Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana), of the Rhamnaceae family. Spiny shrub or small tree with zigzag branches and glossy leaves white beneath; native range: the Indian subcontinent and dry tropical Asia and Africa. Globally recognized as badara, kola in Sanskrit, ber in Hindi, nabq, sidr (the fruit) in Arabic, and ber, Indian plum, jujube, dunks in English. The part used is fruit chiefly; also leaf, bark and seed. Small round fruit, green ripening to russet, with crisp sweet-sour flesh over a hard stone, astringent and drying when unripe.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
INDIAN JUJUBE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Indian jujube
- Scientific name
- Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
Form
- Part used
- fruit chiefly; also leaf, bark and seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet · sour (madhura-amla, astringent when unripe)
- Unani
- sweet · sour (astringent, the nabq)
Temperature
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta, the ripe fruit)
Unani: cold (and dry, temperate to cold)
convergence: both traditions ({witness_count}) read the ripe fruit cooling
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- stomach · liver · intestines · blood
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- brimhana and balya (nourishing, strengthening), trishnaghna (thirst-relieving), vata-pitta-shamana, mild anulomana (laxative, ripe fruit), and the bark grahi and vrana-ropana
- Unani
- murattib (moistening), qabiz (the leaf and unripe fruit, astringent), musakkin (soothing), a corrector of bilious heat
Cautions
- Contraindications
- the unripe sour fruit in high pitta and in weak digestion; excess may cause flatulence and loose stool
- Toxicity
- none as food; unripe fruit in excess disturbs the stomach
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