High Nutritional Value of Jujubes: Common Ways to Eat Them and Key Precautions

The jujube is the ripe fruit of the jujube tree (Ziziphus jujuba) in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It has a long history of cultivation in China and is both a common fruit and dried fruit, as well as an ingredient widely used in traditional cooking. Fresh jujubes have crisp, sweet, juicy flesh; once sun-dried they become red dates, which keep longer and can be eaten all year round.

In terms of nutritional composition, jujubes mainly provide sugars and dietary fiber. Fresh jujubes are also fairly rich in vitamin C and contain various minerals such as potassium and iron. After drying, the sugars in dried jujubes become more concentrated and their sweetness is higher, so they are often used in congee, stewed soups or infused in water. It is worth noting that although jujubes contain iron, it is iron from a plant source, so its absorption efficiency is limited; they should not simply be equated with an excellent blood-tonic food.

In everyday use, jujubes can be eaten in quite diverse ways: directly as a snack, cooked with rice into red date congee, or stewed with white fungus and longan as a sweet dessert. Adding date paste to baked goods can provide natural sweetness and help reduce the amount of added sugar.

There are also several points to note when eating them. Fresh jujube skins are thin and easily damaged, so they should be eaten as soon as possible after purchase; dried jujubes are high in sugar, so people who need to control their blood sugar should eat them in moderation. The skin is fairly hard, so people with weak digestive function are advised to chew thoroughly or peel and pit them before eating, and not to eat too many at one time, to avoid causing bloating and discomfort.