Christ's thorn fruit

What it is

Ziziphus spina-christi belongs to the buckthorn family. The fruit measures about 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) across and is known in Egypt as nabaq or sidr. The flesh is the edible part around the stone. It starts out woolly and ripens from yellow to red. It can be eaten fresh, dried or cooked.

Where it comes from

Its native range stretches across Africa from Mauritania through the Sahara and Sahel to the Red Sea. It grows in wooded grasslands, beside rivers and around cultivated land, with a range extending into Arabia. In Israel it grows in valleys and lowlands, where it has long been a fruit tree in local food traditions.

How it's eaten where it grows

In the Levant, Arab and Bedouin communities eat the fruit both fresh and dried. Bedouins keep dried fruit for winter and turn it into a thick paste eaten as bread. Fruit bread also has an Egyptian history stretching from ancient Egypt into village kitchens of the early twentieth century.

How it's grown

The tree tolerates heat and drought, yet favours riverbanks and wadis, dry channels where underground water remains within reach. Its main root grows deep into the ground. In Ethiopia it can reach 10 m (33 ft), keeping its leaves on wet sites and losing them during a long dry season.

Growers raise it from seedlings or cuttings. Around villages it gives shade, and in West Africa it shares fields with millet.

When and where you'll find it

Local produce markets are one route to the fresh fruit in Egypt: ripe nabaq was sold in Alexandria during the 2024 harvest. Dried fruit lasts longer: Bedouin households keep it for winter. In Egypt the fruit goes by nabaq or sidr.