Jujube

Get to know it

A fresh jujube has the crisp bite of a small apple; dried, it becomes a wrinkled red fruit with a chewy texture and caramel-like sweetness. These are the red dates used in Chinese cooking, grown on a leafy tree rather than a date palm.

What it is

Jujube is Ziziphus jujuba, a member of the buckthorn family. Its oval or round fruit is often about 1.7–3.2 cm (⅔–1¼ in), with a pointed stone inside. It is a different species from the tropical Indian jujube.

Variety matters. In New Mexico, Li tastes good from the half-red stage through full red. Dongzao can already be sweet and crisp while its skin is still creamy-coloured.

Where it comes from

Jujubes come from the middle and lower reaches of China’s Yellow River, where people have grown them for more than 4,000 years. The first US introduction came from Europe in 1837, to Beaufort, North Carolina.

In 1908, plant explorer Frank Meyer brought Chinese commercial varieties to Chico, California. They later spread to planting stations in Texas, New Mexico and other states. Most US jujubes still grow in home gardens, alongside small commercial plantings in California.

How it's eaten where it grows

Shanghai’s xin tai ruan is a dessert of red dates split open and filled with sticky rice dough. The stuffed fruit is steamed, then coated in syrup scented with osmanthus flowers.

In Korea, jujubes become daechu cha, a fruity tea served hot or cold. One version grinds softened dried fruit with ginger and cinnamon, then mixes in sugar to make a paste. A spoonful stirred into water makes a cup.

How it's grown

Jujube trees lose their leaves in winter and reach about 4.5–9 m (15–30 ft). Their branches zigzag, and young trees carry paired thorns. Most commercial trees are grafted onto sour jujube roots.

Most varieties give a little fruit in their second year and a more substantial crop after four or five years. They tolerate drought, but in New Mexico’s dry climate growers irrigate them for good crops.

When and where you'll find it

New Mexico’s early varieties bring fresh jujubes in late summer. Fucuimi usually matures in mid-to-late August at Las Cruces. Alcalde #1 reaches its half-red stage in early September at Los Lunas and mid-September farther north at Alcalde.

Dried red dates belong to the dried-goods shelves of Chinese and Asian groceries, either with their stones or already pitted. Korean groceries also carry the sweet jujube paste used for tea.

Sources · 7

Get it near Detroit

What it tastes like

Sweeter than a banana, softer than an apple≈

Not sweetlemonapplebananaSweet

MildbananaapplelemonSour

SoftbananapearCrisp

More about the taste

In Texas, the Li variety is crisp like an apple. Green-stage jujubes are generally crunchier, and many varieties taste better once the skin turns reddish-maroon, though some are sweet while still green.

Choose, ripen, store, eat

1ChooseLi: half-red to full red
Look for
Li: half-red to full red
Dongzao: creamy stage
Ignore
One skin-color rule
Ask for the variety and its intended use. In New Mexico, Li jujubes have good flavor from half-red/half-creamy to full red, but can be flavorless if picked too early; Dongzao can already be eaten at the creamy stage. One skin-color rule doesn't fit every variety.
2RipenJujubes left on the tree dry naturally
Jujubes left on the tree dry naturally. Treat fresh and dried jujubes as different foods, not two stages of the same one.
3StoreJujubes are dried, candied, pickled, and canned as ways to keep them beyond fresh eating
Jujubes are dried, candied, pickled, and canned as ways to keep them beyond fresh eating.
4EatFruit · not pit
Eat
Fruit
Not eaten
Pit
Jujubes have a pointed pit at the center. Remove it before adding the fruit to a dish.

Detroit, Michigan

When it’s good here

Grown here

Ships from other states

7 growing areas, 3 countries

California
Granada
Málaga
Murcia
New Mexico
Valencia
Xinjiang
You

Grows hereOther monthsYou

0 of 1 areas · October

Growing areas by country

Spain4
United States2
China1

Improved Chinese jujube varieties came to the United States through USDA plant explorer Frank Meyer's introductions in 1908, long after the species had already been cultivated in China for centuries.
United States and China

49 varieties

See all 49 varieties

43 names in 18 languages

Cook it

Recipes 2

4 jujube festivals

Zhanhua Winter Jujube FestivalSep–OctZhanhua, Binzhou, Shandong, ChinaSep–Oct

Boeun Jujube FestivalOctBoeun, North Chungcheong, South Korea · Organiser ↗Oct

Gyeongsan Jujube FestivalOctGyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, South KoreaOct

Miryang Jujube and Ice Valley Apple FestivalNovMiryang, South Gyeongsang, South KoreaNov

Festivals this month →

Strange but true

If you like Jujube

Tastes alike

Close relatives

Same plant family

Bird plum≈softer

Nutrition, sources

Nutrition

Jujube, raw · per 100 g

Energy79kcal · 331 kJ

Carbohydrate: 20 g
Protein: 1.2 g
Fat: 0.2 g
Vitamin C: 69 mg
Potassium: 250 mg

Sources

Jujube · Fruitopia · checked Sep 22, 2026