She County Black Jujube

She County Black Jujube

She County black jujube is a protected geographical indication product.

       She County black jujube — a specialty of She County, Handan City, Hebei Province, and a national geographical indication product of China.

　　Black jujube, also known as Chinese date plum, wild persimmon, soft jujube, or milk jujube, is mainly produced in northern Chinese regions such as Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Liaoning. Among them, black jujube from She County, Hebei, is particularly well-known.

　　Black jujube is naturally black. Although it is called a jujube, it actually does not belong to the commonly recognized jujube category but is a plant of the Diospyros genus native to northeastern Asia. It is mainly divided into seeded and seedless varieties, with the primary types including large-seed black jujube, milk jujube, and grape black jujube.

　　Black jujube trees grow 5–10 meters tall; the bark is dark brown and deeply fissured into square-like sections; young branches have grayish soft hairs. Leaves are elliptic to oblong, 6–12 cm long and 3–6 cm wide; the surface is initially densely covered with soft hairs which later fall off, the back is gray or pale white, and the veins have soft hairs. Flowers are light yellow or light red, solitary or clustered in leaf axils; the calyx is densely covered with soft hairs, deeply 4-lobed, with ovate lobes; the fruit is nearly spherical, 1–1.5 cm in diameter, turning blue-black when ripe, with a white waxy layer and almost no stalk. The flowering period is May, and the fruit ripens from October to November.

　　Black jujube is robust, prefers full sunlight, tolerates partial shade, and is more cold-resistant and drought-resistant than persimmon trees, also being highly tolerant of moisture. It thrives in fertile, deep soil but can also endure poor, moderately alkaline, and calcareous soils. It has strong resistance to sulfur dioxide.

　　Black jujube is warm in nature and sweet in flavor, rich in protein, carbohydrates, organic acids, vitamin B and E, as well as trace elements like phosphorus, calcium, and iron, along with various other nutrients. It has benefits for nourishing kidney and stomach functions. It also helps delay aging, enhance vitality, and promote beauty and skin health. Therefore, black jujube is referred to as a “nutrient warehouse.” Regular consumption can help women replenish qi and blood, maintain epithelial tissue health, warm the stomach, improve vision, invigorate blood circulation, promote diuresis, and detoxify. It is also excellent for moisturizing the skin and darkening hair.