2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Jujuba (lat. Ziziphus jujuba) - a fruit plant from the Krushinovye family.
Description
Juyuba is a deciduous shrub plant or a small tree (it becomes a tree in especially favorable conditions), the height of which ranges from five to ten meters. Each tree is covered with a fairly thick bark, and its branches are densely covered with sharp thorns.
Simple, whole-edged jujube leaves have an elliptical shape and are attached to the branches with the help of short petioles.
Flowering and fruiting of this culture falls on the period from June to October. The greenish-whitish jujube flowers are very nondescript and rather small.
Jujube fruits look like juicy drupes. They are smooth and very fleshy, and their shape can be either ellipsoidal or pronounced ovoid or spherical. Unripe fruits are colored in pale yellowish tones, and as they ripen, they acquire a rich reddish-brownish color. However, in cultural forms, drupes can have completely different colors and shapes, which will be determined by the variety.
The pulp of drupes is very nutritious, incredibly sweet and insanely tasty, but their taste can also be as varied as you like, because it also largely depends on the variety. The nutritional value of these berries simply cannot be overestimated!
Where grows
In Russia, this culture first appeared at the time of Peter I - in those distant times it was called "the French breast berry". However, the history of domesticating this tree goes back several millennia - even in the pre-biblical era, it was incredibly popular among South Asian and East Asian peoples. Long before the onset of our era, it began to be cultivated on the territory of the Mediterranean - there jujube is grown to this day.
Jujube is now cultivated in some Central Asian countries, as well as in Japan and distant Australia. And in Russia, this culture can be seen in the Caucasus. In total, there are about four hundred varieties of jujuba in the world.
It is noteworthy that jujuba can still be seen in the wild - as a rule, it prefers to grow on the sunny dry slopes of mountains and hills.
Application
These fruits are most often eaten fresh, but they are often dried to ensure they are better preserved.
Juyuba is a valuable medicinal plant, because all parts of it, without exception, can be used for medicinal purposes. The bark removed from the roots, as well as leaves and seeds with fruits are actively used in Chinese traditional medicine - this is due to their powerful diuretic and hypotensive, as well as a pronounced tonic and excellent sedative effect. Jujube seeds are an excellent tonic for the entire gastrointestinal tract. As for the bark removed from the roots, it will serve well for diarrhea.
Not so long ago, jujube began to be used for the production of various dietary supplements, because it is very rich in all kinds of useful substances, and it contains twenty times more vitamin C than lemon.
There are a lot of carotenoids in these fruits - it is from them that the human body synthesizes vitamin A, which is vital for maintaining the health and beauty of nails, hair and skin. These fruits are very useful for expectant or nursing mothers.
It is noteworthy that jujube leaves contain a special anesthetic substance - if you chew them, then this substance for a certain time blocks a person's perception of two tastes at once: sweet and bitter. Even if you put an impressive piece of sugar in your mouth at this time, its taste will seem exactly the same as the taste of chalk. At the same time, the sensation of salty and sour tastes is completely preserved, that is, sweet pineapple or fragrant strawberries at such a moment may well resemble pickled cucumbers.
Contraindications
Jujuba can sometimes provoke allergic reactions, so everyone who wants to eat it should be guided by individual intolerance.
