Jujube seed has a history of use in traditional Asian medicine for mild anxiety, nervousness and sleep-related problems.
It is said that jujube has been cultivated and used in China for over 4000 years.
The seeds are from the fruit of tree which is native to China and the Far East.
The fruit and it's seeds are harvested in the fall when the fruit ripens.
The tree can grow to 25 feet tall.
One author states that jujube "is one of the herbs widely used in Korea and China due to the CNS calming effect".
This particular research study found that an extract of the seeds could prevent nerve cell damage in the presence of a toxin.
How jujube seed works.
Researcher's identified a chemical compound in seeds of the fruit of the tree which has a sedative effect.
This compound has been called Jujuboside A.
Researchers have found that Jujuboside A and other chemical compounds found in the seeds affect a part of the brain called the hippocapus.
They found that the compounds inhibited a pathway in the brain that is excitatory.
Jujube seed extracts help anxiety and insomnia.
Many prescriptive sleep medications are used to treat both anxiety and insomnia.
That is to say, the same drug is used for both conditions.
The only difference is the dose.
Smaller doses are used to treat anxiety and larger doses to treat insomnia.
Anti-anxiety drugs are called anxiolytic.
Insomnia drugs are called sedatives (sedating).
Researchers found that jujube seed extract can be used to treat both anxiety and insomnia, depending on the dose used.
Lower doses of the seed extract relieved anxiety in mice, while higher doses had a sedating effect, increasing sleep time in the animals.