Introduction Ziziphus mauritiana, also known as Ber, Chinese Apple, Jujube, Indian plum and Masau is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae is called the king of arid zone fruits. Ber is the Urdu name for the fruit of the tree Zizyphus vulgaris, or mauritania or sativa and is called the jujube berry in English. It is also known as the Indian jujube or Chinese date. In India the tree is sacred to Shiva and is known as “the tree which removes sorrow”, perhaps because of its sedative properties. It was depicted in the Ramayana so has been known for centuries in the subcontinent and was not a recently introduced species. Ber is originally belonging to India but it is also found in China, Africa, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Australia, and Fiji. Ber is cultivated throughout India including states such as Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh covering about 12000 ha Area. Ber is known by many names in different languages like; Badari (Sanskrit), Kul or Boroi (Bengali), Dongs, Boroi, Bor, Beri, Indian plum, permseret (Anguilla). In India, it was used to call the poor man’s fruit because of poor quality and their fruit sells cheap.
Ber is a multipurpose fruit shrub. It increases the livelihoods of poor farmers through providing good nutrition and fuel. Ber fruits are very nutritious and are rich in vitamins A, B and C; minerals like calcium, phosphorus and iron (Ermosele et al., 1991, Al-Niami et al., 1992; Pareek, 2002). Roots, bark, leaves, wood, seeds and fruits are reputed to have medicinal
Ber (Ziziphus jujuba L.) can provide food security, due to sustained production of the fruit, irrespective of drought, as the tree is drought and saline tolerant and can grow on poor degraded land. Ber fruits are very nutritious and usually eaten fresh. Fruits are also eaten in other forms, such as dried, candied, pickled, as juice, or as ber butter. The leaves are readily eaten by camels, cattle and goats and are considered nutritious. In India and Queensland, the flowers are rated as a minor source of nectar for honeybees. The honey is light and of fair flavor. The timber of ber fruit is used to make legs for bedsteads, boat ribs, agricultural implements, tool handles, and other lathe-turned items. It is also used for medicinal purpose, fodder, fuel wood, lac culture, wood, minor source of nectar for bees and leaves have been used as a food for silkworms.
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properties. It is eaten fresh and also processed into delicious candy, pickled or used in beverages. It contains 50 to 150mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) per 100 mg of fruit and 12-18.7% sugar. It means, it is even better than the vitamin C content of the juice of sweet oranges (Jawanda and Bal, 1978). It provides the food; contribute to controlling the rate of desertification, fuel wood, wood and lac culture. The fruit being easily digestible has a laxative effect, the pulp is sweet and rich in flavour. Ber fruits are within the reach of the poor people, hence rightly known as ‘Poor man’s apple’ (Bal and Uppal, 1992). Limited availability, economic constraints, lack of knowledge and information, and related lack of demand for nutritious foods are critical factors that limit poor people’s access to such foods. In theory, the agriculture sector could help address this problem by helping at-risk groups generate more income and by making nutritious foods more available, affordable, acceptable, and of higher quality.
Diversified Uses Fruit: The fruit is eaten raw, pickled or used in beverages. It is quite nutritious and rich in vitamin C. It is second only to guava and much higher than citrus or apples. In India, the ripe fruits are mostly consumed raw, but are sometimes stewed. Slightly under ripe fruits are candied by a process of pricking, immersing in a salt solution. Ripe fruits are preserved by sun-drying and a powder is prepared for out-of-season purposes. It contains 20 to 30% sugar, up to 2.5% protein and 12.8% carbohydrates. Fruits are also eaten in other forms, such as dried, candied, pickled, as juice, or as ber butter. In Ethiopia, the fruits are used to stupefy fish. Chinese ber mainly used over three thousand years as food, food additives, flavors and pharmaceuticals for a long time (Li et al., 2007 a, b and Su and Liu, 2005).
