ABSTRACT
The jujube is a shrub or small tree to 9 m (30 ft.) in height, occasionally to 12 m (40 ft.), with small, glossy, deciduous leaves and drooping branches growing in zigzag fashion. Many of the plants have spiny young branches (in Asia, some spineless varieties are grown, but are typically grafted onto rootstocks from spiny trees). The species is native to temperate Asia and is now fairly commonly grown in India, Russia, the Middle East, southern Europe, and especially China. The jujube has been cultivated for more than 4000 years in China, where the crop has been most extensively developed, with more than 400 known varieties. As late as the middle of the twentieth century, the jujube was the most common fruit tree in China (followed by persimmons). Today, the area devoted to growing jujube in China (290,000 ha or 720,000 acres) is equivalent to the area of Florida on which citrus is grown. During the Roman era, jujube trees were established throughout southern Europe and North Africa. Jujube trees rst reached the United States in 1837 and were planted in North Carolina. They are attractive ornamentals and are often seen in the southern United States. Most specimens cultivated in Europe and North America have not been propagated from superior trees, the fruits are generally no larger than an olive, and like apples on apple trees grown from seeds, the fruit is inferior, although nevertheless occasionally consumed. The fruit of the species is egg shaped or pear shaped, ranges in size from that of a cherry to a plum, and has dark red, thin skin that matures to black, accompanied by crisp, whitish, sweet §esh (with more than 20% sugar) reminiscent of an apple but not as juicy. An elongated pit is present. The fruit will dry like gs if left on the tree, in which case the smooth skin becomes
wrinkled. Jujube fruit has never become popular outside of Asia, and indeed in Western countries most people encountering the word “jujube” think of the fruit-§avored gumdrops that have been losing popularity.
