From the book
Fruits of Warm Climates
by Julia F. Morton
Indian Jujube
Ziziphus
mauritiana Lam.
Ziziphus jujuba L.
RHAMNACEAE
While the better-known, smooth-leaved Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba
Mill.) of the family Rhamnaceae, is of ancient culture in northern
China and is widely grown in mild-temperate, rather dry areas, of both
hemispheres, the Indian jujube, Z.
mauritiana Lam. (syn. Z.
jujuba
L.) is adapted to warm climates. It is often called merely jujube, or
Chinese date, which leads to confusion with the hardier species. Other
English names are Indian Plum, Indian cherry and Malay jujube. In
Jamaica it may be called coolie plum or crabapple; in Barbados, dunk or
mangustine; in Trinidad and Tropical Africa, dunks; in Queensland,
Chinee apple. In Venezuela it is ponsigne or yuyubo; in Puerto Rico,
aprin or yuyubi; in the Dominican Republic, perita haitiana; in the
French-speaking West Indies, pomme malcadi, pomme surette, petit pomme,
liane croc chien, gingeolier or dindoulier. In the Philippines it is
called manzana or manzanita ("apple" or "little apple"); in Malaya,
bedara; in Indonesia and Surinam, widara; in Thailand, phutsa or
ma-tan; in Cambodia, putrea; in Vietnam, tao or tao nhuc. In India it
is most commonly known as ber, orbor.
Plate XXXV: INDIAN JUJUBE, Zizyphus
mauritiana
Description
The
plant is a vigorous grower and has a rapidly-developing taproot. It may
be a bushy shrub 4 to 6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) high, or a tree 10 to 30 or even
40 ft (3-9 or 12 m) tall; erect or wide-spreading, with gracefully
drooping branches and downy, zigzag branchlets, thornless or set with
short, sharp straight or hooked spines. It may be evergreen, or
leafless for several weeks in hot summers. The leaves are alternate,
ovate- or oblong-elliptic, 1 to 2 1/2 in (2.5-6.25 cm) long, 3/4 to 1
1/2 in (2-4 cm) wide; distinguished from those of the Chinese jujube by
the dense, silky, whitish or brownish hairs on the underside and the
short, downy petioles. On the upper surface, they are very glossy,
dark-green, with 3 conspicuous, depressed, longitudinal veins, and
there are very fine teeth on the margins.
The 5-petalled flowers
are yellow, tiny, in 2's or 3's in the leaf axils. The fruit of wild
trees is 1/2 to 1 in (1.25-2.5 cm) long. With sophisticated
cultivation, the fruit reaches 2 1/2 in (6.25 cm) in length and 1 3/4
in (4.5 cm) in width. The form may be oval, obovate, round or oblong;
the skin smooth or rough, glossy, thin but tough, turns from
light-green to yellow, later becomes partially or wholly burnt-orange
or red-brown or all-red. When slightly underripe, the flesh is white,
crisp, juicy, acid or subacid to sweet, somewhat astringent, much like
that of a crabapple. Fully ripe fruits are less crisp and somewhat
mealy; overripe fruits are wrinkled, the flesh buff-colored, soft,
spongy and musky. At first the aroma is applelike and pleasant but it
becomes peculiarly musky as the fruit ages. There is a single, hard,
oval or oblate, rough central stone which contains 2 elliptic, brown
seeds, 1/4 in (6 mm) long.
Origin and Distribution
The
Indian jujube is native from the Province of Yunnan in southern China
to Afghanistan, Malaysia and Queensland, Australia. It is cultivated to
some extent throughout its natural range but mostly in India where it
is grown commercially and has received much horticultural attention and
refinement despite the fact that it frequently escapes and becomes a
pest. It was introduced into Guam about 1850 but is not often planted
there or in Hawaii except as an ornamental. Specimens are scattered
about the drier parts of the West Indies, the Bahamas, Colombia and
Venezuela, Guatemala, Belize, and southern Florida. In Barbados,
Jamaica and Puerto Rico the tree is naturalized and forms thickets in
uncultivated areas. In 1939, 6 trees from Malaysia were introduced into
Israel and flourished there. They bore very light crops of fruit
heavily infested with fruit flies and were therefore destroyed to
protect other fruit trees.
Varieties
In
India, there are 90 or more cultivars differing in the habit of the
tree, leaf shape, fruit form, size, color, flavor, keeping quality, and
fruiting season. Among the important cultivars, eleven are described in
the encyclopaedic Wealth of India: 'Banarasi
(or Banarsi) Pewandi',
'Dandan', 'Kaithli' ('Patham'),
'Muria Mahrara',
'Narikelee',
'Nazuk', 'Sanauri 1', 'Sanauri 5', 'Thornless' and 'Umran' ('Umri'). The
skin of most is smooth and greenish-yellow to yellow.
