Description of Phoenix Dactylifera - Research Paper Example

(phoenix dactylifera L) Introduction The palm (Phoenix dactylifera L comes from the Palmaceae family. The tree of palm grows as tall as 23 meters with its stem marked strongly by pruned bases of old lead. The tree ends in a crown of pinnate leaves that are almost 5 meters in length. Separate trees of date palms bear male and female flowers. Artificial pollination of the female flowers occurs under cultivation. Each date consists of a seed that is usually oblong in shape, though the shapes of dates as well as their seeds vary depending upon the type of date. Other factors that vary from one type to another include the color, size, taste, texture, and quality of the date palm. A single bunch of date palms that weighs about 8 kg may contain as many as 1000 dates. “The dried fruit is more than 50% sugar by weight and contains about 2% each of protein, fat and mineral water” (online-family-doctor.com, n.d.). Date palm belongs to the Phoenix dactylifera tree in the palm family. The mt genome of P. dactylifera shows a variety of unique traits as it happens to be the first of the family plants of palm. It not only positions at the known monocot mt genomes’ roots, but also has a significantly low repeat content level while it exhibits the RNA editing events in abundance. Date palm shows “a high level of chloroplast sequence insertions as compared to other known angiosperm mt genomes” (Fang et al., 2012, p. 9). Origin of the Date Palm There is no objective record of the exact location where and time when the date palm originated as this information is believed to have been lost in antiquity, yet there are many records that suggest the cultivation of date palm in 4000 B.C. as the date palm was employed in the construction of the moon god’s temple in the Southern Iraq, Mesopotamia. Another proof of the antiquity of this fruit is the Nile Valley in Egypt where the date palm was adopted to symbolize a year in the Egyptian hieroglyphics whereas the frond of the date palm was used as a month’s symbol. “[This information] is confirmed by history, and corroborated by the archaeological research into ancient historical remains of the Sumerians, Akadians and Babylonians…Houses of these very ancient people were roofed with palm tree trunks and fronds. The uses of date for medicinal purposes, in addition to its food value, were also documented” (Zaid and Wet, n.d.). Date palms are believed to originate in Babel, Iraq, though there are also evidences of its origination in Harqan, and Dareen. Production of the Date Palm Date is one of the most nutritious and delicious fruits that have been known to mankind since ancient times. Dates are cultivated in tropical areas. Date trees are in abundance in all Arab countries in general and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabic (KSA) in particular. “The Kingdom produces nearly a million tons of dates annually from an estimated 21 million date palms” (Al-Abdoulhadi et al., 2011, p. 1542). Date palm has a lot of economic significance. The importance of date palms in the KSA can be estimated from the fact that almost 72 per cent of the country’s area is covered by the permanent crops of dates. “With an estimated 23 million date palm trees is 162,000 ha, the Kingdom produces one million of tons annually” (Al-Abdoulhadi et al., 2011, p. 1542). It is cultivate on a large scale in North Africa as well as the Middle East. There are roughly 400 cultivars of the date palm (Al-Qurainy et al., 2011, p. 6871). Lack of a distinct molecular signature for the particular cultivars of dates poses problems in their assessment under farming and trading. “[T]he extreme limits of date palm distribution are between 10°N (Somalia) and 39°N (Elche/Spain or Turkmenistan). Favourable areas are located between 24° and 34°N (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, etc.). In USA, date palm is found between 33° and 35°N” (Zaid and Wet, n.d.). Varieties of the Date Palm There are many different varieties of dates that vary in size, color, taste, and texture, each having its own unique benefits. The different types of dates include but are not limited to Ruthana, Khodry, Sefri, Ajwa, Khalas, Hilali, Segae, and Sukkari. The high diversity in the date palm can be attributed to the existence of a vast population of cultivates spread in a variety of habitats in the KSA. “A variety of morphological characters of date fruits (viz., shape, size, weight, color, aspects of fruit skin, consistency, texture, etc.) and biochemical markers like isozymes and proteins [in numerous studies] have earlier been employed for the identification of date fruits, however, these traits are greatly influenced by environmental factors as well as the developmental stages of the plant” (Al-Qurainy et al., 2011, p. 6872). Nutritional Value of the Date Palm Date is extremely rich in taste and nutritional value. Date has a lot of fiber because of which one or two dates may be consumed in place of a meal because the nutritional value is the same. “The most important carbohydrates occurring in large amounts in its fruit are fructose