Jujubes are the small, sweet, date-like fruits of the Ziziphus jujuba or Ziziphus mauritania trees. Both do well in warmer climates, although Ziziphus jujuba also grows in northern China. The fruits are round to oblong and red, orange, brown or black when ripe, depending on the specific variety. The fruits can be part of candy recipes, dried or eaten raw. Jujubes are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and research seeks to uncover the jujube’s specific medicinal effects in the lab.
Antioxidant
Jujubes may prove to be another antioxidant fruit and have a beneficial effect on liver damage. Lab analysis in a Chinese study, published in Food and Chemical Toxicology in June 2010, verified the antioxidant capability of three cultivars of jujube. In addition to this study, a 2010 Taiwanese study in Transplantation Proceedings found oral intake of a “water extract” of jujube reduced the amount of liver damage in rats whose hepatic blood flow had been cut off to induce injury. A 2009 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology previously found jujube extract to be protective for the liver in mice whose livers had been damaged.
Anti-inflammatory
Jujube seeds contain an essential oil under investigation for anti-inflammatory effects. In 2010, Food and Chemical Toxicology published a Korean study that found the essential oil did have an anti-inflammatory effect even at low concentrations. Two concentrations of jujube seed oil reduced ear inflammation in mice by a “significant” amount.
Sedative
Despite their sweetness, jujubes contain saponins, the same compounds that give unwashed quinoa its bitter taste. These saponins may be behind the sedative reputation of jujubes in traditional Chinese medicine. Two animal studies from 2007, one published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology and the other in Natural Product Research, found saponins from jujubes increased the amount of time needed for the animals to wake up.
References
- PubMed.gov: Water Extract of Zizyphus Jujube Attenuates Ischemia/Reperfusion-induced Liver Injury in Rats
- PubMed.gov: Systematic Evaluation of Antioxidant Capacities of the Ethanolic Extract of Different Tissues of Jujube (Ziziphus Jujuba Mill.) from China
- PubMed.gov: Anti-inflammatory Activity of Seed Essential Oil From Zizyphus Jujuba
- PubMed.gov: Separation and Purification of Saponins From Semen Ziziphus Jujuba and Their Sedative and Hypnotic Effects
- PubMed.gov: Comparison of the Sedative and Hypnotic Effects of Flavonoids, Saponins and Polysaccharides Extracted From Semen Ziziphus Jujube
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