At
Haryana Agricultural University, a study was made of 70 cultivars
collected from all jujube-growing areas of northern India and set out
in an experimental orchard in 1967-68. In 1980, 16 midseason selections
from these were evaluated. 'Banarasi
Karaka'
(poor-flavored) gave the highest yield-286 lbs (130 kg) per
tree-followed by 'Mudia Murhara' and 'Kaithli' (both of good flavor),
and 'Sanauri 5' and 'Desi
Alwar'
(both of medium flavor). It was decided that 'Mudia Murhara', 'Kaithli'
and 'Sanauri 5' were worthy of commercial cultivation. For breeding
purposes, 'Banarasi Karaka' and 'Desi Alwar' could contribute high pulp
content; 'Mudia Murhara', total soluble solids; 'Kaithli', high
ascorbic acid content and good flavor, in efforts to develop a superior
midseason cultivar.
In 1982, 4 were singled-out as the most promising cultivars:
'Umran'–large,
golden-yellow turning chocolate-brown when fully ripe; sweet; 19% TSS;
0.12% acidity; average fruit weight, 30-89 g; yield, 380-440 lbs
(150-200 kg) per tree; late-ripening; of good keeping and shipping
quality.
'Gola'–medium
to large (average, 14-17 g); 17-19% TSS; 0.46-0.51% acidity;
golden-yellow, juicy, of good flavor; yield, 175-220 lbs (80-100 kg)
per tree. Earliest to ripen; sells at a high price.
'Kaithli'–of
medium size (average 180.0 g); 18% TSS; 0.5% acidity; pulp soft and
sweet. Average yield, 220-330 lbs (100-150 kg).
'Katha phal'–small
to medium (average 10.0 g); greenish blushed on one cheek with
reddish-yellow; 23% TSS; 0.77% acidity; yield, medium, 175-220 lbs (80-
100 kg) per tree. Late in season.
In addition to these, 5
cultivars have been described at the Indian Agricultural Research
Institute, New Delhi. All are grown in Delhi, the southeastern Punjab
and neighboring Uttar Pradesh. Their special features are, briefly, as
follows:
'Dandan'–non-spiny;
fruit medium to large; of fairly good quality; keeps well. Late in
season.
'Gular Bashi'–fruit
of medium size, juicy, sweet, nonacrid; of excellent quality when
fresh, musky after storage. TSS 18.8% when yellow, 22.4% after turning
brown. Stone medium to thin, funnel-shaped, easily separated from the
flesh. Late in season. Keeps well.
'Kheera'–medium
to large, oval with a beak; pulp soft, juicy, of good, sweet flavor.
TSS 19.8%. Late; a heavy bearer; of fairly good keeping quality.
'Nazuk'–medium
to small, elliptic-oblong; pulp slimy, fairly juicy; of good, sweet
flavor, nearly without astringency. TSS 17.4%. Midseason. A moderate
bearer. Of poor keeping quality.
'Seo ber'
('Seb')–medium to large; skin thick; pulp moderately juicy,
astringent unless peeled or not eaten until light-brown, when it is
very sweet and excellent. TSS 19%. Stone large, thick, pitted. Late in
season. Keeps very well.
In Assam 5 wild or cultivated types, collected from various parts of
the state, have been described by S. Dutta:
'Var. 1'–a
very thorny wild shrub, with small, round, inferior fruits; grown as a
fence to protect crops.
'Var. 2'–a
wild, thorny tree to 30 ft (9 m) with red-brown, tough-skinned fruit
having slimy, acid-sweet pulp. Much eaten by children and rural folk.
Commonly used in cooking and preserving.
'Var. 3'–a
very thorny, spreading tree. Fruit dark-red or brown, with sour pulp.
Bears heavily. Planted for shade.
'Var. 4'
('Bali bogri')–a wild, thornless tree, with greenish-yellow
fruits blushed with red; pulp slightly slimy, mealy, sweet-and-acid, of
good flavor. Bears heavily.
'Var. 5'
('Tenga-mitha-bogri')–A wild, thorny tree, with oblong, brownish
fruit; pulp slightly slimy, sweet-and-acid, with very pleasant flavor.
Bears heavily. A choice jujube recommended for vegetative propagation
and commercial cultivation.
Pollination
Pollen of the Indian jujube is thick and heavy. It is not airborne but
is transferred from flower to flower by honeybees (Apis spp.), a
yellow wasp (Polister
hebraeus), and the house fly (Musca domestica).
