Waste to Wealth: Dynamics and metabolic profiles of the conversion of jackfruit flake into value-added products by different fermentation methods

Thus far, little is known about whether jackfruit flake, a byproduct of jackfruit, can be used as a fermentation substrate to obtain value-added products through microbial fermentation. Here, jackfruit flake puree was fermented by three different ways: spontaneous fermentation (JF), inoculated with LAB (JFL), inoculated co-fermentation with LAB and yeast (JFC). In contrast to JF, the total polyphenol and flavonoid content and syndrome-associated enzyme inhibition are significantly increased in JFC at the end of fermentation. Electronic tongue analysis revealed that the JFC was significantly lower in astringency and higher in bitterness. 41 volatile compounds were identified during fermentation by HS-SPME-GC–MS, and JFC was richer in honey, rose, and fruity flavors. A total of 290 compounds were screened for discriminative pre- and post-fermentation differential metabolites by non-target metabolomics analysis. These results provide a potential reference for the conversion of jackfruit waste into functional products using fermentation.