The reason why it is called gray jujube is because before it matures and turns red, the whole body is gray, so it is named "gray jujube".

Gray jujube is also known as Xinzheng gray jujube, the fruit is long obovate, orange-red skin, small nucleus thick meat, eat than the general sweet jujube, origin for Henan Xinzheng, after the introduction of species throughout the country, now Xinjiang and the distribution of such areas as the end of the region.

The market is very popular with consumers gray jujube, is the Ruoqiang jujube in the maturity of the red before, the color gray and named, so also known as Ruoqiang gray jujube. Gray jujube fruit is long obovate, the skin is bright red, the kernel is small flesh thick, and dry jujube flesh is dense, very elastic, compared with the general red jujube, eat to sweet. Gray jujube is praised as "vitamin pill" and "mineral element library".

Morphological characteristics of gray jujube

Long obovate fruit, carcass is slightly thin, slightly skewed. Average fruit weight 12.3 grams, the largest fruit weight 13.3 grams. Fruit shoulders are rounded and slanted, thinner and slightly raised. Peduncle pits are small, moderately deep. The top of the fruit is widely rounded, and the apex is slightly concave. Fruit surface is relatively flat. The skin of the fruit is orange-red, turning from green to gray before the white ripening stage, and from gray to white when entering the white ripening stage.

The flesh is greenish white, dense, brittle, juicy, containing 30% soluble solids, with an edible rate of 97.3%, suitable for fresh eating, drying and processing, with high quality. The drying rate is about 50%. Dried jujube pulp is dense, elastic, can recover after pressure, resistant to storage and transportation. The kernel is small, containing kernel rate of 4% to 5%. In the origin, sprouting in mid-April, flowering in late May, and ripening and harvesting in mid-September. Fruit fertility period of about 100 days.

The tree is medium to large, with a natural rounded crown. The tree is medium to strong, with an adult tree height of 6.5 meters and a crown diameter of 6 meters. The date strands are cylindrical and continue to bear fruit for about 10 years. The fruiting age is early, and the yield is high and stable. Young trees start to bear fruit three or four years after planting, and enter the fruitful period in about 20 years. Avoid rain during the ripening period, easy to crack the fruit in case of rain.