The India Jujube
Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. (Z. jujuba Lam.)

 The fruits of the India jujube, looking like small, glossy crabapples, turn from green to yellow, then to a light reddish-brown as they ripen. Their flesh is then crisp, firm and juicy. When slightly overripe, they are a darker brown and very slightly soft. Later, they wrinkle and pucker and the flesh becomes really soft and somewhat mealy, with a very musky flavor and a strong cheese-like odor. It is in this latter condition that the fruit is most prized in Asia

 It is in the firm, crisp stage, however, that the fruit is most appreciated in the western world. The flesh texture is then much like that of the crabapple and the flavor varies from pleasantly acid to somewhat sweet. The fruits at this stage are popular for eating out-of-hand and are delicious stewed with sugar, though the rather large seeds are somewhat objectionable.

Jujube butter also is made from the cooked and strained pulp of the ripe fruits, with sugar, spices, lemon and vinegar added, and the unripe fruits make an excellent jelly.

Dried jujubes, high in nutritive value, are used in the Orient in bread and are also made into a cheese-like paste. In the Bahamas, the fruit is in season in January and February and baskets of the fruits can occasionally be seen in the Nassau native market. They change character quickly and, if they are to be eaten raw, the winter visitor will enjoy them most if they have been very recently picked from the tree or are at least unwrinkled and crisp.



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