Chemical standardization and biological properties of Ziziphus jujuba fruit : probing the possible function in neuron protection and blood stimulation

• Proposes a standard mixture for clinical trials with jujuba fruit

The fruit of Ziziphus jujuba Mill., known as jujube or Chinese date, is commonly consumed as health supplement worldwide. Traditionally, the main functions of jujube were considered to benefit our brain, nourish “Blood” and raise the “Qi”, as such which prolonged one’s life-span.

Chemical and biological properties of 24 common jujube cultivars were revealed. 11 nucleotides and their derivatives (uracil, cytidine, uridine, cGMP, xanthine, hypoxanthine, guanine, guanosine, cAMP, adenosine and adenine), 7 flavonoids [(-)-catechin, procyanidin B2, (-)-epicatechin, quercetin 3-O-galactoside, quercetin 3-O-rutinoside, quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucoside and kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside], and polysaccharides in jujube were determined

The application of standardized jujube water extract induced neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells; this effect was similar to that of nerve growth factor (NGF).

The results provided by this thesis have achieved three different aspects of jujube: (i) chemical standardization; (ii) brain protection; and (iii) blood stimulation.