Ziziphus oenopolia explained

Ziziphus oenopolia, commonly known as the jackal jujube, small-fruited jujube or wild jujube, is a flowering plant with a broad distribution through tropical and subtropical Asia and Australasia. In India, it is mostly found in the deciduous forests of the southern part of the country.

Description

It is a spreading, sometimes climbing, thorny shrub growing to 1.5 m in height. The leaves are simple, alternate, ovate-lanceolate, acute and oblique. The flowers are green, in subsessile axillary cymes. The fruit is a globose drupe, black and shiny when ripe, containing a single seed.^[1] The leaf length is 4-6.5 cm, width is 2–3 cm.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

It ranges from the Indian subcontinent through southern China and Southeast Asia to northern Australia. It grows along roadside forests and thickets.^[3] Its flowering and fruiting season is June to February.^[4]

Uses

The berries are edible and the bark is used for tanning.^[3]

Medicinal

The plant produces active phytochemicals, such as phenolics, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, and carbohydrates.^[5] The plant produces cyclopeptide alkaloids known as ziziphines. The stem, bark, leaves, fruit, and roots are used in Ayurveda for the treatment of various conditions, such as ulcers, stomach aches, obesity, and asthma.^[6] The stem bark has antioxidant properties. Bark and roots are used for anti-diabetic treatments. The Konkani people of Maharashtra use the chewed leaves as a dressing for wounds.^[7] In Burma the stem bark is used as a mouthwash for sore throats, for dysentery, and for inflammation of the uterus.^[8] Research in Thailand has found that extracts of ziziphine from Ziziphus oenopolia show antiplasmodial in vitro activity against the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum.^[9]

Alternative names and Etymology

Linnaeus spelled the specific epithet as "oenoplia," "oenopolia," and "oenopia".^[10] When Miller transferred the genus from "Rhamnus" to "Ziziphus," he used "oenoplia."

References

Sources

• • Web site: Ziziphus oenoplia . 2015-11-10 . Forestry Nepal.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ziziphus oenoplia . 2010-11-02 . Ayurvedic medicinal plants.
2. Web site: Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Miller . Vattakaven . Thomas . 2014 . India Biodiversity Portal. 2024-03-06.
3. Ara, Hosne . Hassan, Md. Abul . Khanam, Mahbuba . amp . June 2008 . Taxonomic study of the genus Ziziphus Mill. (Rhamnaceae) of Bangladesh . Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy . 15 . 1 . 47–61 . 10.3329/bjpt.v15i1.917 . free.
4. Web site: Ziziphus oenoplia . Salam . Abdul . 2024-03-05  . Herbarium JCB . Indian Institute of Science . Bangalore, India  . 2024-03-06.
5. Souman . S. . Ray . J.G . 2016 . Silver nanoparticles synthesized using aqueous leaf extract of Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill: Characterization and assessment of antibacterial activity . Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology . 163 . 391–402.
6. Mourya . P. . Shukla . A. . Rai . G. . Lodhi . S. . 2017 . Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of ethanolic and aqueous extracts from Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill on alloxan-induced diabetic rats . Beni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences . 6 . 1 . 1–9 . 2024-03-06.
7. Kuvar, Sachin D. . Bapat, U.C. . amp . 2010 . Medicinal plants used by Kokani tribals of Nasik district Maharashtra to cure cuts and wounds . Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge . 9 . 1 . 114–115 .
8. Web site: Ziziphus oenoplia . 2010-11-02 . Myanmar Medicinal Plant Database.
9. Sunit Suksamrarn . Narisara Suwannapoch . Natthachai Aunchai . Mayuso Kuno . Piniti Ratananukul . Rachada Haritakun . Chawewan Jansakul . Somsak Ruchirawat . amp . January 2005 . Ziziphine N, O, P and Q, new antiplasmodial cyclopeptide alkaloids from Ziziphus oenoplia var. brunoniana . Tetrahedron . 61 . 5 . 1175–1180 . 10.1016/j.tet.2004.11.053.
10. Kellerman . J. . 2019 . Nomenclatural notes and typifications in Australian species of Paliureae (Rhamnaceae) . Swainsona . 33 . 43–50.