Nutritional Quality and Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Selected Date Fruit Varieties of the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Production of highly soluble date sugar powder from the nutritive date fruits will be a suitable and superior alternative to commercial refined sugar, providing sustainability in date palm cultivation. A good understanding of the nutritional and phytochemical composition of date fruits is imperative for this purpose. In this work, 11 different date fruit species commonly cultivated in the United Arab Emirates were studied for their chemical composition, physical properties, amino acids, minerals, and anti-nutritional contents. The results revealed that the date fruits contain moisture, protein, lipid, and ash content in the ranges of 14.8%–20.5%, 2.19%–3.12%, 0.25%–0.51%, and 1.37%–1.97%, respectively. Potassium was identified as the major microelement in all the date varieties. Amino acid assay depicted that the date fruits mainly contained glutamine and aspartic acids, along with other essential acids. Monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) were more prevalent in the date fruits than polysaccharides (sucrose), exhibiting the potential of date fruit for non-diabetic sugar production. Phytoconstituents present in date samples, such as flavonoids, oxalates, tannins, saponins, alkaloids, and cyanides, were also evaluated and reported. Results showed that although all date fruit varieties were nutritious, they contain significant variation in their nutritional, physical, elemental, and phytochemical properties.

A Comparison of the Nutritional and Biochemical Quality of Date Palm Fruits Obtained Using Different Planting Techniques

“…However, vitamin B-complex and C are also major vitamins in dried date fruits [ 1 ]. By contrast, our results suggested vitamin A as a major vitamin, followed by vitamin E. For element contents, our results were in good agreement with previous reports [ 6 , 23 , 24 ] that indicated K as the major element in date palm flesh. Amounts of K, P, and Ca in our research were higher, while Na content was much lower than previous results in the literature reported for the same stage and cultivar [ 6 ].…”

“…Amounts of K, P, and Ca in our research were higher, while Na content was much lower than previous results in the literature reported for the same stage and cultivar [ 6 ]. Variations in nutritional compositions of date palm flesh result from differences in varieties, maturation stages, geographic locations, cultivation conditions, agroclimatic and environmental conditions, and both pre and postharvest treatments [ 24 ].…”

“…Another study of date palm seed at the Tamr stage in Barhi cultivar reported 2–3 times higher Mg content and 7–9 times lower sugar contents compared to our of CO and SO seeds [ 41 ]. Differences in nutritional compositions of date palm seeds result from various factors including but not limited to variety, stage of maturation, growing region, environment, time of harvest and postharvest treatment [ 24 ].…”

Effect of Dehydration Methods on Physicochemical Properties of Aswan Dry Dates

“…It is noticed that Potassium (K) is the most abundant element with a concentration of (903.41 mg/l00 g) for Bartamuda in the first season and Malkabii (901.11 mg/l00 g) in the second season, also dates contained moderate concentrations of Sodium (Na), where Gondaila and Shamia had the highest values (5.97 -4.32 mg/100 g). The obtained results agreed with (Elghazali and Hussin, 1999); (Ramadan et al, 2018) and (Rambabu et al, 2020).…”

Therapeutic Potential of Date Palm against Human Infertility: A Review

“…Major sugar constituents (Glucose and fructose), amino acids (glutamine and aspartic acid) are present in various date cultivars. Moreover, large amounts of essential amino acids are present whereas histidine was also present in the lowest concentration [ 30 ]. Table 1 shows the nutrient profile of the date palm.…”