Jujube: Texas producers learn to grow, how to eat little-known fruit

Writer: Kathleen Phillips, 979-845-2872, ka-phillips@tamu.edu

           COLLEGE STATION – Several hands raised when asked at the annual Texas Fruit Conference who had acreage of jujube.

           “What were you thinking?” presenter Bill Adams quipped.

           Adams, a retired Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist in Harris County, told about 200 fruit producers at the Hilton College Station Conference Center that the unique fruit actually can be an alternative crop in the state, but care must be given to variety choice and market potential.

           Though not common for Texas consumers at this time, AgriLife Extension horticulturists agreed that jujube (pronounced  jew-JOOB-ee) may offer a nutritional choice as more is understood about the crop, which was introduced in Texas in about 1875. The fruit, which is native to China, is sometimes called Chinese date. It is smaller than a plum and grape-shaped.­

           “When talk turns to organic crops, jujube is fruit that comes into that conversation because it is tough and has low input requirements,” said Monte Nesbitt, AgriLife Extension horticulturist in College Station.

           Adams has grown as many as 20 varieties in the area around Houston and noted that while they do best in sandy soil, his acreage has yielded on clay soils.

           “I’m mostly interested in the fresh produce, but it won’t necessarily pay off the farm (with market returns),” he said. “They have a lot of fiber and are healthy for you, but you have a very short market. They only last three or four days after picked. If you plan to have 40 acres of jujubes, you have to figure out a way to peddle them.”

           Adams said the trees can grow very tall – more than 30 feet – and the best varieties tend to be as loaded with thorns as fruit. He recommends keeping the trees pruned so they are easier to harvest.

           “The fruit is best when half brown and half green to pale yellow,” he said. “There are some recipes for products that can be made from them, but I prefer them fresh.”

           He said people often have to be taught how to eat jujube.  

           “I can’t say they are juicy, but they aren’t cottony in texture either,” Adams said. “I tell people to just take it and roll it as you eat. But don’t swallow the seed; it has a point. You can eat them off the tree from mid-August through the end of September and perhaps even get a second crop after that.”  

Though it’s known as a low-input crop, Adams said, “If you plant enough of something good, something will find it. When you get quite a few of them producing, there will be some bird damage, some grasshoppers, stinkbugs and ants.”

For more information on jujube production, see http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.