The
cultivars 'Banarasi Karaka', 'Banarasi Pewandi' and 'Thornless' are
self-incompatible. 'Banarasi Karaka' and 'Thornless' are reciprocally
cross-incompatible.
Climate
In
China and India, wild trees are found up to an elevation of 5,400 ft
(1,650 m) but commercial cultivation extends only up to 3,280 ft (1,000
m). In northern Florida, it is sensitive to frost. Young trees may be
frozen to the ground but will recover. Mature trees have withstood
occasional short periods of freezing temperatures without damage. In
India, the minimum shade temperature for survival is 44.6º to
55.4º F (7º-13º C); the maximum, 98.6º to 118º
F (37º-48º C). The tree requires a fairly dry climate with an
annual rainfall of 6 to 88.5 in (15-225 cm), being unsuited to the
lower, wetter parts of Malaysia. For high fruit production, the tree
needs full sun.
Soil
In
India, the tree does best on sandy loam, neutral or slightly alkaline.
It also grows well on laterite, medium black soils with good drainage,
or sandy, gravelly, alluvial soil of dry river-beds where it is
vigorously spontaneous. Even moderately saline soils are tolerated. The
tree is remarkable in its ability to tolerate water-logging as well as
drought.
Propagation
The
Indian jujube is widely grown from seeds, which may remain viable for 2
1/2 years but the rate of germination declines with age. Superior
selections are grafted or budded onto seedlings of wild types.
Vegetative propagation of highly prized varieties was practiced near
Bombay about 1835 but kept secret until 1904, and then was quickly
adopted by many people. Ring-budding has been popular in the past but
has been largely superseded by shield-budding or T-budding. Grafted
plants are less thorny than seedlings.
To select seeds for
growing rootstocks, the stones must be taken from fruits that have
fully ripened on the tree. They are put into a 17 to 18% salt solution
and all that float are discarded. The stones that sink are dipped in
500 ppm thiourea for 4 hours, then cracked and the separated seeds will
germinate in 7 days. Seeds in uncracked stones require 21 to 28 days.
If seeds are sown in spring, the seedlings will be ready for budding in
4 months. Great care must be taken in transplanting nursery stock to
the field because of the taproot. Therefore, the rootstocks may be
raised directly in the field and budding done in situ. Inferior
seedling trees, including wild trees, can be topworked to preferred
cultivars in June and some fruit will be borne a year later. From 1935
to 1939, the Punjab Department of Agriculture top-worked 50,000 trees
without cost to the growers. Air-layers will root if treated with IBA
and NAA at 5,000 to 7,500 ppm and given 100 ppm boron. Cuttings of
mature wood at least 2 years old can be rooted and result in better
yields than those taken at a younger stage.
At Punjab
University, horticulturists have experimented with stooling as a means
of propagation. They transplanted one-year-old seedlings into stool
beds, cut them back to 4 in (10 cm), found that the shoots would root
only if ringed and treated with IBA, preferably at 12,000 ppm.
Culture
Untrimmed
trees must be spaced at 36 to 40 ft (11-12 m), but carefully pruned
trees can be set at 23 to 26 ft (7-8 m). Pruning should be done during
the first year of growth to reduce the plant to one healthy shoot, and
branches lower than 30 in (75 cm) should be removed. At the end of the
year, the plant is topped. During the 2nd and 3rd years, the tree is
carefully shaped. Thereafter, the tree should be pruned immediately
after harvesting at the beginning of dormancy and 25 to 50% of the
previous year's growth may be removed. Sometimes a second lighter
pruning is performed just before flowering. There will be great
improvement in size, quality and number of fruits the following season.
In
India, it has been traditional to apply manure and ash as fertilizer,
but, in recent years, each tree has been given annual treatments of 22
lbs (10 kg) manure with 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg) ammonium sulphate for every
year of age up to the 5th year. More advanced farmers utilize only
commercial fertilizer (NPK) in larger amounts, twice annually, the
first at the rate of 110 lbs/acre (about 110 kg/ha) and the second at
172 lbs/acre (about 172 kg/ha). Growth regulators are now being
utilized to bring about early and heavier blooming, enhance fruit
setting, prevent fruit drop, and increase fruit size, and promote
uniform ripening. These practices have demonstrated that an improved
crop can bring in 2 to 3 times the revenue of that achieved by
conventional practices.
During hot weather and also in the
period of fruit development, irrigation is highly beneficial.
Water-stress will cause immature fruit drop. In India, water has been
applied as many as 35 times during the winter months. Zinc and boron
sprays are sometimes applied to enhance glossiness of the fruits.
