Jujube Seed Extract
Jujube seed extract is prepared from the seed of the sour jujube, Ziziphus jujuba variety spinosa, known in Chinese practice as suan zao ren. It is distinct from extracts of the sweet jujube fruit, and the two should not be confused in specification, since the seed is used for its saponins and flavonoids rather than for the sugars and polysaccharides that characterise the fruit.
The marker constituents fall into two groups. The dammarane saponins jujuboside A and jujuboside B are the compounds most extracts are assayed on, and the flavone C-glycoside spinosin, together with its 6-feruloyl derivative, is the second marker. Cyclopeptide alkaloids, triterpene acids including betulinic and ceanothic acid, and fatty oil from the kernel are also present. The material is used mainly in sleep and calming formulations, following its traditional role.
The commercial powder is light brown to brown, hygroscopic, with a faintly bitter and oily taste. Water and aqueous ethanol extracts disperse in water to a cloudy solution, since the saponins are surface active and the residual fixed oil is not soluble. The glycosidic markers tolerate spray drying but hydrolyse under prolonged heating in acid.
We source bulk Jujube Seed Extract from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturers are in Guangdong and Shaanxi. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Light brown to brown fine powder with faintly bitter taste |
| Botanical source | Seed of Ziziphus jujuba variety spinosa |
| Total jujubosides (HPLC) | 2.0 percent minimum |
| Spinosin | 0.5 percent minimum |
| Identification | HPTLC profile conforms to suan zao ren reference |
| Extract ratio | 10 to 1, aqueous ethanol |
| Loss on drying | 6.0 percent maximum |
| Total ash | 8.0 percent maximum |
| Residual solvents (ethanol) | 5000 mg/kg maximum |
| Lead | 2.0 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 1.0 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 10000 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are set by the assay and the solvent. Ratio extracts at 4 to 1, 10 to 1 and 20 to 1 make up the bulk of the trade, and standardised grades are specified on total jujubosides, commonly 2 or 5 percent, or on spinosin at 0.5 to 2 percent by HPLC. Buyers who want a defensible label claim should specify a marker assay rather than a ratio, because ratio alone says nothing about what the extraction recovered.
Raw material identity is the point that needs most attention. The sour jujube seed is a different botanical article from the sweet jujube fruit and from the seed of Ziziphus mauritiana, and substitution between them is documented, so an identity chromatogram against a suan zao ren reference is worth requiring. Roasted and unroasted seed are both used in traditional practice and give slightly different extracts. Milled seed powder, defatted seed powder and jujube seed oil are traded alongside the extracts, and organic certified lots are available in modest volume.
Applications
- Sleep and relaxation supplements in capsule and tablet form, often with GABA, theanine and magnesium
- Calming herbal tea and granule preparations
- Functional beverages and night-time shots formulated for a calming positioning
- Gummies and chewables in the sleep support category
- Traditional decoction and compounded herbal preparations
- Stress and mood support blends alongside jujube fruit and lily bulb
- Instant herbal soup and porridge bases in the medicinal and edible food category
- Analytical work where jujuboside A and spinosin serve as identity markers for the species
China Manufacturers of Jujube Seed Extract
Top Jujube Seed Extract manufacturers in China.
Guangzhou Honsea Sunshine Biotech Co., Ltd.20 ingredients in the directory
Sanyuanlihua Bio-tech Co., Ltd.13 ingredients in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States sour jujube seed is used as a dietary ingredient in supplements, and material entering conventional foods relies on GRAS conclusions for the specified use rather than on a food additive listing. The distinction between the fruit, which has broad food use, and the seed, whose use has been in traditional preparations and supplements, is worth observing in documentation. Claims are structure and function claims subject to the usual substantiation and disclaimer requirements, and any suggestion of treating insomnia as a disease would place the product outside the supplement framework.
In the European Union Ziziphus jujuba seed preparations do not have broad recognised food use, and a concentrated seed extract would be expected to require assessment under the novel food framework before being placed on the market as a food or supplement ingredient, a position distinct from that of the fruit. There is no E number, and no authorised health claim relating to sleep for this botanical. Codex has not adopted a specification for jujube seed extract; the general Codex provisions on contaminants and hygiene for dried plant material apply.
Manufacturing Process
Sour jujube fruit is processed to separate the stone, which is cracked to release the kernel, and the kernel is cleaned, inspected for identity and dried. Where the traditional roasted article is wanted the seed is stir-roasted before extraction. The seed is milled coarsely, and because the kernel carries a substantial fixed oil fraction that would otherwise foul the extraction and the resin, many producers defat it first with a light hydrocarbon solvent or by pressing.
Extraction uses water or aqueous ethanol, typically 50 to 70 percent, in a multi-stage countercurrent system at moderate temperature, with two or three passes combined. The extract is filtered, the alcohol recovered under vacuum, and the aqueous concentrate held cold so that resins and residual oil separate and can be removed. For standardised grades the clarified liquor is loaded onto macroporous adsorption resin, which retains the saponins and flavonoids while sugars and salts pass through, and graded alcohol elution gives an enriched fraction. The eluate is concentrated under vacuum, assayed by HPLC and standardised with maltodextrin or with its own lower-strength extract, then spray dried at a controlled outlet temperature, sieved and packed in moisture barrier bags.
