Time to talk about one of my all-time favorite and more expensive trees, the Jujube fruit, also known as the Chinese Date tree.
The Jujube fruit is one of those fruits that not a whole lot of Westerners know about, but they should! I love learning about new and exotic fruits. I first heard about these in 2017 and am glad that I did. It is another amazing fruit tree that grows well in places like Phoenix.
In this article, you will learn all bout the jujube fruit or Chinese date, where it comes from and grows, what the nutritional benefits are, how to eat it, and what it tastes like. Let’s get started!
Where does the Jujube fruit or Chinese date come from and where does it grow?
The Ziziphus jujuba, more commonly called the Jujube, Chinese date, red date, or Chinese jujube, are deciduous trees said to have originated in southern Asia particularly China, or between Lebanon, northern India, and China, hence the alternative name Chinese date. There are quite a few cultivars on estimate puts it at over 400 over the past several thousand years.
Yes, this fruit has been around for a very long time. They are commonly cultivated in Beijing and other varieties are spread throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The jujube fruit is also cultivated in Madagascar, parts of South-Eastern Europe, and Bulgaria.
These are not to be confused with the related Indian jujube. It is also cultivated in parts of California. However, home gardeners can grow it in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and most southwestern United States. The Jujube trees are drought-tolerant and fairly easy to manage and grow.
Above is a picture of my Jujube fruit tree that I used to have growing in a pot on my patio in Phoenix. After my parents moved to Arizona, I planted it in their backyard where it is doing very well.
The more common varieties of jujube cultivars are the Li jujube, Lang jujubes, Sherwood, So, Shui Men, GA 8dd, and Silverhill. At my local nursery that specializes in exotics I normally only see the Li and Lang varieties of trees for sale. And they are normally around $60 to $80 for a pretty small sapling.
What are the nutritional benefits of the Chinese Date?
After a little research, I found the jujube fruit is loaded with nutritional benefits that the human body needs and is often used in traditional Chinese medicine, some of which include the following:
- May improve sleep
- May decrease anxiety
- Low in calories
- Rich in dietary fiber
- 1g of protein for every three fruit
- High in vitamin C
- Moderate amount of potassium
- Rich in antioxidant properties
- May boost the immune system
- Can help lower your cholesterol which reduces the chance of heart disease
Because of the high fiber content and low calories, this makes an excellent snack throughout the day. For more health information about this amazing fruit, visit healthline.com.
How to eat Jujube fruit?
One thing I find pretty amazing about the Jujube fruit is that you can eat it at different stages of ripeness. You can eat fresh jujubes when they are green. You can eat them with they are yellow/pale. And most commonly you can eat them when they are dark red and shriveled. And you can eat completely dry jujubes.
You can pop the whole thing in your mouth and chew, but be careful there is a pit or single seed inside. Or just take small bites out of it and eat around the pit.
When they are green they will be crunchy like an apple. When they are red and shriveled they will be chewier like a date.
You can eat them fresh or they are also commonly candied. Other uses include putting it in tea and using it in other recipes, like cakes, marmalades, juices, and traditional medicine.
There are several uses for this amazing fruit, and they vary depending on the region of the world.
If you would like to try some Jujube fruit, most likely here in the United States you can find them at your local Asian/International market. I doubt you will find them in normal grocery stores. When I saw them, they were the dried red kind, not the fresh ones.
Also, I want to point out, that you do not remove the skin, you eat it.
What does Jujube fruit or Chinese dates taste like?
Now I bet you are wondering what they taste like. They taste a little different depending on what stage you eat them at. The green/yellow ones are crisp like an apple and mildly sweet sometimes tart with an apple flavor.
The red dried ones are much sweeter, and taste kind of like dates. They are chewy with a bit of a spongelike texture as well and have a syrupy flavor to them but not quite like the caramel flavor of dates.
I hope you liked learning about this amazing Jujube Fruit or Chinese Date. More Westerners need to know about this awesome fruit.
Drop a comment down below and let me know if you have ever tried them. Enjoy!
Do they need another variety to cross pollinate?
No! You can have a very healthy full crop with just one jujube plant. No need to plant a few different varieties, but you certainly can, these trees are awesome and one of my favorite trees to grow in Arizona.
Watch the video I made about the Jujube fruit!
Here are other recipes and articles you may find interesting:
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Just bought a ‘Li’ varietal to plant in SoCal.
Brought back memories of the apple-like texture and very mild sweetness when I was introduced to a freshly picked fruit a few years ago.
Forgot all about it until HD had them stocked.
My 3′ potted sapling already has fruit.
Only negative about the HD selections is that they come topped stopping current vertical growth. They all branch sideways then up creating what I believe is an imbalance and high potential for branch breakage.
That is awesome that you found one at Home Depot! I try not to buy trees there and only get them at local nurseries, but every once in awhile you can find some gems there. Good luck! I hope you have a lot of success with that tree. The one I got, I wound up planting in my parents yard and it is thriving, the trunk is like 4 inches in diameter already and always is loaded with fruit.
We live in Albuquerque, NM, and purchased our Li Jujubee locally at a nursery about 5 years ago. We love eating the fruit at all stages, and our grandkids love them just as much. We have freeze dried them for long term storage, but this year for the first time we are dehydrating them and excited to eat them in that format. I love that they ripen in late September early October here when it is getting a little cooler. Thank you for sharing with us about the Jujube!
That is awesome Lynn!! I was just at my parents on Sunday, which is where I planted my Li Jujubee. It is thriving and growing so big. This year they got two crops and there are some on there getting so big. I purchased the tree in Mar of 2017 and had it in a pot on my patio, it has been in the ground at my parents’ house since Mar 2020. It is one of my favorite trees!!
I have a jujube tree in my yard in Utah. The previous owners of my house planted it. Fortunately, they left a tag on it so I knew what it was.
I love that it blooms later in the Summer. The fruits are quite tasty.
That is awesome!! I planted mine that I had in a pot on my patio in my parents yard and it is doing really well. Several fruit on it currently, can’t wait for them to ripen.