History Of The Jujube Tree
Author: Pat Malcolm

Chinese poets spoke about the wonderful jujube in 600 BC. The
fruit of the jujube has been used in ancient Chinese medicine
for many nutritional remedies for 2500 years. Jujubes were used
by Gerard in Europe as a medicinal herb in the 1600's to treat
ailments of the kidneys, lungs, and liver.

The Chinese jujube was brought to America by Oriental
immigrants who built railroads in Arizona in the early 1900's.
Hundreds of grafted jujube cultivars are available in China,
and a large number of these trees were imported by the USDA in
1908 and planted at the Experiment Station at Tifton, Georgia,
for testing, according to Otis Woodard.

Lowell F. Locke of the USDA in 1924 introduced the improved
jujube (Chinese Date) to the western U.S., where it was
described as "They have a delicious fruit with a smooth brown
skin and ivory fruit. You eat them skin and all. It was not
firm as a peach, more like an apple. I made jams and jellies
from them and also candied them." Locke described the jujube as
being cold hardy, late flowering, and virtually frost proof. The
trees are well adapted to dry and sandy soils and will grow
easily without requiring any special attention.

The Chinese jujube is native to China, Japan, and much of
Southeast Asia. The deciduous tree grows to 25 feet tall,
loaded with sharp spines, until it ages and the spines fall off
as the bark is formed. The yellow fragrant flowers are small and
they mature into reddish brown oval fruits a little larger than
an olive. New cultivars of improved jujubes can grow as large
as a plum and can be as a round or oval shaped, ripening to a
reddish-brown color. The jujube fruit can be eaten fresh off
the tree, even when there is much green color on the fruit with
faint reddish marks just developing. In dry locations the fruit
will ripen and dry up on the tree, but in the Southeastern
United States, where the humidity is high, the fruit must be
harvested when the color change happens and dried in a cool
room.

Some gardeners describe jujube as tasting like dates flavored
with apples and chocolate. The pulp of the jujube fruit is
centered around a core that contains two seeds. The pulp is
sweet, soft, and yellow in color, with some cultivars being
white when ripe.

After being cured-out and dried, the jujube shrivels up into a
wrinkled delicacy. The fruit is commonly treated similar to
raisin production to preserve for consumption at a later time.

The jujube tree is prized for it's delicious tasting fruit, the
bright-green waxy leaves, and the fascinating silhouette of the
tree. The leaves turn bright yellow before they shed after fall
frosts.

Jujube trees thrive in sandy, poor grade soils such as those
found in the Southeast, and the trees easily flourish in dry
conditions; however, a little well-placed fertilizer produces
amazing results in a short time. There are many species of
jujube that have found use all over the world, including the
continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Arab nutritionists use the leaves of the jujube tree to kill
worms and other parasites that attack the intestinal tract and
cause diarrhea. A jujube tree that is native to Spain, France,
Italy, Syria, and Asia Minor is similar to the Asian jujube and
has been used medicinally as a food item in Europe, Asia Minor,
and Africa. Jujubes were grown in Algeria and eaten mostly by
Algerian Jews in the third century to celebrate New Years Eve.

The Chinese believed that eating the fruit from the jujube tree
would improve a person's stamina and strength, as well as an
improvement in the function of the liver and the immune system.
They believed that consumption of the jujube would mildly
tranquilize a person, act to fight allergies, and cause a
person to gain weight.

Nutritionists have found that the fruit of the jujube tree
contains beneficial concentrations of Vitamins A, B2, and C.
The jujube also contains minerals necessary for health, such as
phosphorus, calcium, and iron.

In China the fruit is marketed mainly like dried dates and can
be found at any food store. The fruit is prized as a health
food as well as a tasty treat. Can a market for jujubes be
developed for this easy to grow delicacy? Very few fruit trees
can be grown that have as many desirable qualities, such as no
natural pests, good taste, heavy production, unfailing yearly
crops, no fertilizer requires, thrives in poor soil, 4000 years
of growing history in China, and no climatic limitations.


About The Author: Patrick A. Malcolm, owner of TyTy Nursery,
has an M.S. degree in Biochemistry and has cultivated fruit
trees for over three decades. http://www.tytyga.com