The fruit aril is used in soups, main dishes, desserts, milk drinks, ice cream and fruit salads. In India it is preserved by boiling with sugar syrup, butter and coconut milk. The jackfruit arils freeze well and they may be used at a later time like fresh fruit. Arils are excellent dried or preserved in syrup. Traditionally, arils are used in fruit salads, boiled with rice or coconut milk, in soup, and particularly with fish.
Spikes are the young, totally green flowers.
These may be cooked with sugar syrup and agar-agar, or used like vegetables in soups. Some fruit growers plant seedling jackfruit trees as wind breaks, then later decide that they could also market this crop. As a result, jackfruit is supplied by many growers in small quantities and the fruit is very variable. In India the fruit is very cheap and is regarded as poor people's food. Its use requires some effort and there is considerable waste with some fruit, unless a person is fond of the rags.