Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVI, Issue 2
Written by Elena Gabriela STAN, Lavinia Mihaela ILIESCU, Florin STĂNICĂ
Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is the most important species of Rhamnaceae family and is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world. In Romania it was introduced for the first time in Dobrogea region, close to the Black Sea, some 2000 years ago. The first cultivated varieties, more than 20 genotypes, were introduced after 1997 at the Didactic Experimental Field, within the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, from Shanxi Province, China. The purpose of this paper is to present the sensory evaluation of some fresh jujube fruits cultivars and customers’ perception on some innovative products. The results were obtained during the international workshop “Prospective of Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) cultivation in Romania” organized in 2nd of October 2020, at the USAMV Bucharest. Among the most common jujube cultivated in Romania, only the ones that arrived at the ripening stage: Jun Zao, Hu Ping Zao, Hu Ping AA and Early Hu Ping Zao, were tasted. The fruit size and shape, fruit colour, firmness and juiciness, taste and flavour were noticed with grades from 1 to 5, five being the highest value. The jujube tested products were: dehydrated jujube (simple, with walnuts or almonds), jujube liqueur (with honey, with rose petals, with plums and honey, with plums and rose petals), jujube tea, jujube compote and jujube tart. The consumers’ panel for sensory evaluation was represented by farmers, researchers, professors, specialists and ordinary people. The results showed that, fresh fruits and processed jujube products, was being positively appreciated by most of the participants and varied with the age, gender and origin.
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