The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of date seed water-soluble polysaccharides (DSP) and hemicellulose (DSH) as dietary fiber sources in enhancing the wheat bread’s quality. DSP and DSH were extracted from the three date seed varieties Deglet Nour, Ghars Souf, and Allig. The extraction yields ranged from 3.8% to 6.14% and from 13.29% to 18.8%, for DSP and DSH, respectively. DSP and DSH showed interesting functional properties and were incorporated at 0.5% and 0.75% (w/w) in wheat flour with low bread-making quality (FLBM). The results showed that the addition of 0.75% DSH significantly improved the alveograph profile of the dough, and in a more efficient way than that of DSP. Furthermore, bread evaluation revealed that the addition of DSH considerably improved the volume (by 24.22%) and the texture profile of bread (decrease of the hardness and chewiness by 41.54% and 33.81%, respectively), compared to control bread (prepared with FLBM). A sensory analysis showed that the better overall acceptability was found for bread supplemented with DSH. Results in this work demonstrate that hemicellulose fraction extracted from date seeds (DSH) and added with a level of 0.75% to FLBM represents the component that improved bread quality the best.

This study investigates the feasibility of producing ethanol from date palm seeds. The chemical compositions of three varieties of date seeds were first studied, showing mainly the presence of cellulose and hemicellulose. Ethanol was produced after a pre-treatment of date seeds using acid hydrolysis to extract the cellulosic fraction and to remove the lignin. Producing ethanol by fermentation was performed using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 24 h, during which ethanol yield, biomass concentration, and total reducing sugars were recorded. The results obtained showed that the sugar content decreased over time, while ethanol production increased. Indeed, date seeds gave the highest ethanol concentration of 21.57 g/L after 6 h of alcoholic fermentation. These findings proved the feasibility of producing ethanol from date seeds.