Jujube
Encyclopedia
Ziziphus
Ziziphus is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world. The leaves are alternate, entire, with three prominent basal veins, and long; some species are deciduous,...
in the buckthorn family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Rhamnaceae
Rhamnaceae
Rhamnaceae, the Buckthorn family, is a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs and some vines.The family contains 50-60 genera and approximately 870-900 species. The Rhamnaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are more common in the subtropical and tropical regions...
, used primarily as a fruiting shade tree.
Distribution
Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation, but is thought to be in southern AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, between Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Nepal (called as Bayar), the Korean peninsula, and southern and central China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and also southeastern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
though more likely introduced there.
Growth
It is a small deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
or shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
reaching a height of 5–10 m, usually with thorny branches. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are shiny-green, ovate-acute, 2–7-cm wide and 1–3-cm broad, with three conspicuous veins at the base, and a finely toothed margin. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are small, 5-mm wide, with five inconspicuous yellowish-green petals. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is an edible oval drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
1.5–3-cm deep; when immature it is smooth-green, with the consistency and taste of an apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
, maturing brown to purplish-black and eventually wrinkled, looking like a small date
Date Palm
The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...
. There is a single hard stone similar to an olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
stone.
Common Names
Common names in Arabic are nabq, dum, tsal, sadr, zufzuuf (in Morocco) and sidr, the last of which also means Ziziphus lotusZiziphus lotus
Ziziphus lotus is a deciduous shrub in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, including the Sahara in Morocco.-Description:...
. In Persian it is called anab or annab, a name also used in Lebanon. In Bulgaria is primarily grown in the area of the city of Stara Zagora, where is known as henap - probably from Persian through Turkish hünnap . In the Arabian Peninsula the names Sidr or Nabq refer to Ziziphus species other than Z. zizyphus. Also the name Ber in Seraiki, Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi and parts of India is used for plants and fruits of Ziziphus species other than Z. zizyphus.(ref. Shaukat Ali Chaudhary formerly Curator of National Herbarium of Saudi Arabia)
Nomenclature
The species has a curious nomenclatural history, due to a combination of botanical naming regulations, and variations in spelling. It was first described scientifically by Carolus LinnaeusCarolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
as Rhamnus zizyphus, in Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work by Carl Linnaeus. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. This means that the first names to be considered validly published in botany are those that appear...
in 1753. Later, in 1768, Philip Miller
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...
concluded it was sufficiently distinct from Rhamnus to merit separation into a new genus, in which he named it Ziziphus jujube, using Linnaeus' species name for the genus but with a probably accidental single letter spelling difference, 'i' for 'y'; for the species name he used a different name, as tautonyms (repetition of exactly the same name in the genus and species) are not permitted in botanical naming. However, because of Miller's slightly different spelling, the combination correctly using the earliest species name (from Linnaeus) with the new genus, Ziziphus zizyphus, is not a tautonym, and therefore permitted as a botanical name; this combination was made by Hermann Karsten
Gustav Karl Wilhelm Hermann Karsten
Gustav Karl Wilhelm Hermann Karsten was a German botanist and geologist. Born in Stralsund, he followed the example of Alexander von Humboldt and traveled 1844-56 to the north of South America. He died 1908 in Berlin-Grunewald....
in 1882.
Nutrients
Cultivation and uses
Jujube was domesticated in South AsiaSouth Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
by 9000 BCE. Over 400 cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s have been selected.
The tree tolerates a wide range of temperatures and rainfall, though it requires hot summers and sufficient water for acceptable fruiting. Unlike most of the other species in the genus, it tolerates fairly cold winters, surviving temperatures down to about −15 °C. This enables the jujube to grow in the mountain desert habitats, provided there is access to underground water through the summer. The species Z.zizyphus grows in cooler regions of Asia. Five or more other species of Ziziphus are widely distributed in milder climates to hot deserts of Asia and Africa. (ref. S. Chaudhary. Rhamnaceae in : S. Chaudhary (Edit.). Flora of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vol II(Part One) 2001.
Medicinal use
The fruits are used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicineTraditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
, where they are believed to alleviate stress, and traditionally for antifungal, antibacterial, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, sedative, antispastic, antifertility/contraception, hypotensive and Antinephritic, cardiotonic, antioxidant, immunostimulant, and wound healing properties. "The jujube-based Australian drink 1-bil avoids making specific stress-related claims, but does suggest drinking 1-bil "when you feel yourself becoming distressed".
The plant may help prevent impairment of hippocampal memory.
A controlled clinical trial found the fruits helpful for chronic constipation.
In another clinical trial, Zizyphus jujuba was proved to be effective against neonatal jaundie .
A leaf extract showed anti-obese activity in rats.
In Persian traditional medicine it is used to treat colds and Flu in combination with other herbal medicine.
Ziziphin
Ziziphin
Ziziphin, a triterpene glycoside which exhibits taste-modifying properties, has been isolated from the leaves of Ziziphus jujuba .Among ziziphin's known homologues found in this plant, it is the most anti-sweet...
, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet taste in humans. The fruit, being mucilaginous
Mucilage
Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by most plants and some microorganisms. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide.It occurs in various parts of nearly all classes of plant, usually in relatively small percentages, and is frequently associated with other substances, such as...
, is very soothing to the throat and decoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats.
