Unabi (jujube, Chinese date) is one of the best medicinal plants, as it has a huge amount of nutrients.
It is also popularly called a deciduous thorny shrub, French pectoral berry, jujube. There are about 400 species of these plants that are cultivated in the South of Asia, Central Asia, China, Transcaucasia, and the Mediterranean. Unabi has been used in medicine for a long time, using almost all its parts - leaves, fruits and roots. But basically, the fruits of the Chinese date are taken for treatment, which can be consumed fresh or dry. Dried unabi looks like a familiar date.
Description
Jujube is a thorny deciduous spreading shrub or small tree. It has a pyramidal or spreading crown. It has rather powerful roots that can penetrate to a depth of up to three meters.
The bark of the main trunks of Chinese dates is dark gray, very thick. The branches are red-brownbark and spines. The leaves are alternate, placed on small petioles, are elongated-ovate, leathery, entire, blunt-serrated.
The flowers of the plant are bisexual, small, five-membered, axillary, can be collected in small bunches - up to 5 pieces. At the same time, the flower lives only about a day.
Jujube fruits ripen at different times, are rounded, oblong, ovoid drupes with sweet pulp. They reach a length of 6 cm and weigh about 20 g.
The plant first appeared in China, but today it is cultivated in Central Asia, in the Transcaucasus. Grows in temperate climates. In order for the harvest to succeed, it is necessary to plant a variety adapted to a particular climate.
Chinese dates are very fond of warmth, therefore, they are not afraid of drought. In addition, unabi is a frost-resistant plant. Even though it tolerates heat well, it still needs to be constantly watered - in this case, it will bear fruit much better.
Chinese date: cultivation and reproduction
Unabi can grow on almost any soil, in addition to waterlogged and saline, although it gives a small crop on the poor. The close occurrence of groundwater is unacceptable. The ideal place for jujube is the southern slopes.
The plant can be propagated by root shoots, seeds, grafting and cuttings.
Rootstock is mainly grown from Chinese date seeds, since seedlings begin to bear fruit later and varietal characteristics do not retainalways. The bones must be harvested from high-quality fresh fruits, which must be immediately cleaned of the existing pulp. Raw materials are stratified a couple of months before sowing. It is sown in the spring, after the earth warms up well. Between the rows, the distance should be about 80 cm, in the row between the seeds - about 5 cm. It is advisable to cover the sowing with a film, thus creating a tunnel. After 20 days, seedlings dive or thin out in such a way that 25 cm remain between them in a row. In the spring they are watered only once, twice a month - in the summer.
Mainly large-fruited varieties are grafted onto a stock of small-fruited ones. In the summer, they are vaccinated with an “eye”, behind the bark with a cutting - in September or May.
Reproduction by roots makes it possible to get a crop in the second year after planting. Plants can be separated when the Chinese date (unabi) reaches 2 years of age.
Seedlings when propagated by cuttings are rooted in greenhouses under conditions of intermittent artificial fog. They are planted in a permanent place in mid-March in the south, at the end of March - in the northern regions.
Crown formation
It is mainly formed in a couple of years in the form of a vase or bowl of 4 skeletal branches that are placed around the trunk. At the same time, the central conductor is cut off, extra branches are removed “on the ring”. The upper branch is cut so that 20 cm remains, all the rest - so that their tops are at a common level with it.
Further, periodic sanitary pruning is carried out, in addition, branches that thickencrown.
Irrigation
Chinese dates in the first year should be watered as often as possible for their best engraftment (up to 7 times in one season).
It is not necessary to do this in the very first months of flowering - the fruits are tied on time in dry weather, but if there is not enough moisture during the summer, then the harvest will be poor. Therefore, you need to water the plant from mid-June (only not often, but only with a long absence of rain).
Feeding
Every year (starting from the fourth after planting) in the spring, unabi (Chinese date) must be fed with a mixture of various mineral fertilizers, as well as manure.
Collecting and harvesting fruits
For medicinal purposes, fruits, leaves, very rarely the bark and root of the plant are used. The fruits must be harvested after they are fully ripe, the leaves at the same time. You need to dry them in the shade, preferably in the air under a canopy, but you can also in a ventilated room, while laying them out in 1 layer. You can store up to a year.
The root should be harvested in November, the bark in early spring. It is advisable to use it from three-year-old branches. Can be stored up to 2 years.
Unabi fruits can be consumed fresh, dried and dried. It is also good to cook marinade, jam, juice, compote from them. Can be stored fresh for up to five days.
Dry the Chinese date, or rather its fruits, it is better in the dryer. You can store in this form for up to two years.
Useful properties
Fruits containorganic acids, sugar, proteins, fatty oil, catechin, tannin, nicotinic and folic acids, pectin, tocopherol. Using them, you can remove copper, lead, toxins, mercury from the body. Iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins C, P are also found in unabi.
Chinese date makes it possible to recover much faster after an illness, in addition, it is often prescribed for diseases of the kidneys, urinary system, stomach, stomatitis, accompanied by the appearance of ulcers.
Also, unabi should be taken during pregnancy, which will help to cope with toxicosis. Young nursing mothers should also include Chinese dates in the diet, as it significantly increases lactation.
With the help of the fruits of the plant, you can normalize blood pressure, cope with headaches and heart pain.
Chinese date (jujube): application
Decoction based on the branches, leaves and bark of the plant is an excellent antibacterial and bacteriostatic agent. Therefore, with the help you can cure festering wounds, abscesses, tuberculous lymphadenitis, gastritis, eye or skin tuberculosis, in addition, it is an excellent diuretic.
Decoction of the roots of the plant enhances hair growth in children, it is recommended for adults to use it for baldness.
Dried fruits are used to prepare a decoction that will help relieve inflammation of the bronchi, it is often used for shortness of breath, severe dizziness, whooping cough and bronchitis.
Fruits are rich in vitamins C and P,therefore, they have a positive effect on the walls of blood vessels, giving them elasticity and strength. This remedy is also effective in hypertensive crisis, it allows you to lower blood pressure, increase efficiency, improve sleep, cheer up, normalize heartbeat.
Traditional medicine appreciates a decoction of the fruit of the plant for its anti-inflammatory and emollient properties, in addition, it can be used for ulcers, infections in the intestines, anemia, inflammation in the upper respiratory tract.
Fresh Chinese dates are especially useful for dysentery, constipation, diarrhea. Infusion is recommended to drink with festering wounds, gastritis, abscesses. It is used externally for rinsing the mouth, as well as washing, lotions to heal ulcers and wounds that heal slowly.
Fresh leaves are suitable for making ointments.
Jujube in cooking
The berries of the plant can be consumed fresh. Also, Chinese dates can be dried, canned and dried. Delicious berries are included in various recipes.
Contraindications
Chinese date (jujube) contains a substance that has an anesthetic effect. A person, starting to chew it, temporarily ceases to feel the bitter and sweet taste. You should not eat a lot of fruits for people who suffer from low blood pressure, as well as during pregnancy. It is worth remembering that unabi is digested for a very long time, it is best to use it withoutskins, and in large quantities it can provoke inflammation in the intestines, stomach. In addition, jujube increases the amount of sugar in the blood. If the dosage is not followed, a severe headache may occur.
