Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa Seeds | Wild Jujube
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LATIN NAME: Ziziphus jujuba var. Spinosa
COMMON NAME: Wild Jujube, Sour Jujube, Suan Zao Ren
Plant Profile
Wild jujube is a thorny deciduous shrub or small tree, 2-5 m, with glossy oval leaves, small greenish flowers and round fruit that ripens from green to dark red. The fruit is smaller and more acidic than the cultivated jujube, and the seed inside is the part used in Chinese medicine.
The plant is grown for its fruit, for its seed and as a rootstock for cultivated jujube. It is drought tolerant, tolerant of poor soil and thorny enough to make a stock-proof hedge, and it suckers freely once established.
Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa comes from northern China, where it grows on dry hillsides and in scrub. The cultivated jujube is the same species, selected over millennia for larger, sweeter fruit, while the wild form has been kept for its seed.
Science & Biotechnology
The seed, known as suan zao ren, contains jujubosides, spinosides and flavonoids, and it is one of the classic sedative herbs of Chinese practice. Animal studies show effects on sleep latency and on the GABA system, but human trials are small and few, and the evidence remains preliminary.
The fruit is rich in vitamin C and in polysaccharides, and it is eaten fresh, dried and candied. The wood is hard and takes a fine polish, and the thorny branches are used for fencing in northern China.
The species is unusual in combining a fleshy fruit with a very hard, sculpted stone, and the stone is what the medicinal trade collects. The seed is extracted from the fruit after processing, which is why the raw material and the finished herb look nothing alike.
Uses & Benefits
The seed is used in Chinese formulas for insomnia and palpitations, usually in combination with other herbs. The fruit is eaten fresh, dried or as a paste, and it is a common snack in China.
In the garden the plant is grown as a fruiting shrub, a hedge or a rootstock, and its glossy leaves and red fruit are ornamental. Commercially the seed is a traded herb, and the fruit is a significant crop in China. The plant is thorny, so site it away from paths. The fruit also makes a sour paste and a fermented drink in northern China, and the roasted seed is taken as a powder in sleep formulas.
Growing from Seed
Soak the seed for 24 hours, then stratify for eight to twelve weeks at 3-5°C. Sow 1.5 cm deep at 20-25°C; germination is slow and uneven, and fresh seed gives the best results.
Plant out in full sun in any well-drained soil, including poor and dry ground. Irrigation matters for the first two seasons; after that the plant manages on rainfall except in a true drought. Prune in winter to keep the shrub open, and remove suckers if the plant is grafted, since they will be the wild rootstock rather than the cultivar. Seedlings are slow and the first year’s growth slight, so raise them in a nursery bed and lift them out after two summers.
Our Take
A tough thorny shrub that gives fruit, seed and a hedge, provided you have a corner where its thorns will not find anyone.
Related Reading
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