Physico-chemical properties and amino acid profiles of sap from Tunisian date palm

Abstract

Date palm sap (Phoenix dactylifera L.), also known as "legmi", is a fresh juice extracted from date palm trees. The present study aimed to elucidate the effects of collection time (at the beginning of the tapping period and after seven days of collection) on the amino acid profile and physico-chemical properties of date palm sap from both male and female trees.Dry matter, protein, amino acid, and sugar profiles were determined using the Kjeldahl method, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and High-Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection (HPAEC-PAD), respectively. Date palm sap from both male and female trees contained high levels of carbohydrates. HPLC analysis showed that this fraction was dominated by sucrose in the sap sample from female trees compared to that from male trees. Male date palm sap was noted to exhibit lower dry matter content than female date palm sap but higher protein, total polyphenol, ash, and amino acid contents. While the major essential amino acids in the sap from male trees consisted of valine and threonine, they were represented by lysine and phenylalanine in sap samples from female trees. Further, Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis showed the presence of a proteinic band of 30 kDa only for the sap from male trees. Taken together, the sap from both male and female date palm trees had a number of properties that are highly valued by the functional food industry.

Sex expression of date palm (Phoenix Dactylifera L.) trees in relation to some leaf chemical constituents

“…In this connection, 7 using papaya, pointed out that pistillate plants could be predicted through the higher leaf blade and petiole content from, total indoles. Moreover, 13 reported that, date palm sap from both male and female trees contained high levels of carbohydrates. HPLC analysis showed that this fraction was dominated by sucrose in the sap sample from female trees compared to that from male trees.…”

“…This result is in agreement with previous reports on sap from the Borassus flabellifer palm in Borma, where up to six qualities of sap were differentiated based on the tapping stage and plant sex. 15 Also, 13 pointed out that male sap dry matter content was higher than that of the female. It decreased significantly through the tapping period.…”

“…The male date palm sap exhibited higher total phenolic content than the female (2.04 vs.1.648 μg gallic acid equivalent mL-1 of total polyphenol, respectively). 13 Plant sex may affect the quality of the sap (Phoenix dactylifera L.). This result is in agreement with previous reports on sap from the Borassus flabellifer palm in Borma, where up to six qualities of sap were differentiated based on the tapping stage and plant sex.…”

Characteristic Profiles of an Original Drink Sap from Male and Female Deglet Nour Palm (Phoenix dactyliferaL.) during Collection Period

“…The variation in protein content according to the palm sex and the collection time is illustrated in Figure 2(a). The protein content of the male and female date palm sap, as the case of many species of palm trees, is considered relatively low (below 5.6% dry matter basis over the period of collection) [12,13]. In the first days of collection, the male date palm sap, as well as Borassus flabellifer L. palms sap [14], contains a higher amount of total proteins than that of the female (4.99% versus 3.17% dry matter basis, resp.).…”

Microbial and Chemical Diversity of Traditional Non-Cereal Based Alcoholic Beverages of Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Table 2 summarizes the microbial diversity of non-cereal-based alcoholic beverages of sub-Saharan Africa region as well as their secondary metabolites. Proline, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glutamine, histidine, glycine, arginine, tryptophan, and cysteine [31][32][33] Palm sap (Palmae family) 10-18% Sucrose (36%), glucose (33%), fructose, cellobiose, dextran, maltose, xylose, hamnose, arabinose and galacturonic acid 7-7.4 Valine, threonine, lysine and phenylalanine [34][35][36] Masau (Ziziphus mauritiana)…”