Fatima Al-Hajj from Salfit carefully puts her fingers on jujubes picking them up carefully trying to avoid thorns that protect the fruit. She collects the jujubes from inside her field which she sells at 40 NIS (11 USD) per kilogram especially the fresh and the large ones
Speaking of the difficulty of collecting the fruits Al-Hajj says: “Collecting the fruits is one of the most difficult things to do. The thorns get inside my fingers which is painful. Also hours of collecting fruits barely gather a few. It is even harder than collecting olives.”
Rare fruit
Speaking of the jujube season this year Fatma adds “The fruit of jujube is very rare in Salfit and in Palestine because the jujube trees have a special growth environment which makes jujube trees very few which are barely enough for us. They barely meet the need of some buyers who use them for treatment of coughing or chest and throat diseases.”
Nasser Abdullah describes the taste of jujube as “delicious especially if it is fresh and brown or dark red. The yellow or green fruits are raw and have no sweet taste but they could also be eaten.”
Agricultural engineer Mahmoud Salama asserts that the fruits of jujube are very desirable for their scarcity and therefore the price is very high compared to the prices of other fruits.
He said that Jujube is sweet delicious and white from inside which looks like olive or dates in terms of shape like oval fruits which are slightly 3-4 cm in length and could be red or yellow and sometimes mingled with dark lines. The pulp is white or light green with a sweet-taste and a small-sized seed inside.
Therapeutic benefits
Speaking of the therapeutic benefits of jujube Dr. Ahmed Gumaa a nutrition specialist says that jujube is one of the strongest fruits that burn fat and is used as anti-obesity which also prevents blood clotting and food poisoning. It is also useful for throat diseases and relaxation and treating coughing. It has a great ability and resistance against allergy and itchy skin. The fruit is effective in resisting chest diseases as well as psoriasis.
Several recent studies as reported in one of the studies of the American Chemical Society indicates that jujube is one of the fruits that resist cancer and heart diseases because it contains a high percentage of antioxidants. A handful of jujube contains five times antioxidants compared to carrots and broccoli.
Jujube’s Pterostilbene has the same effect as Ciprofiber which treats cholesterol and helps reduce triglycerides in the blood which causes heart diseases. Jujube also is used to treat obesity and reduces weight.
The study showed that jujube cleans the chest anti-allergenic cleans the stomach and the blood and soothes the nervous system. It is also useful for mental and hysterical diseases. Its leaves resist heat. The people in ancient times used its leaves to heal wounds. It is also a very important source of vitamin C. The human body needs 24 types of amino acids of which jujube contains 18 which help the formation and maintenance of bones skin muscle and blood and prevents hair loss and makes it longer. At the same time jujube leaves are useful for asthma lung disease and strengthen the stomach and very useful to treat intestinal ulcers and diarrhea and throat soaring.
