Jujube and Loquat - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 579

Figure 31.1. Indian jujube tree (left), fruit on the branch (middle), and harvested fruit (right). For color detail,
please see color plate section.

The jujube tree can grow under diverse climatic condi-
tions and can withstand a wide range of temperatures; with
virtually no temperature seeming to be too high in sum-
mer for this tree, making it well adapted to arid conditions
(CRFG, 1996). Jujube tree can start producing fruit in about
3 years, with some varieties producing fruit as early as the
second year after planting (Lyrene and Crocker, 1994).
Jujube cultivars reported in the literature include: 'Li,'
'Ed Hegard,' 'Jin,' 'So,' 'Sugar Cane,' Chico,' 'Honey
Jar,' 'Lang,' 'Sherwood,' 'Silverhill,' 'Shanxi Li,' 'Tiger-
tooth,' and 'Topeka' (CRFG, 1996); and 'Katha,' 'Bagwari,'
'Umran,' 'Chhuhara,' 'Illaichi,' 'MundiaMurhra,' 'Karaka,'
and 'Narma' (Pareek et al., 2009). There are many undoc-
umented jujube varieties cultivated as mixed-farming in
many Asian and African countries.

the crisp fruit begins to soften and wrinkle. The fruit can be
eaten after it becomes wrinkled, but most people prefer it
during the 3- to 5-day interval between the first appearance
of the brown color and the time when the skin starts to
wrinkle (Lyrene and Crocker, 1994).
Jujube fruit is commonly consumed between the mature
and ripe stage (green to light brown) in South Asian coun-
tries (Pareek et al., 2009). In the semidried form, jujube
fruit tastes just like a date. There are wide variations in
the physical and chemical characteristics across different
cultivars, as can be seen for selected Indian jujube cultivars
(Table 31.1). Overripe fruits become too soft and mealy and
start to lose characteristic flavor soon after the harvest. Fruit
harvested either too early or too late is more susceptible to
physiological disorders and has a shorter storage life than
fruits picked at the proper maturity (Kader, 1999; Pareek
et al., 2009).

Fruit maturity and harvesting
There are no established maturity indices for jujube. Fruit
size and color is typically used as a rough indicator of ma-
turity. Generally, harvesting is done manually. The crop
ripens nonsimultaneously, and fruit can be picked for sev-
eral weeks. Jujube fruit is a drupe (round to elongate) and,
depending on cultivar, varying in size from that of cher-
ries to plums. It has a thin, edible skin surrounding whitish
flesh of sweet, mild flavor (Lyrene and Crocker, 1994). The
time required for jujube fruits to develop from fruit set to
maturity is dependent on cultivar and location. In general,
fruits require about 150-154 days from fruit set to matu-
rity (Bhatia and Gupta, 1984). Fruit at the immature stage
is green in color, but the skin changes color from light to
dark brown spots as it matures, turning completely brown
at fully mature stage. Shortly after becoming fully brown,

Postharvest physiology
Jujube fruit has a high respiration rate, exhibits a climacteric
respiration pattern, and reaches its prime eating quality
at the climacteric peak (Singh et al., 1981; Siddiqui and
Gupta, 1989). Siddiqui and Gupta (1989) reported that the
rate of respiration increased gradually and reached its peak
when the fruits attained a chocolate tinge color in 'Kaithli,'
'Rashmi,' 'Umran,' and 'Ponda' cultivars, indicating the
late peak climacteric nature of fruits.
Abbas and Fandi (2002) reported that the respiration
of jujube was at a higher rate 3 weeks after anthesis but
then declined steadily until 12 weeks after anthesis, when
it reached 14.2 mg CO 2 /kg/hr. It was observed that the
rate subsequently increased, first slowly and then rapidly