Season and Harvesting
In
India, some types ripen as early as October, others from mid-February
to mid-March, others in March, or mid-March, to the end of April. In
the Assiut Governorate, there are 2 crops a year, the main in early
spring, the second in the fall. In India, 2 or 3 pickings are done by
hand from ladders, a worker being capable of manually harvesting about
110 lbs (50 kg) per day. The fruits remaining on the tree are shaken
down. After wrapping in white cloth, the fruits are put into
paper-lined burlap bags holding 110 lbs (50 kg) for long trips to
markets throughout the country.
Yield
Seedling
trees bear 5,000 to 10,000 small fruits per year in India. Superior
grafted trees may yield as many as 30,000 fruits. The best cultivar in
India, with fruits normally averaging 30 to the lb (66 to the kg),
yields 175 lbs (77 kg) annually. Special cultural treatment increases
both fruit size and yield.
Keeping Quality
The
Indian jujube stands handling, shipment and marketing very well.
Storage experiments in India showed that slightly underripe fruits
ripen and keep for 8 days under wheat straw, 7 days under leaves, and 4
days in carbide (50 to 60 g).
Pests and Diseases
The greatest enemies of the jujube in India are fruit flies, Carpomyia vesuviana
and C. incompleta.
Some cultivars are more susceptible than others, the flies preferring
the largest, sweetest fruits, 100% of which may be attacked while on a
neighboring tree, bearing a smaller, less-sweet type, only 2% of the
crop may be damaged. The larvae pupate in the soil and it has been
found that treatment of the ground beneath the tree helps reduce the
problem. Control is possible with regular and effective spraying of
insecticide.
A leaf-eating caterpillar, Porthmologa
paraclina, and the green slug caterpillar, Thosea sp., attack
the foliage. A mite, Larvacarus
transitans, forms scale-like galls on twigs retarding
growth and reducing the fruit crop.
Lesser pests include a small caterpillar, Meridarches scyrodes,
that bores into the fruit; the gray-hairy caterpillar, Thiacidas postica,
also Tarucus
theophrastus, Myllocerus
transmarinus, and Xanthochelus
superciliosus.
The tree is subject to shrouding by a parasitic vine (Cuscuta spp.).
Powdery mildew (Oidium
sp.) causes defoliation and fruit-drop. Sooty mold (Cladosporium zizyphi)
causes leaves to fall. Leafspot results from infestation by Cercospora spp. and
Isariopsis
indica var. zizyphi.
In 1973, a witches'-broom disease caused by a mycoplasma-like organism
was found in jujube plants near Poona University. It proved to be
transmitted by grafting or budding diseased scions onto healthy Z. mauritiana
seedlings. Leaf rust, caused by Phakopsora
zizyphivulgaris, ranges from mild to severe on all
commercial cultivars in the Punjab.
Fruits on the tree are attacked by Alternaria
chartarum, Aspergillus
nanus, A. parasiticus, Helminthosporium atroolivaceum, Phoma hessarensis,
and Stemphyliomma
valparadisiacum. Twigs and branches may be affected by Entypella zizyphi, Hypoxylon
hypomiltum, and Patellaria
atrata. In storage, the fruits may be spotted by the
fungi, Alternaria
brassicicola, Phoma spp., Curvularia lunata, Cladosporium
herbarum. Fruit rots are caused by Fusarium spp., Nigrospora oryzae, Epicoccum
nigrum, and Glomerella
cingulata.
Food Uses
In
India, the ripe fruits are mostly consumed raw, but are sometimes
stewed. Slightly underripe fruits are candied by a process of pricking,
immersing in a salt solution gradually raised from 2 to 8%, draining,
immersing in another solution of 8% salt and 0.2% potassium
metabisulphite, storing for 1 to 3 months, rinsing and cooking in sugar
sirup with citric acid. Residents of Southeast Asia eat the unripe
fruits with salt. Ripe fruits crushed in water form a very popular cold
drink. Ripe fruits are preserved by sun-drying and a powder is prepared
for out-of-season purposes. Acid types are used for pickling or for
chutneys. In Africa, the dried and fermented pulp is pressed into cakes
resembling gingerbread.
