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Wen asked: How do I remove Jackfruit sticky latex juice. For the first time in my life, I bought a slice of Jackfruit from the Chinese market. I used my expensive Zwilling J. A. Henckels knife to take out the fruits. Now the handle to the knife got all the sticky latex juice from the fruit, and I can’t get it off. I can’t try any abrasive cleanser, and I do not dare to try any chemicals.
Jackfruit 
excretes an extremely sticky latex substance from the rind and fibrous parts of the fruit. Removing the mess can be difficult, but with this trick you’ll be able to clean it right up without damage to your utensils.
You Will Need:
- Coconut Oil
- Cloth scouring pad or washcloth
Steps to Remove the Sticky Juice:
- Coconut oil can be purchased from online stores as well as some organic or specialty food stores.
- Coat the area affected of the sticky jackfruit with coconut oil. If the layer of latex is thick, cover it completely and allow it to set for a minute so that it has a chance to work. The oil will loosen the sticky residue without damaging the surface underneath.
- Rub the area with the cloth scouring pad or washcloth until the mess is gone. Turn the cloth frequently as the latex comes off for the most effective cleaning.
- Reapply the coconut oil as necessary until all of the sticky latex is removed.
- Once clean, wash the utensil as normal to remove any residue from the coconut oil.
Additional Tips and Advice
- To avoid a sticky mess next time, coat the knife, your hands, and any other areas that will come in contact with the jackfruit with coconut oil.
- If you have the opportunity to harvest the jackfruit yourself, doing so between mid-morning and late afternoon can reduce the amount of latex.
Any oil can be used to remove it. I just used the cooking oil a few minutes ago, and it worked!!
I want to do something interesting with the jackfruit latex. Any ideas?
Is it possible to separate the latex juice of a jackfruit? How?
Get ahold of D-limolene, the orange oil. It is the best, natural and most potent solvent on earth. I’ve tried everything, and this is the only thing I found to work.
I cut the young fruit with a machete, skin it and put the inside, seed and all, to cook with my rice. Absolutely delicious. Tastes like sweet chicken.
Previously, my jackfruit tree would bear good fruit. Now, its fruits are difficult to ripen and gives out a lot of sticky latex juice that’s difficult to remove. Maybe next time, I’ll try cooking oil to remove the sticky juice. Can anyone gives me any ideas how to get good fruit again? Now, I’ll try using fertilizer.
Olive oil can be used to remove the sticky latex juice.
I want another option instead of edible oil for removing latex from my utensils. Also, I use trays for drying and it cannot be removed from the trays; most or part of it is remaining on the trays. Can you give another option rather than oil? Oil gives a rancid flavor, that’s why I cannot use oil.
Vidya,
It sounds like you are coating the trays with oil before drying the jackfruit so that the fruit will not stick to the tray. For that purpose, I don’t know what to recommend other than to read up on various drying methods for jackfruit. I believe the fruit should be cleaned thoroughly to remove the sticky juice before drying so that the fruit will not stick to the tray. Perhaps this information will help: Tropical Fruit – Global Information System: Jackfruit.
If you only want to clean off the juice from utensils/trays, you can use the oil to clean off the juice and then use dish soap to clean off the oil. If you don’t want to clean with oil, you could try using alcohol or baking soda instead.
Source: How To Clean Stuff – How to Remove Sticky Plant Residue from Your Hands
Thanks for this information. My husband was driving me nuts trying to clean the knife and to no avail, it didn’t work. As I tell everyone, the internet is our friend. Thanks again!!!
I am from a place where thousands of jack fruit trees are present. We coat everything with any edible oil before cutting. To remove latex, we rub our hands against any rough surface like a gunny bag, rug pieces, or even the outer skin of jack fruit or a gunny bag-like thing from a coconut tree. This helps in removing the gum with less effort.