Strategies for the Valorization of Date Fruit and Its Co-Products: A New Ingredient in the Development of Value-Added Foods

Abstract

Date palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera L.) are traditionally cultivated in South-West Asia and North Africa for date fruit consumption, although in recent years, its consumption has increased worldwide, and its cultivation has spread to other areas of America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and Southern Europe. During date fruit processing, several types of by-products are generated, such as low-quality dates or seeds, which along with date fruit, represent an excellent source of dietary fiber and bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, tannins, carotenoids, tocopherols, and tocotrienols. Therefore, this review provides information on the processing of dates fruit and the value-added by-products generated from them as well as their applications in different types of foods for the development of foods with an enhanced nutritional and functional profile. The incorporation of date fruit and their co-products in food formulations will help to cover the current consumer demands for foods made with ingredients of natural origin and with health properties beyond the merely nutritional.

Current insights into date by-product valorization for sustainable food industries and technology

“…88 DP is an underutilized co-product of date processing, composed of moisture and residual sugars from date pulp, containing a signicant amount of organic compounds. 50,85,89 Currently, there are limitations to the utilization of date pomaces. Production statistics estimate that date syrup generates about 52-64% of date syrup, 17-24% of brous DP, and, nally, 8-15% of date seeds.…”

“…19 Additionally, low-grade or excess dates undergo direct processing or value addition for consumption, manifesting as date syrup, date juice, date extract, date powder, date paste, date fiber concentrate, date jam, vinegar, and some components that serve as animal feed. 50 Despite numerous efforts to convert industrially relevant date processing waste into value-added products, a substantial amount of waste is generated in the form of date seeds, date pomace, and discarded dates. 51 Fig.…”

Approaches to Enhance Sugar Content in Foods: Is the Date Palm Fruit a Natural Alternative to Sweeteners?

“…It should be noted that food matrices are an optimal carrier to facilitate the availability of the biomolecules present in date fruit [ 139 ]. This approach not only enhances health benefits and adds value but also contributes to the revalorization of date products and by-products, in that way promoting circular economy principles within the food industry [ 142 ].…”

UV-C Treatment Impact on the Availability of Water-Soluble Carbohydrates, Polyphenols, and Antioxidant Capacity of an Algerian Underutilized Date Fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

“…Incorporating date fruit into a nutritious diet is advantageous [ 13 ]. Nevertheless, the lack of awareness of its benefits, especially among consumers, may be attributed to the prevailing trade practices in the developing date-producing countries.…”