and glucose, which are a source of rapid energy for the human body. The quality of dates depends on the amount of dietary fibers they contain, as well as on the presence of essential minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, selenium and manganese” (Al-Qurainy et al., 2011, p. 6872). The content of phenolic acid in the fresh dates is different from that in the dried dates. In addition to containing immense nutritional value, dates are very rich in the content of phenolic compounds that exhibit antioxidant activity. A lot of studies have found the biological activity of the extracts of dates since this fruit is a strong antioxidant and also exhibits the antimutagenic functions. Owing to their variety of components of nutritional function, dates play a very important role in the health and nutrition. Dates are a very good source of antioxidant nutrients that include carotenoids, selenium, and phenolics. Dates produce immediate energy since they are rich in carbohydrates, glucose, and fructose. Human body quickly absorbs these sugars when the dates are consumed. Date palm is a mild laxative and a nutritious tonic. This fruit contains a whole range of vitamins and minerals that include vitamin A, vitamin B, iron, phosphorus, alkaloids, potassium, and calcium. When infused with milk, date palm serves as a restorative tonic because of which, date palm with milk is recommended to the patients suffering from small-pox and fevers. The syrup made from date palm is also recommended to the patients of marasmus, diarrhoea, and diabetes insipidus. In addition to that, date palm is also recommended to the women who are in the post-partum period because its nutrients, vitamins, and minerals facilitate lactation. Date palm provides an effective solution to such conditions as asthma, cold, chest complaints, laryngitis, liver problems, and dysentery. Date palm mixed in milk makes a very energizing tonic especially at the start of the day during the winter season. Uses of the Date Palm Date is used in making many different kinds of desserts. They taste wonderful with biscuits. Dates with crushed biscuits and a little bit of margarine make an exotic sweet-dish that forms part of the Asian and the Arabic cuisine. Many people deseed the dates and fill almonds or cream in them because the combination of dates with dry fruits and cream is marvelous. Date palm is used in baking because it lends a wonderful taste to such bakery items as sweets, confectionary, snacks, and cakes. In addition to being used as an ingredient in desserts, dates are also used for making several other kinds of eatables, and sauces. For example, large quantity of blanching water obtained from the processing of dates is used to reconstitute the skimmed milk powder from which low fat yogurt is made. “Confitera blanching water is considered a good source of natural antioxidants and organic acids, and has a promising future as a functional ingredient, whereas Medjoul blanching water had a high content of sugars” (Trigueros et al., 2012, p. 506). Dates are eaten in a variety of ways including fresh, processed, and dried. There is a whole range of products that are made from dates that include but are not limited to date sugar, date vinegar, date honey, and date wine. Some of the commonly commercialized products made from date include the date syrup, date cake, and date juice. The sap of date palm is utilized as a beverage both in the fresh and the fermented form. Sap is derived from the date palm growing only on the trees which bear little fruit as the extraction method injures the date palm. The terminal bud of the date palm is tender and is consumed as a salad when the date palm is cut. Date is consumed as a fruit both in desserts and in salads. References: Al-Abdoulhadi, I. A., Dinar, H. A., Ebert, G., and Buttner, C. (2011). Effect of salinity on leaf growth, leaf injury and biomass production in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars. Indian Journal of Science and Technology. 4(11): 1542-1546. Al-Qurainy, F., Khan, S., Al-Hemaid, F. M., Ali, M. A., Tarroum, M., and Ashraf, M. (2011). Assessing Molecular Signature for Some Potential Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Cultivars from Saudi Arabia, Based on Chloroplast DNA Sequences rpoB and psbA- trnH. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 12: 6871-6880. online-family-doctor.com. (n.d.). Dates. Retrieved from http://www.online-family- doctor.com/fruits/dates.html. Fang, Y., Wu, H., Zhang, T., Yang, M., Yin, Y. et al. (2012) A Complete Sequence and Transcriptomic Analyses of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Mitochondrial Genome. PLoS ONE. 7(5): e37164. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037164. Trigueros, L., Sayas-Barbera, E., Pérez-Álvarez, A., and Sendra, E. (2012). Use of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) blanching water for reconstituting milk powder: Yogurt manufacture. Food and Bioproducts Processing. 90: 506-514. Zaid, A., and Wet, P. F. (n.d.). Origin of date palm. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/Y4360E/y4360e06.htm. Read More