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An Overview of Date (Phoenix dactylifera) Fruits as an Important Global Food Resource
Dates are the fruits of the date palm belonging to the Arecaceae family; they comprise over 2500 species and 200 genera and constitute an essential part of the daily diet worldwide, with beneficial nutritional, health, and economic values. Several varieties of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit exist globally, especially in hot and humid regions. This review is an overview of date palms as a significant global food resource, including their historical significance, nutritional composition, cultivation practices, economic importance, and health benefits. The historical journey of dates goes back to ancient civilizations where they were revered for their richness in essential nutrients and natural sweetness. Today, dates are a vital crop in arid regions, contributing substantially to the agricultural economy and livelihoods of communities. This paper further explores the cultivation techniques employed to enhance date production. Furthermore, the nutritional composition of dates is analyzed in detail, highlighting their high content of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers, and antioxidants. These attributes make dates a delicious treat and a valuable nutritional component, offering numerous health benefits. The potential health effects, including improved digestion, enhanced cardiovascular health, and increased energy levels, are discussed. Additionally, this paper delves into the economic significance of the date industry and its global trade.
Journal Article
Valorization of Second-Grade Date Fruit Byproducts and Nonstandard Sweet Potato Tubers to Produce Novel Biofortified Functional Jam
Byproducts of second-grade dates and sweet potato tubers of noncommercial standard are produced along with the main product and are just as important as the main product but cannot be sold in the open market, as they may not be considered acceptable by consumers. Such byproducts can be valorized through the manufacture of a wide range of functional food products with high market appeal, such as jams. The research approach of this study included measuring antioxidant activity, total flavonoids, polyphenols, physicochemical and color indices, pH, and total sugar, as well as conducting a sensory evaluation, of mixed jams composed of different ratios of date jam (DFJ) to sweet potato jam (SPJ), namely, DP1 (80:20), DP2 (70:30), DP3 (60:40), and DP4 (50:50). To date, no other studies have considered producing mixed jam from dates and sweet potato byproducts. The sensory evaluation results indicated that jam DP4 (consisting of 50% date and 50% sweet potato) had the maximum overall acceptability. This investigation reveals the potential of using mixed byproducts in jams as natural functional ingredients, suggesting the economic value of valorization byproducts as low-cost ingredients to expand the properties, nutritional value, antioxidant content, and overall acceptability of jams. The discovered optimal mixed fruit jam has significant potential for further development as a commercial product.
Journal Article
Probabilistic health risk assessment based on Monte Carlo simulation for pesticide residues in date fruits of Iran
The validation of an analytical procedure based on the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) approach is presented for multiresidue analysis of pesticides in dates by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS
2
). The proposed methodology was applied for simultaneous quantification of 16 pesticides in 50 different date fruits. Method validation was performed regarding accuracy, precision, LDR, LOD, and LOQ, as well as matrix effects. Results of validation were satisfactory, with recoveries higher than 80% for 75% of the samples for 100- and 500- μg L
−1
spike levels. Evaluation of the matrix effect revealed that for 81% of the samples, a slight matrix effect was observed. Residues in 92% of the real samples were found below national MRLs. Afterward, hazard quotient (HQ) and total hazard quotient (THQ) of human health risk assessment of pesticides was estimated using a probabilistic approach based on the Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm. Total hazard quotient (THQ) in adults based on the consumption of dates in total samples was estimated to be 7.8% and 36.7% for adults and children, respectively. Since the studied pesticides are registered in the country and are the most widely used pesticides on dates, the occurrence of other pesticide residues seems to be unlikely. Consequently, the applied health risk assessment on Iranian date fruit samples showed that the HQ for adults and children populations indicates no risk to human health.
Graphical abstract
Journal Article
Cinnamaldehyde-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Extend the Shelf Life of Date Palm Fruit
The effect of free cinnamaldehyde (CA) and CA-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) on the post-harvest quality of Mazafati date as a soft date cultivar was evaluated. Date fruits were immersed in sodium alginate (SA) solution alone or incorporated with 1000 and 2000 ppm free CA or CA-loaded NLC, then packed in polyethylene bags and stored for 180 days at 4 and 25 °C. The weight loss and the variations of pH, titratable acidity, and total soluble solids of the coated samples containing free CA and CA-loaded NLC were significantly lower than the treated sample with distilled water as control at the end of the storage period. The CA-loaded NLC treatments reduced the weight loss of the samples stored at 4 and 25 °C respectively by 32.7% and 55.1%, compared to the control. The total sugar content (TSC) significantly decreased, but reducing sugar content (RSC) increased in all samples during the storage period. The TSC and RSC of the samples treated with 2000 ppm CA-loaded NLC (stored at 4 °C) were 15.2% higher and 7.0% lower than the control, respectively. Total bacteria and fungi counts in the treated CA-loaded NLC samples were about 3.5 log CFU/g less than the control. The use of free CA or CA-loaded NLC, especially 2000 ppm CA-loaded NLC, improved the sensory attributes of the date samples. Overall, it can be concluded that edible coatings containing CA, especially CA-loaded NLC, can extend the shelf life of date fruit without any undesirable impacts on sensory attributes.
Journal Article
Relationship between Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Some Moroccan Date Palm Fruit Varieties (Phoenix dactylifera L.): A Two-Year Study
In Morocco, the abundance of low-value varieties in the oases may provide an opportunity to capitalize on this richness to create new nutraceutical food products. In this context, the phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity of four Moroccan date varieties were analyzed. Our results indicate that the levels of total polyphenols, total flavonoids and total condensed tannins vary, respectively, from 91.86 to 364.35 mg GAE/100 g of dry weight (DW), 46.59 to 111.80 mg QE/100 g DW and 16.10 to 42.03 mg CE/100 g DW during the 2021 harvest season. Furthermore, during the 2022 harvest season, these contents vary, respectively, from 119.13 to 410.39 mg GAE/100 g DW, 59.30 to 110.85 mg QE/100 g DW and 21.93 to 53.95 mg CE/100 g DW. The results of the HPLC-UV-VIS analysis revealed that, in all four varieties, gallic acid was and remained one of the major compounds in the date extracts. In addition, a high antioxidant activity of date extracts was particularly observed in the three tests, namely ferric reducing power (FRAP), ferrous ion chelating capacity (FIC) and the phosphomolybdate test. This richness in phenolic compounds makes low-value dates a source of active ingredient that can replace the synthetic antioxidants used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Journal Article