Unnab (Jujube) and Sharbat-e-Unnab: The Blood Purifier Idea Examined
The dried, wrinkled brown fruit sitting next to the sugar sachets at a hakeem’s shop looks unremarkable. Sold as unnab, jujube, it gets credited with everything from calming a cough to “cleaning the blood” before an exam season breakout of pimples. Some of that reputation earns it. Most of it does not.
In brief
- What it is: the dried fruit of the jujube tree (Ziziphus jujuba), used whole or as sharbat-e-unnab, a sweetened syrup
- Fair traditional use: a mild, soothing tonic, often for cough or general comfort
- Not a real function: “purifying the blood” to clear acne
- For actual acne help: our guide to home remedies for pimples and oily skin
Part of our Unani & Herbal, Decoded series, this piece looks at unnab specifically, separate from other blood-purifier products we have covered, because the fruit itself is genuinely mild and low-risk, which makes it a good case study for how a harmless ingredient still gets an overstated job description.
What unnab actually is
Jujube is a small, apple-like fruit that turns wrinkled and date-like when dried, widely used across Unani, Chinese and Middle Eastern traditional medicine. It has a mild, natural sweetness and a soft texture once soaked or cooked, and dried unnab is commonly sold whole, to be boiled into a drink, or pre-made into sharbat-e-unnab, a thick sweetened syrup diluted with water.
The blood purifier idea, decoded
In Unani thought, “khoon ki garmi,” heat in the blood, is blamed for boils, rashes, acne and general skin flare-ups, and cooling, soothing foods and syrups like unnab are traditionally given to calm this heat. This is a real, longstanding traditional framework for thinking about skin symptoms, described honestly here as tradition rather than as a description of any process modern dermatology recognises. There is no medical concept of “purifying” blood the way this phrase implies, and no food or syrup performs that function, since the liver and kidneys already filter blood continuously regardless of diet.
What is fair to say is that a mild, soothing, hydrating drink taken instead of a very sugary fizzy drink, in hot weather, is a genuinely sensible small swap, and if unnab sharbat is that swap in a household, it is doing something reasonable, just not the specific thing the “blood purifier” label implies.
Where unnab genuinely has a fair use
Dried jujube has a long, reasonable history as a mild cough and throat soother, often boiled with a little honey (for adults and children over 1 year only) into a warm drink. It is also simply a pleasant, fibre-containing dried fruit, eaten a few pieces at a time as a snack in many households, similar in that sense to dates or dried apricots. Both of these are honest, defensible uses that do not require any blood-purifying claim to justify them.
How it is traditionally prepared
- Boil 4 to 5 dried unnab fruits in about 2 cups (roughly 480 ml) of water for 10 to 15 minutes until the water turns a light brown.
- Strain and drink warm, once a day, commonly in the evening or when feeling under the weather.
- For sharbat-e-unnab, dilute about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the syrup into a glass of water, once daily.
- For a cough remedy, add honey only after the drink has cooled to warm, not hot, and only for those over 1 year of age.
- Store dried unnab in an airtight container away from moisture; discard any showing mould or an unusual smell.
What acne and “khoon ki garmi” flare-ups actually need
| Symptom blamed on “hot blood” | More likely real cause |
|---|---|
| Pimples, oily forehead | Hormones, oil gland activity, clogged pores, sometimes touching the face often |
| Small red boils | Bacterial skin infection (folliculitis), needs proper hygiene or a doctor if recurring |
| Heat rash in summer | Blocked sweat glands in hot, humid weather, needs cooling and looser clothing |
Our deeper piece, Khoon Ki Garmi: meaning, and what needs a doctor, goes further into matching each folk symptom to its likely real cause.
Myth: sweet, cooling foods flush toxins from the skin
Skin flare-ups are not caused by uncleared “toxins” that a syrup rinses away, and framing them that way can delay a reader from trying what actually helps: a gentle cleansing routine, not touching or picking at the skin, and a dermatologist’s help for anything painful, spreading, or scarring. Unnab sharbat, taken as a pleasant drink, is not doing harm in a healthy person taking it in reasonable amounts, but it should not be relied on as the plan for a genuine skin problem.
A fair way to use it
Treat unnab sharbat the way you would treat a fruit-based cordial: a pleasant, mildly comforting drink to have occasionally in hot weather, rather than a treatment schedule for a skin condition that needs its own proper care.
Diabetics should check the sugar content of sharbat-e-unnab before making it a regular drink, since the syrup form is concentrated. Children under 1 year should never be given anything containing honey, including a cough remedy made with unnab and honey together. Anyone with a known allergy to stone fruits should introduce jujube cautiously the first time. See a doctor rather than relying on unnab or any cooling drink if a cough lasts more than 2 to 3 weeks, comes with fever, breathlessness or blood, or if a skin flare-up is painful, spreading, associated with fever, or leaving scars.
How unnab compares to dates as an everyday snack
Dried unnab and dates share a similar role in many households, a naturally sweet, chewy snack eaten a few pieces at a time, and neither needs a health claim to justify a place in the fruit bowl. Unnab has a slightly tarter, less dense sweetness than most date varieties, and some people find it gentler on the stomach in larger quantities. Treating it as a fruit first and a tonic second is usually the more honest framing for most households.
A note on quality when buying dried unnab
Good dried unnab should be plump rather than rock hard, with a deep reddish brown colour and no visible mould or an overly sharp, fermented smell. Very cheap, oddly pale, or unusually dusty batches are worth skipping, since dried fruit quality varies considerably between suppliers and a poor batch offers little of the mild benefit even proponents claim for it.
A simple home syrup, if you want to try it
Boil 200 grams of pitted unnab with 300 ml of water and 100 grams of sugar until it reduces to a thick syrup, strain, and store in a clean bottle in the fridge for up to two weeks. Dilute a tablespoon into a glass of water as a home version of sharbat-e-unnab, at a fraction of the cost of a commercial bottle and with full knowledge of exactly what went into it.
How unnab differs from imported jujube supplements
Some capsule or powder supplements marketed abroad under the name jujube extract are concentrated differently from the whole dried fruit sold in South Asian markets, and dosing guidance for one does not transfer safely to the other. Stick to the traditional whole-fruit or syrup form covered here unless a doctor has specifically discussed a concentrated supplement version with you.
Frequently asked questions
Does unnab really purify the blood?
No, there is no medical process by which a fruit or syrup purifies blood; this is a traditional way of describing a cooling, soothing effect, not a literal blood-cleaning action.
Can unnab help with acne?
Not directly; a hydrating, less sugary drink habit is mildly sensible, but acne needs its own skin-focused care and, for anything persistent, a dermatologist.
Is sharbat-e-unnab safe for children?
In reasonable, diluted amounts it is generally considered a mild traditional drink, but check sugar content and avoid any honey-containing version for a child under 1 year.
Can diabetics have unnab?
The dried fruit itself and sharbat versions both carry natural or added sugar, so diabetics should check quantities with a doctor or dietitian rather than assuming it is sugar-free because it is “natural.”