sweet dessert fruit and a starchy vegetable used as a meat substitute. Almost every contradictory figure online comes from mixing the two.
Per portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripe, 100 g bulbs | ~95 kcal | 1.7 g | 23 g | 0.6 g |
| Ripe, one bulb (~35 g) | ~35 kcal | 0.6 g | 8 g | 0.2 g |
| Ripe, 1 cup sliced (~165 g) | ~155 kcal | 2.8 g | 38 g | 1 g |
| Raw green, 100 g | ~50–60 kcal | 2 g | 11 g | 0.3 g |
| Canned green in brine, drained, 100 g | ~35–55 kcal | 1 g | 9 g | 0.2 g |
| Canned green, 400 g tin drained (~240 g) | ~100–130 kcal | 2.5 g | 21 g | 0.5 g |
| Seeds, boiled, 100 g | ~130–185 kcal | 6 g | 35 g | 0.5 g |
| Fried jackfruit chips, 50 g | ~230–260 kcal | 1 g | 30 g | 13 g |
What changes the number
Which jackfruit, before anything else. Ripe bulbs are about as dense as mango, and six to ten of them is an ordinary helping — 200 to 350 kcal. Count that as fruit. Raw green jackfruit (kathal) is picked unripe, has almost no sugar, and shreds into something meat-like; on its own it is one of the cheaper things on a plate.
The cooking medium, which usually outweighs the jackfruit. A kathal sabzi made with two tablespoons of oil is carrying 240 kcal of oil before the vegetable is counted. A 300 g restaurant portion of kathal curry lands at 350 to 450 kcal, and roughly half of that is fat. Pulled-jackfruit in barbecue sauce doubles its own energy the same way, since sauce runs 100 to 150 kcal per 100 g.
Brine or syrup. Tinned green jackfruit in water or brine is the low figure above. Tinned ripe jackfruit in syrup is a dessert product at 90 to 110 kcal per 100 g, and the syrup counts unless you drain it. Read which one you bought — the tins look near-identical.
Frying. Chips absorb oil and reach 450 to 520 kcal per 100 g.
Where it fits in a deficit
Raw green jackfruit is good value: a large, chewy, 300 g serving for 150 to 180 kcal before the oil. Ripe jackfruit is water-rich and mildly filling, but at 95 kcal per 100 g it is a fruit you count rather than a volume food. Neither contributes much protein.
The meat substitute is about texture, not protein
Raw jackfruit shreds like slow-cooked pork, which is why it replaced meat on so many menus. The nutritional swap is not equivalent. Jackfruit has about 2 g of protein per 100 g against roughly 30 g in cooked chicken, so a bowl that reads as a main course leaves most of a day’s protein target still to find — add dal, curd, paneer or soya alongside it.
As an energy swap it is a real saving, which is the honest version of the claim: 300 g of green jackfruit in place of 150 g of mutton is a few hundred kilocalories off a meal, and that is what a calorie deficit responds to. Ripe jackfruit belongs in the other conversation entirely, next to chikoo and avocado as fruit worth counting.
Figures are typical values and vary by variety, size and preparation. General information, not medical advice.