Zizyphus. Zizyphus sativa. Jujube.
Zizyphus. Zizyphus sativa Gaertn. (Z. vulgaris Lamarck.) Jujube, Fr. Brustbeeren, Judendornbeeren, G.—A shrub, or small tree, of the Fam. Rhamnaceae, growing on the shores of the Mediterranean, and cultivated in Italy, Spain, and the south of France. The fruit is the part used. This consists of oval drupes, of the size of a large olive, with a thin, coriaceous, red or reddish-brown skin, a yellowish, sweet, acidulous pulp, and an oblong, pointed stone in the center. These have the name of jujuba. By drying, their pulp becomes softer and sweeter, and acquires a vinous taste, evincing the commencement of fermentation. They are nutritive and demulcent, and are used in the form of decoction in pectoral complaints. Jujube paste consists properly of gum arabic and sugar, dissolved in a decoction of this fruit and evaporated to the proper consistence. As a demulcent it is in no respect superior to a paste made with gum arabic and sugar alone, and the preparation formerly sold in this country under the name contains in fact none of the fruit. The fruits of two other species, Z. Lotus Lam., growing in the north of Africa, and Z. Jujuba, Lam., a native of the East Indies, possess properties similar to those of the Z. sativa and are used as food by the inhabitants of the countries where they grow. The Zizyphus Jujuba is stated by Bosisto (A. J. P., 1886) to be one of the main sources of stick-lac, from which shellac is manufactured.
