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Herb library · Herb · Ziziphus jujuba

Jujube (red date, suanzaoren)

The red date of China, eaten fresh and dried and added to countless soups and herbal formulas; the seed of its wild, sour form is Chinese medicine's classic herb for sleep. Small trials suggest the fruit may ease constipation; the seed has been tested almost only in formulas.

Traditional use

Stuart's 1911 English guide to the Chinese materia medica, following Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu, records that the cultivated large dates were much used in medicine, especially in pills and confections, and were considered nourishing, quieting and laxative, and that the kernels of the wild sour jujube were sold as suanzaoren and used as sedatives, recommended especially in sleeplessness. Dried red dates are still simmered in teas and soups across East Asia, and suanzaoren is the chief ingredient of the classic sleep formula Suanzaoren Tang.

What studies show

  • Limited

    Constipation: in a 12-week placebo-controlled trial in 37 adults with chronic constipation, a liquid jujube extract sped bowel transit and eased symptoms, and in a 2025 randomized trial in 62 children aged 2 to 10, jujube syrup did better than the standard laxative polyethylene glycol. Both trials were small.

  • Insufficient

    Sleep (suanzaoren, the seed): a 2023 review of 9 trials found better short-term sleep quality, but the trials tested formulas in which the seed was the main ingredient, not the seed alone.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • AmountDried jujubes are high in sugar. If you watch your blood sugar, count them as fruit.
  • NoteSome Chinese herbal products have been contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides or other herbs, according to NCCIH. Buy suanzaoren and other herbal products from makers that test them.
  • PregnancyAs a food the fruit is widely eaten. No safety information for concentrated seed or fruit extracts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found.
  • Ask a clinicianIf you take sleep medicines or sedatives, ask a clinician or pharmacist before adding suanzaoren, which is used as a sedative. Talk with them too if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or are giving an extract to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“They are much used in medicine, especially in the preparation of pill masses and confections. They are considered nourishing, beneficial to the viscera, tonic, quieting, and laxative.”
G. A. Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom (1911), p. 466. See the page of Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom, p. 466 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom, p. 466
“They are recommended in rheumatic difficulties and especially in sleeplessness, whether from weakness or from pain.”
G. A. Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom (1911), p. 466. See the page of Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom, p. 466 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom, p. 466

Sources

  1. Ziziphus jujuba extract for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation: a controlled clinical trial (Digestion, 2008) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Comparison of Ziziphus jujube Mill. Syrup versus polyethylene glycol in children with functional constipation: a randomized clinical trial (Sci Rep, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. The Herbal Medicine Suanzaoren (Ziziphi Spinosae Semen) for Sleep Quality Improvements: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Integr Cancer Ther, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Traditional Chinese Medicine: What You Need To Know (opens in a new tab) · NCCIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.