Culinary use
Dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit where the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is prized...
s are often eaten as a snack, or with tea. They are available in either red or black (called hóng zǎo or hēi zǎo, respectively, in Chinese), the latter being smoked to enhance their flavor. In China and Korea, a sweetened tea syrup containing jujube fruits is available in glass jars, and canned jujube tea or jujube tea in the form of teabags is also available. Although not widely available, jujube juice and jujube vinegar (called 枣醋 or 红枣醋 in Chinese) are also produced; they are used for making pickles (কুলের আচার) in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
In China, a wine made from jujubes, called hong zao jiu (红枣酒) is also produced. Jujubes are sometimes preserved by storing in a jar filled with baijiu
Baijiu
Baijiu , or shaojiu is a Chinese distilled alcoholic beverage. The name baijiu literally means "white liquor," "white alcohol" or "white spirits". Baijiu is often translated as "wine" or "white wine"...
(Chinese liquor), which allows them to be kept fresh for a long time, especially through the winter. Such jujubes are called jiu zao (酒枣; literally "spirited jujube"). These fruits, often stoned, are also a significant ingredient in a wide variety of Chinese delicacies.
In Korea, jujubes are called daechu (대추) and are used in teas and samgyetang
Samgyetang
Samgyetang is a variety of guk or Korean soup, which primarily consists of a whole young chicken and Korean ginseng. The dish's name literally translates as "ginseng chicken soup" in English...
.
In Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, the fruit is eaten as snacks or alongside a dessert after a meal.
In Persian cuisine, the dried drupes are known as annab, while in neighboring Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
it is commonly eaten as a snack, and are known as innab. Z. zizyphus grows in norhern Pakistan and is known as Innab, commonly used in the Tibb Unani system of medicine. There seems to be quite a widespred confusion in the common name. The Innab is Z. zizyphus: the local name Ber is not used for Innab. Rather Ber is used for three other cultivated or wild species i.e. Z. spina-christi, Z. mauritiana and Z. nummularia in Pakistan and parts of India and is eaten both fresh and dried. Often the dry fruit (Ber) was used as a padding in leather horse-saddles in parts of Baluchistan in Pakistan. The Arabic names Sidr is used for Ziziphus species other than Z. zizyphus. The most expensive honey in the world is produced from Z. spina-christi in the Hadramaut region of Yemen! (ref. Personal knowledge of Shaukat A. Chaudhary formely Curator National Herbarium of Saudi Arabia)
Jujube fruit is called ilanthappazham(ഇലന്തപ്പഴം) or badari(ബദരി) in Malayalam, ilanthai pazham (இலந்தை பழம்) in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
-speaking regions, "Yelchi Hannu" in Kannada and "Regi pandu" in Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
. Traditionally, the fruits are dried in the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
and the hard nuts are removed. Then, it is pounded with tamarind
Tamarind
Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
, red chillies, salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, and jaggery
Jaggery
Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color...
. Small dishes are made from this dough and again dried in the sun, and are referred to as ilanthai vadai. In some parts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, fresh whole ripe fruit is crushed with the above ingredients and dried under the sun to make delicious cakes called ilanthai vadai or "Regi Vadiyalu" (Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
).
Other uses
The jujube's sweet smell is believed to make teenagers fall in love, and as a result, in the Himalaya and KarakoramKarakoram
The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
regions, men take a stem of sweet-smelling jujube flowers with them or put it on their hats to attract women.
In the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the jujube was often placed in the newlyweds' bedroom as a good luck charm for fertility, along with peanuts
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
, longan
Longan
Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan, is a tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia, in the Indomalaya ecozone known for its edible fruit.-Vernacular names:The fruit is known as longan or longyan in English...
, and chestnuts, punning on an invocation to "have an honored child soon".
In Bhutan, the leaves are used as a potpourri
Potpourri
Potpourri is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material, used to provide a gentle natural scent in houses. It is usually placed in a decorative wooden bowl, or tied in small sachet made from sheer fabric....
to help keep the houses of the inhabitants smelling fresh and clean. It is also used to keep bugs and other insects out of the house and free of infestation.
In Japan, the natsume has given its name to a style of tea caddy
Chaki
Chaki is a Japanese term that literally means "tea implement." In the vocabulary of Japanese tea ceremony, it broadly means any implement used in the practice of chanoyu, and more narrowly means the caddy for the powdered green tea used in the tea-making procedures, although usually this...
used in the Japanese tea ceremony
Japanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
, due to the similar shape, and also to nightlight
Nightlight
A nightlight is a small light fixture, often electrical, placed for comfort or convenience in dark areas or areas that become dark at certain times, such as in an emergency...
s (ナツメ球), again due to the similarity between the shape of the bulb and the fruit.
In Korea, the wood is used to make the body of the taepyeongso
Taepyeongso
The taepyeongso is a Korean double reed wind instrument in the shawm or oboe family, probably descended from the Persian zurna and closely related to the Chinese suona...
, a double-reed wind instrument. The wood is also used to make Go bowls.
In Vietnam, the jujube fruit is eaten freshly picked from the tree as a snack. It is also dried and used in desserts, such as sâm bổ lượng, a cold beverage that includes the dried jujube, longan, fresh seaweed, barley, and lotus seeds.
A jujube honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
is produced in the middle Atlas Mountains
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
Pests and diseases
Witch's broomWitch's broom
A Witch's broom is a disease or deformity in a woody plant, typically a tree, where the natural structure of the plant is changed. A dense mass of shoots grows from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or a bird's nest....
s, prevalent in China and Korea, is the main disease affecting jujubes, though plantings in North America currently are not affected by any pests or diseases.
Further reading
- Fruits of Warm Climates. Julia. F. MortonJulia MortonJulia Francis McHugh Morton was an American author and botanist. She was research professor of biology, and director of the Morton Collectanea at the University of Miami. She was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1974...
, Miami, FL: 1987.