Native to north-central Argentina, mistol (Ziziphus mistol) is a spiny, fruit-bearing tree that has small flowers and reddish-brown, drupe-like fruits. Distinguished by a sweet, pasty flesh, the fruit is often consumed fresh, although it can also be boiled, sundried (pasa de mistol), or transformed into arrope (a homemade sweet) or patay (a paste used in numerous Argentine specialties). Bolanchao is a type of candy made with mistol fruit that is typical of Santiago del Estero, while this plant can also be used for making mistol liquor or a mistol infusion with healing properties.
The people of the indigenous Toba community often consume a combination of mistol juice and algarrobo flour or tusca tree flour. Other parts of this tree have also been commonly used by the indigenous people, including the tree’s roots and bark.
Often referred to as mistol cuaresmillo, mistol of the forest, or sacha mistol, this tree is also distributed in other parts of Argentina and in South American countries such as Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia.