Chemical composition of the Fruit: The fruits contain 68.0 per cent moisture. Their pulp contains, 3.92 per cent acidity, 8.68 per cent total sugars, 6.73 per cent reducing sugars, 1.85 per cent non-reducing sugars, 1.72 per cent pectin, and 1.32 per cent tannins. The vitamin C content of this fruit is 2.56 mg per 100 g of pulp. The total mineral content of the fruit pulp, as represented by its ash, is 1.38 per cent. The protein content of the pulp is 2.56 per cent. Some of the mineral elements in the fruit pulp, viz. phosphorus. Potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron are 0.069, 0.583, 0.083, 0.065 and 0.006 per cent respectively. However, ber is rich than apple in protein, phosphorus, calcium, carotene and vitamin C (Bakhshi and Singh, 1974). Ripe fruits provide 20.9 Kcal per 100g pulp (Singh et al., 1973). In term of carbohydrates, pulp contains 12.8-13.6 % (Singh et al., 1967); (Jawanda et al., 1981) of which 5.6 % is sucrose, 1.5% glucose, 2.1% fructose and 1% starch. The amino acid asparagines, aspartic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, serine and threonine, are found in the pulp (Bal, 1981a). Major interest has focused on vitamin C content and ber pulp is considered a rich source. Content ranges from 70-165mg/100g (Bal and Mann, 1978). Pulp contains about 70 IU Vitamin A/100g and the β-carotene content ranges from 75 mg to more than 80 mg/100g (Bal and Mann, 1978). Fodder: The leaves and twigs of most species can be used as nutritious fodder for livestock. Due to the high dry weight protein content, leaves are an important source of protein for animals. Leaves of mauritiana and Z. jujube are readily eaten by camels, sheep, goats and cattle in Rajasthan.
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Environmental: Ziziphus species can contribute to controlling the rate of desertification. Soil erosion in desert areas is largely due to the removal of structure less top soil by wind and rain. This can largely be checked by planting wind breaks, creating shelter belts and stabilizing sandy tracts and dunes with adapted grasses and shrubs like Ziziphus. Fuel wood: Z. mauritiana is an excellent fuel wood tree and make a good charcoal, with a heat content of 4900 kcal Kg-1 (Khoshoo and Subrahmanyam, 1985). A six years old tree of ber produces an above ground biomass of 11.6 kg in the arid northwest India (Toky and Bisht, 1993) and 8-10 kg air dried fuel wood from annual prunings (Vashishtha, 1997). According to Bajwa et al., (1986) the weight of prunings per tree ranger from 19.5 to 37.4 kg from a 13 year old tree. Lac culture: Ber tree are considered amongst the best for rearing lac insects (Hussain and Khan, 1962). A lac yield of 1.5 kg per tree per year was obtained by collection during October to November at Ranchi in India (Anon, 1996). Ber is a chief host plant of Kerria lacca and K. sindica (Li and Hu, 1994). The surveys collected socio-economic data from Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa on lac production (Jaiswal et al., 2002). Wood: Ber has been used to line wells, to make legs of bedsteads, boat ribs, agricultural implements, home poles, tool handles, yokes, gunstocks, saddle trees, sandals, golf clubs, household utensils, toys and general craft work. In India wild type of ber is used for many of the above purposes (Pearson and Brown, 1932). The branches are used as framework in house construction and the wood makes good charcoal with a heat content of almost 4,900 kcal per kg.
In addition, this species is used as firewood in many areas. In tropical Africa, the flexible branches are wrapped as retaining bands around conical thatched roofs of huts, and are twined together to form thorny corral walls to retain livestock. Bees and silkworms: In India, the flower of Z. mauritiana and Z. jujuba has been recorded as a minor source of nectar for honeybees (Dash et al., 1992). In Assam, Ziziphus leaves have been used as a food for silkworms. Z. jujube has been recorded as a secondary food plant for rearing Indian tasar silk worm (Dash et al., 1992). Biodiesel: The fatty-acid methyl ester of Z. mauritiana seed oil meets all of the major biodiesel requirements in the USA (ASTM D 6751-02, ASTM PS 121-99), Germany (DIN V 51606) and European Union (EN 14214). The average oil yield is 4.95 kg oil/tree or 1371 kg oil/hectare, and arid or semi-arid regions may be utilized due to its drought resistance. Cosmetics: Jujube extracts are also used for to manufacture skin care products to reduce wrinkles, dryness, redness, swelling and for relief from sunburn. Extracts used in a variety of skin care products, anti-wrinkles, moisturizers and sunburn lotions. Medicinal use: it has significant levels of antioxidant activity, reducing power, scavenging effect on free radicals. Because of these properties, Ziziphus species are used in folk medicine for the treatment of some diseases in the world (Li et al., 2005). Flavonoids from Z. jujube help a lot to treat various diseases and disorders like cancer and diarrhea. Important flavonoids present in Z. jujuba are quercetin and epicatechin. Flavones, isoflavones and anthocyanidins are also present in Ziziphus species.