Young leaves are cooked and eaten in
Indonesia. In Venezuela, a jujube liqueur is made and sold as Crema de
ponsigue. Seed kernels are eaten in times of famine.
| Food
Value Per
100 g of Edible Portion* |
| *Fruits, fresh: |
|
| Moisture |
81.6-83.0
g |
| Protein |
0.8
g |
| Fat |
0.07
g |
| Fiber |
0.60
g |
| Carbohydrates |
17.0
g |
| Total
Sugars |
5.4-10.5
g |
| Reducing
Sugars |
1.4-6.2
g |
| Non-Reducing
Sugars |
3.2-8.0
g |
| Ash
|
0.3-0.59
g |
| Calcium |
25.6
mg |
| Phosphorus |
26.8
mg |
| Iron |
0.76-1.8
mg |
| Carotene |
0.021
mg |
| Thiamine |
0.02-0.024
mg |
| Riboflavin |
0.02-0.038
mg |
| Niacin |
0.7-0.873
mg |
| Citric
Acid |
0.2-1.1
mg |
| Ascorbic Acid |
65.8-76.0
mg |
| Fluoride |
0.1-0.2
ppm |
| Pectin
(dry basis) |
2.2-3.4% |
The fresh fruits
also contain some malic and oxalic acid and quercetin.
|
| *
*Fruits, dried: |
|
| Calories |
473/lb
(1,041/kg) |
| Moisture |
68.10
g |
| Protein |
1.44
g |
| Fat |
0.21
g |
| Carbohydrates |
2.47
g |
| Sugar |
21.66
g |
| Fiber |
1.28
g |
*Analyses made in India and Honduras.
**Analyses made in the Philippines. |
|
Toxicity
In
Ethiopia, the fruits are used to stupefy fish (possibly there is
sufficient saponin for this purpose). The leaves contain saponin
because they are known to produce lather if rubbed in water.
Other Uses
Wood:
The wood is reddish, close-grained, fine-textured, hard, tough,
durable, planing and polishing well. It has been used to line wells, to
make legs for bedsteads, boat ribs, agricultural implements, house
poles, tool handles, yokes, gunstocks, saddle trees, sandals, golf
clubs, household utensils, toys and general turnery. It is also valued
as firewood; is a good source of charcoal and activated carbon. In
tropical Africa, the flexible branches are wrapped as retaining bands
around conical thatched roofs of huts, and are twined together to form
thorny corral walls to retain livestock.
Leaves:
The leaves are readily eaten by camels, cattle and goats and are
considered nutritious. Analyses show the following constituents (% dry
weight): crude protein, 12.9-16.9; fat, 1.5-2.7; fiber, 13.5-17.1;
N-free extract, 55.3-56.7; ash, 10.2-11.7; calcium, 1.42-3.74;
phosphorus, 0.17-0.33; magnesium, 0.46-0.83; potassium, 0.47-1.57;
sodium, 0.02-0.05; chlorine, 0.14-0.38; Sulphur, 0.13-0.33%. They also
contain ceryl alcohol and the alkaloids, protopine and berberine.
The leaves are gathered as food for silkworms.
Dye:
In Burma, the fruit is used in dyeing silk. The bark yields a
non-fading, cinnamon-colored dye in Kenya.
Nectar:
In India and Queensland, the flowers are rated as a minor source of
nectar for honeybees. The honey is light and of fair flavor.
Lac:
The Indian jujube is one of several trees grown in India as a host for
the lac insect, Kerria lacca, which sucks the juice from the leaves and
encrusts them with an orange-red resinous substance. Long ago, the lac
was used for dyeing, but now the purified resin is the shellac of
commerce. Low grades of shellac are made into sealing wax and varnish;
higher grades are used for fine lacquer work, lithograph-ink, polishes
and other products. The trees are grown around peasant huts and heavily
inoculated with broodlac in October and November every year, and the
resin is harvested in April and May. The trees must be pruned
systematically to provide an adequate number of young shoots for
inoculation.
Medicinal
Uses: The
fruits are applied on cuts and ulcers; are employed in pulmonary
ailments and fevers; and, mixed with salt and chili peppers, are given
in indigestion and biliousness. The dried ripe fruit is a mild
laxative. The seeds are sedative and are taken, sometimes with
buttermilk, to halt nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pains in pregnancy.
They check diarrhea, and are poulticed on wounds. Mixed with oil, they
are rubbed on rheumatic areas.
The leaves are applied as
poultices and are helpful in liver troubles, asthma and fever and,
together with catechu, are administered when an astringent is needed,
as on wounds. The bitter, astringent bark decoction is taken to halt
diarrhea and dysentery and relieve gingivitis. The bark paste is
applied on sores. The root is purgative. A root decoction is given as a
febrifuge, taenicide and emmenagogue, and the powdered root is dusted
on wounds. Juice of the root bark is said to alleviate gout and
rheumatism. Strong doses of the bark or root may be toxic. An infusion
of the flowers serves as an eye lotion.
|
|