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Jujube

Q: Is Jujube natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: Not commercially extracted for perfumery. Jujube fruit produces no viable essential oil. The note is a fantasy accord..

SWEETS AND GOURMAND SMELLS / sweet · fruity · warm

Jujube

Category	SWEETS AND GOURMAND SMELLS
Subcategory	sweet · fruity · warm
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Ziziphus jujuba
Appearance	Pale to dark amber liquid
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	Asia, Mediterranean
Pyramid	Heart

Sweet, date-like, and warmly spiced. Dried jujube (red date) smells of concentrated fruit sweetness, cinnamon-adjacent warmth, and a papery, dried-apple quality.

Scent
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Sweet, concentrated, and warmly spiced. Like holding a handful of dried red dates to your nose -- the wrinkled skin releases a caramelized, almost toffee-like sweetness with a whisper of cinnamon and the particular papery dryness of dehydrated fruit. Drier than dates, warmer than dried apple.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Sweet, spiced, date-like. Warm cinnamon edge over concentrated fruit.

After a few hours

The spice settles. Caramelized, toffee-like sweetness with papery dryness.

After a few days

A warm, sweet, dried-fruit residue. Persistent and comforting.

The Full Story

Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), also called red date or Chinese date, is a small deciduous tree native to southern Asia. The fruit has been cultivated in China for over 4,000 years and is central to East Asian cuisine and traditional medicine.

Fresh jujube has a crisp, apple-like quality with mild sweetness. But it is the dried fruit (hongzao) that carries the concentrated aroma relevant to perfumery: a rich, date-like sweetness with warm spice undertones (cinnamon, clove-like), a papery dryness from dehydration, and a caramelized sugar depth.

In perfumery, jujube is typically a fantasy accord. Perfumers reconstruct it using dried-fruit materials (date accord, fig-like notes), warm spice traces (cinnamaldehyde, eugenol), caramelized sweetness (ethyl maltol, maltol), and a dry, papery element.

The note functions in the heart-to-base range, providing a warm, East Asian-inflected sweetness that is drier and more complex than Western dried-fruit notes like raisin or prune.

This note in Première Peau. Insuline Safrine. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Related: Acetyl Furan · Ambermax · Ambrofix · Egg · Ethyl Maltol · Flour · Furfural · Genepi

Did You Know?

Did you know?

Ziziphus jujuba has been cultivated in China for over 4,000 years, with over 400 cultivars documented. In traditional Chinese medicine, red dates (hongzao) are classified as a qi-tonifying herb and are among the most frequently prescribed ingredients in classical formulas.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: Not commercially extracted for perfumery. Jujube fruit produces no viable essential oil. The note is a fantasy accord.

Molecular Formula	N/A — complex natural material
CAS Number	N/A — natural fruit, no single CAS
Botanical Name	Ziziphus jujuba
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	RED DATE · CHINESE DATE
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	Pale to dark amber liquid

In Perfumery

Heart-to-base note in East Asian-inspired, dried-fruit, and warm-spiced compositions. Functions as a concentrated, spiced sweetness with papery dryness. Built from dried-fruit accords, warm spice traces (cinnamaldehyde, eugenol), and caramelized sweetness materials. Culturally specific and distinct from Western dried-fruit notes.