The ethnobotany of Christ's Thorn Jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) in Israel

Dafni, Amots; Levy, Shay; Lev, Efraim

doi:10.1186/1746-4269-1-8

Cited by 57 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…spina-christi . [ 304 305 ] The Holy Quran mentions the Lote tree (Cedar) 3 times (XXXIV: 16; LIII: 13-18; LVI: 28-32), which was frequently identified as Z . spina-christi .…”

Section: Antimicrobial Phytoconstituents and Traditional Medicinal mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Herbal drugs from Sudan: Traditional uses and phytoconstituents

Karar

Kuhnert

2017

Phcog Rev

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Sudan folklore medicine is characterized by a unique combination of Islamic, Arabic, and African cultures. In poor communities, traditional medicine has remained as the most reasonable source of treatment of several diseases and microbial infections. Although the traditional medicine is accepted in Sudan, to date there is no updated review available, which focuses on most effective and frequently used Sudanese medicinal plants. Thus, this review aims to summarize the published information on the ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants from Sudan, preparation methods, phytochemistry, and ethnopharmacology. The collected data demonstrate that Sudanese medicinal plants have been reported to possess a wide range of traditional medicinal uses including different microbial infections, gastrointestinal disorders, malaria, diabetes, rheumatic pain, respiratory system disorders, jaundice, urinary system inflammations, wounds, cancer, and different microbial infections. In most cases, the pharmacological studies were in agreement with traditional uses. Moreover, several bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, terpenes, tannins, fatty acids, and essential oils have been identified as active constituents. Although this review demonstrates the importance of ethnomedicine medicines in the treatment of several diseases in Sudan, further researches to validate the therapeutic uses and safety of these plants through phytochemical screening, different biological activity assays, and toxicological studies are still needed.

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“…spina-christi . [ 304 305 ] The Holy Quran mentions the Lote tree (Cedar) 3 times (XXXIV: 16; LIII: 13-18; LVI: 28-32), which was frequently identified as Z . spina-christi .…”

Section: Antimicrobial Phytoconstituents and Traditional Medicinal mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, this species is highly respected throughout the Middle East, has been widely used as a food and as medicinal as well as an environmental protection plant since ancient times, and is still in use until now. [ 305 306 307 ]…”

Section: Antimicrobial Phytoconstituents and Traditional Medicinal mentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbal drugs from Sudan: Traditional uses and phytoconstituents

Karar

Kuhnert

2017

Phcog Rev

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“…known as Christ’s thorn, is common from Sudan and Ethiopia in Africa, to Lebanon, Syria, and Iran in the Middle East. It produces small fruits, and is widely used in folk medicine and as a source of food and energy for rural populations [ 6 , 7 ]. Although the whole genome of Z. jujuba has been sequenced [ 8 , 9 ], there is still little genomic information about other species in Ziziphus for intrageneric classifications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Analysis of the Complete Chloroplast Genome of Four Known Ziziphus Species

Huang

Chen

2017

Genes

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Ziziphus Mill. (Rhamnaceae) is comprised of about 170 species that are mainly distributed in tropical to subtropical regions, with few in the temperate zone. Several Ziziphus fruit tree species are important energy, nutrient, and medicinal resources for human populations, particularly for those living in rural regions. To date, limited genomic information is available for this genus. Here, we assembled the complete chloroplast genomes of four best known Ziziphus species, i.e., Ziziphus jujuba, Ziziphus acidojujuba, Ziziphus mauritiana, and Ziziphus spina-christi, based on the Illumina Paired-end sequencing method. The chloroplast genomes of the four Ziziphus species are all very similar to one another, and exhibit structural, gene content, and order characteristics that are similar to other flowering plants. The entire chloroplast genome encodes 113 predicted unique genes (85 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA, and 37 tRNA), 17 of which are duplicated in the inverted repeat regions. Rich single sequence repeats loci (217) were detected in Z. jujuba and 106 SSR loci, composed of A/T, displayed polymorphism across the four species by comparative genomic analysis. We found only four genes under positive selection between Z. jujuba and Z. acidojujuba, and two genes for Z. mauritiana vs. Z. spina-christi, respectively, while half of the 78 protein-coding genes experienced positive selection between the two groups. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Ziziphus (Rhamnaceae) was sister to Elaeagnaceae, and the four species of Ziziphus were clustered into two groups (Z. jujuba and Z. acidojujuba, Z. mauritiana and Z. spina-christi). Our results provide genomic resources for intrageneric classifications of Ziziphus, and valuable genetic markers for investigating the population genetics and biogeography of closely related Ziziphus species.

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“…The process involves experimental testing and evaluation of the species through a feedback process between the scientific, forest managerial, and the community stakeholders Table 1 Origin, classification, and traditional uses of five Ziziphus species. Summarized from: Ackerman 1961;Singh 1963;Vashishtha 1997;Danin 1992Danin , 2001Mizrahi and Nerd 1996;Pareek 2001;Outlaw et al 2002;Abu-Hamdah et al 2005;Dafni et al 2005;Azam-Ali et al 2006;Saied et al 2008;Keasar and Shmida 2009;Tel-Zur and Schneider 2009;Pandey et al 2010;Maraghni et al 2014; http://www.cabi.org/isc; http://www.worldagroforestry.org Flowering time in the species' natural habitat soil fertility may, in turn, result in increased herbaceous biomass and species richness under the canopy (Tessema and Belay 2017). Thus, planting these species mixed with other dryland afforestation species is expected to promote multifunctionality by combining drought resistance with livelihood support.…”

Section: The Proposed Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Native and non-native species for dryland afforestation: bridging ecosystem integrity and livelihood support

Reisman‐Berman

Keasar

Tel-Zur

2019

Annals of Forest Science

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& Key message We propose a silvicultural-ecological, participatory-based, conceptual framework to optimize the socioeconomicecological services provided by dryland afforestation, i.e. addressing the limited resources in arid areas while minimizing the harm to the environment. The framework applies the following criteria to select multifunctional tree species: (a) drought resistance, (b) minimal disruption of ecosystem integrity, and (c) maximization of ecosystem services, including supporting community livelihoods. & Context Dryland afforestation projects frequently aim to combine multiple ecological and economic benefits. Nevertheless, plant species for such projects are selected mainly to withstand aridity, while other important characteristics are neglected. This approach has resulted in planted forests that are drought-resistant, yet harm the natural ecosystem and provide inadequate ecosystem services for humans. & Aims We suggest a comprehensive framework for species selection for dryland afforestation that would increase, rather than disrupt, ecological and socioeconomic services. & Methods To formulate a synthesis, we review and analyze past and current afforestation policies and the socio-ecological crises ensuing from them. & Results To increase afforestation services and to support human-community needs, both native and non-native woody species should be considered. The framework suggests experimental testing of candidate species for their compliance with the suggested species selection criteria. Furthermore, regional stakeholders are involved in evaluating, ranking, and prioritizing the candidate species according to experimental results and stakeholders' values and needs. We exemplify our approach by describing our ongoing research project, aimed to evaluate several native and exotic Ziziphus species in the Middle East region. & Conclusion The employment of our proposed framework forms a novel community of native and non-native woody species. We discuss the ecological context of this proposal.

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The ethnobotany of Christ's Thorn Jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) in Israel

Cited by 57 publications

References 22 publications

Herbal drugs from Sudan: Traditional uses and phytoconstituents

Herbal drugs from Sudan: Traditional uses and phytoconstituents

Comparative Analysis of the Complete Chloroplast Genome of Four Known Ziziphus Species

Native and non-native species for dryland afforestation: bridging ecosystem integrity and livelihood support

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