The morphological and phytochemical diversity of Ziziphusmauritiana L. fruits in Dompu district, West Nusa Tenggara.

Jujube or bir or bidara (Ziziphusmauritiana L.) is a arid and semi-arid plants of Asia and other countries which is natively grown in several areas of West Nusa Tenggara, including Dompu Regency. In Dompu, its found natively in various ecology, from unutilized lowland near the beach, in the savanna, near the forest, near cultivation land and in the backyard of urban and rural dwellings. This research was conducted to examine differential morphology and secondary metabolites of Jujube fruits from Dompu Regency. Jujube fruits were collected from 12 locations, and characterized based on quantitative and qualitative characters and secondary metabolite contents. There were distinct morphology between the Jujube fruits collected from the savanna and backyard of communal areas. Jujube fruits obtained from savanna of Dompu has different morphology and phytochemical contents. The wild Jujube in savanna has a small fruit with thin flash, and contain alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin dan phenol. The fruit obtained from Dompu city is larger with thicker flesh and did not contain alkaloid. These variations may reveals a degree of genetic variation in Jujube plants in Dompu, and this possibility needs to be explored further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]