Cvet čičimaka

Jujube blossom is the flower of the jujube, Ziziphus jujuba, which is also called the Chinese date or red date. The flowers are small, 5 millimetres wide, with five inconspicuous yellowish-green petals. The jujube is native to China and is cultivated in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Late flowering occurs in June in North China, and the flowering period lasts 2 months.

The aroma of jujube flowers attracts honey bees, which collect nectar to produce jujube honey. The flowers also contain calcium, iron and magnesium.

A total of 65 volatile compounds were identified in jujube flowers at different stages. They include 15 aldehydes, 12 esters, 11 alcohols, 11 olefins, 8 ketones and 4 ethers. The remaining four are one furan, one pyrazine, one thiazole and one pyridine. The flowering stage shows the highest diversity of aroma components, and the bud stage the least. At the flowering stage, 14 aroma substances increase, including limonene, 3-carene, myrcene and terpinolene. In the late flowering stage, eight additional aroma components appear, including dipropyl disulfide, 2-methylbutanal and linalool. Aldehydes are the most abundant group at all three stages, followed by esters, alkenes, alcohols and ketones. Jujube flowers contain 24 unique aroma components compared with other plant flowers. Varieties such as Fuxiang, Dongzao and Xingguang give significantly stronger aromas at the flowering stage than other varieties.

Jujube orchards had appeared in China by at least 3000 years ago. About 2000 years ago jujube was introduced into Japan and Korea, and to Central Asia and Europe via the ancient Silk Road. Pliny the Elder mentioned in his Historia Naturalis that a counselor of the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus first introduced the Chinese date from Syria to Italy.

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