Early Performance of Jujube Drying and Multipurpose Cultivars in the Southwestern United States

Abstract

Jujube cultivars have been imported into the United States for more than 100 years, but cultivar trials have been limited. To accurately recommend cultivars for each region, trials have to be conducted. We have set up jujube cultivar trials at the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Alcalde (2015, USDA hardiness zone 6a), Los Lunas (2015, 7a), and Leyendecker (2017, 8a) Centers with over 35 cultivars at each site with two replicates and a complete random block design. We reported the early performance of fresh-eating cultivars in 2019. Here we report the performance of 19 drying and multipurpose jujube cultivars. Between 40% and 100% of jujube trees produced a few fruit to more than 100 fruit in the planting year, depending on cultivar and location. Trees were more upright at Los Lunas than at Alcalde. ‘Kongfucui’ (KFC) was the most productive cultivar at Alcalde with 13.3 kg/tree in 2019, followed by ‘Chaoyang’, ‘Jinkuiwang’ (JKW), ‘Pitless’, and ‘Lang’. The yield at Los Lunas was lower than Alcalde for the first 3 years after planting; however, ‘Jinsi 2’, ‘Jinsi 4’, ‘Jixin’, ‘Sherwood’, ‘Sihong’, and ‘Xiangzao’ produced higher yields at Los Lunas than Alcalde in 2019. All cultivars produced higher yields and contained higher soluble solids at Leyendecker than Alcalde and Los Lunas at similar ages. ‘JKW’ was the most vigorous and productive cultivar at Leyendecker. ‘JKW’, ‘Xiangzao’, and ‘Lang’ produced more than 3.0 kg/tree in their second year after planting. ‘JKW’ yielded 12.3 kg/tree in its third year after planting. Among the three locations, drying cultivars are not recommended for commercial production at Alcalde. However, home gardeners can plant multipurpose and early-drying cultivars at Alcalde. Leyendecker produced the best dry fruit with larger fruit size, rich color, and meaty fruit; dry fruit quality was acceptable in most years at Los Lunas except 2019. We preliminarily recommend some drying and multipurpose cultivars for each location. As trees mature and produce more fruit, we will fine-tune the cultivar recommendations. We also discuss the jujube cultivar zoning information in New Mexico and fruit uses.

Dynamics of Nutrients in Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) at Different Maturity Stages, Cultivars, and Locations in the Southwest United States

“…In 2019, the average fruit weight and TSS content in Alcalde samples were less than samples from Las Cruces and Los Lunas. Previous study has also shown better jujube fruit quality-fruit size, average fruit weight, and TSS-from southern locations compared with northern New Mexico (Yao et al 2020).…”

“…The Alcalde weather patterns were very different between 2018 and 2019. The longterm average frost-free period is 146 d, and in the 10 years preceding the study was 150 d at Alcalde, NM (Yao et al 2020). There were only 122 frost-free days in 2019, from 24 May to 23 Sept, which is 3 to 4 weeks shorter than average.…”

“…Each jujube tree blooms for 2 months or longer with its cyme inflorescence and flowers from current year shoots, resulting in differential fruit set. Consequently, fruit maturation on each tree lasts longer than most fruit species such as apple or peach (Yao 2018;Yao et al 2020). In 2019, fruit from Las Cruces reached full-red maturity about 2 weeks earlier than Los Lunas and 4 weeks earlier than Alcalde.…”

“…In 2011, the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Sustainable Agriculture Science Center at Alcalde imported more than 30 cultivars directly from China and carried out research on them (Yao 2013). Replicated jujube cultivar trials were set up at NMSU's Alcalde (2015), Los Lunas (2015), and Leyendecker (in Las Cruces) (2017) centers (Yao et al 2020). Cultivar, fruit maturity, and location have all been reported to affect the nutrient profile and content in jujube fruit (Gao et al 2013;Guo et al 2015;Huang et al 2017;Kou et al 2015).…”

Low Temperature Is Critical for Jujube Grafting Success in Frost-prone Northern New Mexico

“…From 2011 to 2020, grafted plants were used for cultivar propagation, cultivar trials at NMSU (Yao et al, 2019(Yao et al, , 2020, or other locations. In 2014 and 2016, more than 40 cultivars were propagated for cultivar trials at the NMSU Sustainable Agriculture Science Center, the NMSU Agricultural Science Center in Los Lunas, NM, and the NMSU Leyendecker Plant Science Center in Las Cruces, NM (Yao and Heyduck, 2018;Yao et al, 2019Yao et al, , 2020. Because each cultivar had limited plants, grafting take rates were counted for all cultivars together instead of per cultivar.…”