Witnessed by: TCM · Unani
Sour jujube (Ziziphus spinosa), of the Rhamnaceae family. Spiny shrub or small tree of dry hillsides bearing small sour red fruit; native range: northern China and dry temperate Asia. Globally recognized as suan zao ren (酸棗仁, the seed) in Chinese, unnab (the fruit) in Arabic, and sour jujube, spiny jujube, wild jujube, Chinese date in English. The part used is seed (suan zao ren) chiefly; also the fruit. Small sour red fruit over a hard stone, the flat reddish-brown seed within bland, faintly sour and oily.
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.
SOUR JUJUBE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Sour jujube
- Scientific name
- Ziziphus spinosa Hu
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
Form
- Part used
- seed (suan zao ren) chiefly; also the fruit
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · sour
- Unani
- sweet · sour (the fruit, faintly astringent)
Temperature
TCM: neutral
Unani: temperate (moist, the fruit)
convergence: both witnesses ({witness_count}) count it mild and temperate
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart · Liver · Gallbladder · Spleen
- Unani
- heart · lungs · blood
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- nourishes Heart yin and Liver blood, calms the spirit (an shen), and arrests excessive sweating
- Unani
- mulattif (demulcent), munzij (concoctive), musaffi-e-khoon (blood-purifier), musakkin (soothing)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- loose stool and Spleen-Stomach damp, and the presence of excess heat or fire
- Toxicity
- very low; safe in normal dose
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