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Medicinal Properties of Different Parts of Ber Fruits: The fruits have emollient and expectorant properties (Kirtikar and Basu, 1935). They are also considered to be cooling and an anodyne and a tonic. They are employed as an antidote to aconite poisoning and are recommended in nausea and vomiting. They are also prescribed in abdominal pain during pregnancy. They are used externally in poultices and are applied to wounds (Anon., 1976). The fruits are applied on cuts and ulcers; are employed in pulmonary ailments and fevers; and, mixed with salt and chili peppers are given in indigestion and biliousness. The dried ripe fruit is a mild laxative. Its fruit purify and enrich blood, treat chronic bronchitis, fever and enlargement of the liver. There is some evidence suggesting that fruits and their products have protective effects against cancer, stroke and coronary heart diseases, which may relate to the presence of biologically active compounds (Kalt et al., 1999). Flowers: The flower of ber is internally used as a remedy to cure jaundice and externally to cure eye disease and skin ulcers. Leaves: The leaves are laxative and prescribed in scabies and throat troubles (Anon., 1976). The leaves are readily eaten by camels, cattle and goats and are considered nutritious. Besides, ber has significant levels of antioxidant activity, reducing power, scavenging effect on free radicals (Li et al. 2005). Because of these properties, Ziziphus species are used in folk medicine for the treatment of some diseases in the world (Belford, 1994; Crouẻour et al., 2002; Abdel-Zaher et al., 2005). Its leaves are used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (Abdel-Zaher et al., 2005). It refreshes and restores, improves memory and is a remedy for high blood pressure (De Bairacli, 1991). The leaves are applied as poultices and are helpful in liver troubles, asthma and fever and, together with catechu, are administered when an astringent is needed, as on wounds. Bark: Its barks are used to heal ulcer, wounds, scabies, throat problems and burning sensation of the body. The bitter, astringent bark decoction is taken to halt diarrhea and dysentery and relieve gingivitis. The bark paste is applied on sores. Seeds: Ber seeds are used to treat dry cough and skin eruptions. The juice of ber root is used as a purgative and externally in gout and rheumatism (Mukhtar et al., 2004). The seeds are sedative and are taken, sometimes with buttermilk, to halt nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pains in pregnancy. They check diarrhea, and are poulticed on wounds. Mixed with oil, they are rubbed on rheumatic areas. Root: The root is purgative. A root decoction is given as a febrifuge, taenicide and emmenagogue, and the powdered root is dusted on wounds. Juice of the root bark is said to alleviate gout and rheumatism. Strong doses of the bark or root may be toxic. An infusion of the flowers serves as an eye lotion.
Conclusion Ber is a multipurpose fruit shrub. Its fruits, leaves, bark, seeds, flowers, root, all are useful. It is also helpful to control the desertification in arid zone. It increases the livelihoods of poor farmers through providing good nutrition and fuel. The ber fruit has high sugar content and a high level of vitamins A & C, carotene, phosphorus and calcium. The leaves contain 6% digestible crude protein, which is an excellent source of ascorbic acid and carotenoids. Ber can provide food
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security, due to sustained production of the fruits, irrespective of drought and salinity; it grows well on poor and degraded land. Its fruit, fruit products and pruned wood sold for fuel and fencing provide consistent income throughout the year. The ber tree can produce an annual fruit yield in the range of 50 to 250kg/tree and is relatively easy and cheap to cultivate. Other uses are mostly fuel wood, lac culture, wood, bees and silkworms, biodiesel, cosmetic and medicinal uses. Reference Abdel-Zaher AO, Salim SY, Assaf MH and AbdelHady RH. 2005. Antidiabetic activity and
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