ZIZYPHUS 



VULGARIS 



THE COMMON JUJUBE 



in fact, in times of scarcity these fruits are specially prized. By cultivation it 

 is greatly improved both in size and flavour, and there is great variety among 

 the cultivated forms. According to Marshall Woodrow, " the best are elliptical, 

 two inches in length by one in thickness and are propagated by inarching or 

 budding on seedlings of the common sort." The unripe fruit is pickled ; the 

 ripe pulp is dried, mixed with salt and tamarinds, to form a condiment or is 

 made into chutnies. The kernels are also eaten, and the leaves constitute a 



Fodder. useful FODDER for cattle and goats. The WOOD is hard and reddish in colour, 



Timber. weighing on an average 48 Ib. per cubic foot. It is largely employed in ordinary 



constructive work and has been recommended for furniture. It is also said to 



Charcoal. make excellent CHAECOAL. The lac insect is commonly reared on the tree (see 



Tachardia lacca, p. 1057), and it is one of the food-plants of the tasar silkworm 

 (see p. 1005), while in Assam the eri silkworm is sometimes fed on it as well (see 

 Silk, p. 1012). [Cf. Baber, Memoirs, 1519 (Leyden and Erskine, transl.), 326 ; 

 Garcia de Orta, 1563, Coll., xxviii. ; also in Ball, Proc. Roy. Ir. Acad., 3rd ser., 

 1889-91, i., 413-4; Prosper Alpinus, De PL dEgypti, 1592, 8; Linschoten, Voy. 

 E. Ind., 1598 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), ii., 32; Thevenot, Travels in Levant, Indostan, 

 etc., 1687, pt. ii., 117, and pi. ; Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, i., 138; De Candolle, 

 Orig. Cult. Plants, 1884, 197-8 ; Pharmacog. Ind., 1890, i., 351 ; Moodeen Sheriff, 

 Mat. Med. Mad., 1891, 108-9 ; Banerjei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 191 ; Cameron, 

 For. Trees of Mysore and Coorg, 1894, 72-3 ; Kept. Oper. Dept. Land Rec. and 

 Agri., 1897-8, 19 ; Agri. Ledg., 1901, No. 9, 213, 221 ; Kanjilal, For. FL, 1901, 

 72 ; Woodrow, Oard. in Ind., 1903, 236-7 ; Firminger, Man. Qard. Ind., 1904, 

 273 ; Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., 1904, iii., 35.] 



Common Z. vulgaris, Lamk. The Common Jujube, titni- (or phitni-) ber, kandika, singli, 



Jujube. 'ban, bdrj, ganyeri, shamor, amlai, relnu, andb, unndb, rdn-bor, etc. A largo 



shrub or small tree "wild in the Pan jab from the Indus to the Ravi; much 

 cultivated in the Panjab, Kashmir, Baluchistan, etc." (Gamble). 



Fruit. The tree is chiefly important on account of its FRUIT, which is very similar 



to that of x. ./ii.jtiba. being an oval pulpy drupe about the size of a plum. It 

 varies much and can be greatly improved by cultivation and grafting. The 



Dried. dried fruit is the jujube of Arabian and Persian works on Materia Medica, and 



has long been known as an article of commerce. The Indian market is supplied 



Imported. from China and the Persian Gulf, the Chinese fruit being preferred as it is larger 



and sweeter. In Europe it is used in the preparation of syrups, confections and 

 lozenges (pate de jujube) taken to allay cough. In order to ascertain the com- 

 position and value of these fruits a consignment was sent to London in 1904, 

 and a report was submitted by Dunstan (Imp. Inst., March 3, 1905). The 



Chemically fruits were chemically examined, but the results showed that they contained no 



Examined. constituents to which definite medicinal qualities could be ascribed. The report 



further adds that " it was considered possible that confectioners might be able 

 to make use of such materials for the preparation of candied fruit or in some 

 similar way, but the absence of any peculiar flavour and the somewhat mawkish 

 taste of the pulp were considered insuperable difficulties by the firms to whom 

 samples of the fruits were submitted for consideration from this point of view." 



Cattle-food. Specimens "of the fruit were also submitted to dealers hi cattle-food in the hope 



that it might be used for mixing with ground pulse and similar products as a 

 sweetening agent. The fruit was considered suitable for this purpose, but ex- 

 perts were of opinion that owing to its bulkiness it could not compete in this 

 direction with similar products such as the carob bean. The report concludes 

 by stating that there appears to be "no immediate prospect of any commercial 

 outlets being formed for these dry fruits, but the inquiry will be continued, and 

 it is possible that some new development in trade may suggest a method for their 

 utilisation in the future." [Cf. Bentham, Rev. of Targioni-Tozzetti, in Journ. 

 Hort. Soc., 1855, ix., 165 ; De Candolle, I.e. 194 ; Pharmacog. Ind., I.e. 350 ; 

 Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 79, 82 ; Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 1, 20 ; Hosie, 

 Rept. Prov. Ssu'ch'uan, China, 1904, No. 5, 17, 50, 54.] 



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