Wild Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa): A Review of Its Phytonutrients, Health Benefits, Metabolism, and Applications

Abstract

Wild jujube, Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou, as a food and health supplement worldwide, has rich nutritional value. It contains nutrients such as nucleosides, amino acids, polysaccharides, and fatty oils. The fruits, seeds, and leaves of wild jujube can all be used for food, medicine, or health care purposes. Among these, the fruits play many roles, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory functions, and can be used as a natural nutritional supplement to prevent aging. Simultaneously, the mature seed of wild jujube exhibits beneficial effects on central nervous system diseases and is often used for the treatment of insomnia and as a functional food for improving sleep quality and enhancing learning and memory. This review presents an overview of research progress relevant to the phytonutrients, biological functions, metabolism of bioactive compounds, and applications of wild jujube and aims to provide a scientific reference for the development and utilization of this plant.

Functional characterization, structural basis, and regio-selectivity control of a promiscuous flavonoid 7,4′-di-O-glycosyltransferase from Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa

“…To explore the substrate specificity of ZjOGT3, 34 flavonoids were screened by enzymatic assay using UDP-Glc as sugar donor (Figure 2). These substrates included 7,4 -dihydroxy flavones (1-9), 7,4 -dihydroxy flavanones (10-11), 3-O-glycosylated 7,4 -dihydroxy flavones (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), 7 or 4 monohydroxy flavones (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28), isoflavones (29-31), isoflavans (32), isoflavone glycoside (33), and chalone (34). LC/MS analysis revealed that ZjOGT3 could catalyse glucosylation of all the 34 substrates.…”

“…spinosa, Rhamnaceae family) is a medicinal plant native to China. Its seeds are used as the traditional Chinese medicine Suan-Zao-Ren for a long history to treat anxiety and depression 19 . This plant contains abundant flavonoid 4 -O-glycosides.…”

“…Its seeds have been used as the traditional Chinese medicine Suan-Zao-Ren for a long time to treat anxiety and depression. 19 This plant contains abundant flavonoid 4′- O -glycosides.…”

Systematic Comparison of Structural Characterization of Polysaccharides from Ziziphus Jujuba cv. Muzao

“…According to pharmacological investigations, jujube has various medical qualities, such as anti-obesity, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, as well as immunostimulating, gastrointestinal protective, and hepatoprotective properties. It also inhibits the production of foam cells in macrophages [ 3 , 4 , 5 ].…”

Analysis of codon usage bias in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen based on transcriptome data

“…The codon preference of this experiment, different from most codon usage preferences in dicots, is one of the plants that ends with G/C. At present, research on ZSS mainly focuses on the chemical composition, modern pharmacological effects, mechanism of ZSS, and its preparations(Hua et al 2022;Ji et al 2017;Wang et al 2020…”