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Jujube: Planting a Sustainable Idea
The jujube orchard at The Alcalde Center.
The New Mexico State University Sustainable Agriculture Science Center is located in an 80-90-yr. old adobe building in Alcalde. The Alcalde Center, which is also headquarters for the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service’s Rural Agricultural Improvement and Public Affairs Project, is one of many in various agro-climatic zones throughout the state, including Farmington, Artesia, and Mora.
Dr. Shengrui Yao, pictured right, studied at Cornell and has been in the U.S. since 2001. She has lived and worked in New York, Minnesota, and is now located here in northern New Mexico. Dr. Yao works out of a small lab at the Science Center, and she believes that this is an ideal region to grow the jujube. The jujube tree was originally imported from China. It bears edible fruit that happens to be healthy and tasty.
A Hardy Late Bloomer
The jujube’s advantages over peaches, apples, apricots—and other fruits commonly grown in this region—include the fact that the tree is a late-bloomer and leafs out late, so it simply avoids the late frost that can, in some years, shut down the fruit production in this region.
Alcalde is located near the river. Orchards tend to be located near the water, but this can cause the frost to be harsher due to lower elevation near water.
So it is important to locate crops strategically with regard to late frost. There are many small farmers in Northern New Mexico and it’s hard enough for small farms to survive in the region. Combine that with a late frost and it can add up to a disaster for anyone trying to grow tree fruit.
Many farmers in this region do not have the money it takes to warm their orchards with orchard fans, heaters or overhead sprinklers, so Shengrui Yao believes the farmers here would benefit if they diversified their operations with alternative crops. The Jujube is a nutritious and reliable crop, adapted to many different soil types and also to summer heat. The Jujube tree itself is drought-tolerant, but, says Yao, “if you want a nice crop, you need to water.” The trees will not produce fruit effectively if they are stressed due to drought.
Take Your Vitamins!
The amount of vitamin C in the jujube fruit is significantly higher than the amount in an apple, for example. Jujubes can contain as much as 500 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of fresh fruit, whereas apples contain about 2-5 mg vitamin C per 100 g of fresh weight. The oblong/round, burnt-orange-colored fruit has the appearance and texture of a cross between a crab-apple and a Bosc pear. It is also high in sugar content. Therefore, according to Yao, “it is a really good snack either fresh or dried.”
In China, the fruit is used for both nutritional and medicinal purposes. It is often suggested for patients with anemia. The seed is also a traditionally used medicinal herb. This is more prevalent with the wild jujube, as the cultivars can often be missing their seeds.
Chinese Cuisine and Traditions
It is also widely used in Chinese cooking for ‘Zongzi’, ‘mooncake’, tea, soup, or porridge. The dried fruit still has the benefits of natural sugars, minerals, cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate) and other nutrients, but 90% of the vitamin C is lost during both cooking and drying. ‘Zongzi’ is a traditional Chinese food which is consumed around the 5th of May on the Chinese lunar calendar.
On that date, there is a commemorative ceremony that is performed using a sweet dessert –‘Zongzi’– made with jujubes. The jujube is placed inside a ball of sweet rice which is then wrapped in bamboo leaves. On the fifth day of the fifth month of lunar calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival is held to commemorate the ancient patriot poet Quyuan, who committed suicide by drowning himself. During this festival, in addition to being eaten, the sweets are thrown into the river. This tradition came about because of the wish to save the poet’s body; if the fish would eat the sweets, they might not eat Quyuan’s body.
Dr. Shengrui described the uses of the fruit in her homeland, and then explained why she thinks it could take hold as a crop here in New Mexico. Along with its high vitamin C content, good flavor, and the hardiness of the tree, she believes the jujube would be attractive to children as a healthy and sweet snack. Most adults also like jujubes after tasting them. She also explained the alliance she has forged—and is hoping to continue—with Northern.
Branching out
In order to study the Vitamin C content of the fruit, Dr. Yao needed a centrifuge to separate the pulp from the juice. Using a process called titration, which produces a color reaction when the vitamin C is oxidized, Yao can determine the Vitamin C content of the juice. There are certain pieces of equipment needed for this procedure. Her lab is small and underequipped for her specific purpose, so she contacted Dr. Anthony Sena, Provost and professor of biology at Northern, where there is a centrifuge in the College’s molecular biology lab.
Dr. Sena immediately granted Dr. Yao access to his lab so that she might perform her experiments. In the future, Dr. Yao hopes to further liaise with Northern, perhaps through hiring a work-study student at the NMSU Alcalde Center. She would also like to see the College partner with the sustainable agriculture center to pursue research/extension grants.
Story and photos by Lisa Powell