What standards must the fruit meet to be considered high quality?
Varieties for dried jujube should be uniform, attractive and glossy, with strong, tough skin, relatively resistant to rain cracking, and dense flesh, with a drying rate of 45 to 55% or more. The jujube fruit should be fresh and sweet, with no bitter, pungent or other off-flavors. It should resist compression and keep well in storage and transport, with a sugar content of 75% or more.
Fresh-eating varieties should have large, smooth, uniform fruit, with an average single weight of more than 10 grams, thin skin, resistance to rain cracking, crisp, tender and juicy flesh, a pleasant sweet-and-sour taste, early sugar accumulation, and a soluble solids content of more than 30% at maturity, plus a small pit and a long period during which the fruit is tasty for raw eating.
Varieties for candied jujube should have large, uniform fruit, with an average fruit weight of more than 10 grams, skin that is milky white or white at the white-ripe stage, low chlorophyll content, relatively loose flesh, and low water content.