Jujube vs Date: What's the Difference?
Short answer: Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) and date (Phoenix dactylifera) are unrelated despite the nickname 'Chinese date' or 'red date.' A fresh jujube is small, round, and apple-crisp with green-to-red skin, becoming chewy and date-like only when dried. A date is a palm fruit, always soft, chewy, and intensely sweet with a single long pit. Jujubes are milder and less sugary; dates are richer and toffee-sweet.
| 🔴 Jujube | 🌴 Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | Fresh jujubes are crisp and airy like a small dense apple with date-honey sweetness. Dried, they concentrate into chewy, smoky-sweet "red dates" — less sugary than true dates, with a tart whisper. | Deeply sweet — caramel, brown butter, honey, and hints of cinnamon — with flesh from fudge-soft (Medjool) to firm-chewy (Deglet Noor). Fresh yellow Barhi dates are crisp and lightly astringent, a different fruit entirely. |
| Type | Tropical & subtropical | Tropical & subtropical |
| Peak season | Autumn | Autumn, Year-round |
| Origin | China (Yellow River valley), cultivated 4,000+ years; spread along the Silk Road to Persia and the Mediterranean | Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf; cultivated 6,000+ years — possibly the oldest orchard crop |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 79 | 277 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 15 g | 66.5 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 69 mg | — |
| Typical price | Mid | Mid |
Call a jujube a “red date” and you’ll be understood, but you’ll be botanically wrong - it’s not a date, and the two only converge when the jujube is dried.
The jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) grows on a small, thorny tree and, when fresh, eats like a tiny apple: crisp, juicy, and mildly sweet-tart, with smooth skin that ripens from green to mahogany red. Dry it, though, and it shrinks into a wrinkled, chewy, red-brown morsel that really does resemble a date - which is how it earned “Chinese date” and “red date.” Dried jujubes are staples in soups, teas, and traditional remedies across East Asia.
The date (Phoenix dactylifera) is the fruit of a desert palm and is never crisp. Even the freshest dates are soft and dense, and the ones you’ll usually buy are semi-dried and intensely sweet - caramel, toffee, honey - around a single long, hard pit.
So the nickname flatters a resemblance that only appears after drying. Fresh, they couldn’t be more different: the jujube is a crunchy little apple-like fruit; the date is a soft, sugar-rich palm fruit.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the jujube called a Chinese date or red date?
Because when dried, jujubes shrink, wrinkle, and turn red-brown with a sweet, chewy texture that resembles a date - and they're widely used in Chinese cooking and medicine. But jujubes grow on a small thorny tree (Ziziphus jujuba), not a palm, and aren't botanically related to true dates.
Can you eat jujubes fresh?
Yes, and fresh is a completely different experience: a ripe jujube eaten firm is crisp and juicy like a small apple, with a mild sweet-tart flavour. Dates are never crisp - they're soft and chewy at every stage you'll buy them.
Which is sweeter?
The date, clearly. Dates are among the sweetest fruits, dense with sugar and tasting of caramel and honey. Jujubes are more moderately sweet, especially when fresh, and only concentrate as they dry.