Introduction

Human nutritional research and medical advisers are continually showing that a well-balanced diet (rich in fruit and vegetables) promotes good health and may reduce the risk of certain diseases. Consumption of fruits is part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and consumer’s trend has shifted toward procuring foods that are nutritious and promote good healthy life.

Date Palm

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a fruit that belongs to the family of Palmae (Arecaceae). The Date Palm is a palm extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. The fruits of the date palm are sweet with a sugar content of more than 50 % which make it more suitable for human's consumption.

Because of the attributes such as; high nutritional value, great yields and its long life, the date palm has been mentioned by researchers as the “tree of life”. The appearance and quality of the fruit such as color, size and shape, physical condition and absence of defects, mouth feel or texture, flavor, and nutritional value are the main reasons why consumers prefer the fruit. Pulps prepared from date palm have easily digestible sugars (70 %) (mostly glucose, sucrose and fructose), dietary fibers, vitamins and enclose less proteins and fats. They also enclose vitamins like riboflavin, biotin, thiamine, ascorbic and folic acid that are essential for the body. The pulps of the fruit are rich in calcium, iron, copper, cobalt, magnesium, fluorine, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, copper, sodium, boron, sulfur, zinc and selenium (Al Farsi & Lee, 2008).

Uses of Date Palm

Dates are normally delicious as a fresh fruit. Beside direct consumption of the whole dates the fruits are usually used to prepare a wide range of different products such as;

• Date juice concentrates (spread, syrup and liquid sugar),
• Fermented date products (wine, alcohol, vinegar, organic acids), and
• Date pastes for different uses (e.g. bakery and confectionary).
  Also the by-products arising from date processing can be used for different purposes (Augstburger et al., 2002).

Significance of Date Palm in Religion

Date palm has found a place of existence on the two major religious believes; Christianity and Islam. The Hebrew word for date palm is “Tamar”, which was used to describe a beautiful woman in The Holy Bible (2 Sam 13:1 and Gen 38:6) and was regarded as Jewish symbol of grace and elegance. After the spread of Christianity, in the New Testament date palm was used on Palm Sunday as a remarkable symbol for the coming of the saviour (John 12:13 and Revelation 7:9)

Higher priority was accorded to date palm in the Islamic religion. tn the Muslim’s Holy book “Al-Qur’an (The Koran).”, the nutritional significance and health benefits of date palm is well spelt out. Date palm is mention in 20 verses of 17 Surahs (Chapters) in The Holy Qur’an. In Qur’an, 55:68, it was referred to as one of the blessing of paradise. Date palm was recommended for Maryam (mother of Prophet Jesus) for easy birth and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has urged Muslims to eat dates because it can cure many diseases or disorders.

Medicinal value of date fruit

In addition to the importance or usefulness of date palm as an ideal high-energy food, in the folklore, the dates are believed to have many medicinal properties such as to provide strength, fitness, and relief against a number of ailments and pains including fever, stomach disorders, memory disturbances, nervous disorders, as well as aphrodisiac and to boost the immunity.

1. Antioxidant
   Dates has been proven by allaith, 2008 to contain antioxidant properties, that is, they act against oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Due to the antioxidant properties of dates, it has been considered to protect against many chronic diseases including cancer and heart diseases which are common diseases among people in our present community. Aqueous extracts of dates have also been shown to inhibit the lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation as well as exhibit a potent superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity which are detriment to human’s health (allaith, 2008). The date extract have also been shown to reduce the oxidative stress by normalizing the increased hepatic levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and by increasing the hepatic glutathione levels (Mohammed et al., 2008).

2. Aanti-inflammatory properties
   Methanolic and aqueous extracts of date flesh and seeds have also been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties and suppressed the swelling in the foot and adjuvant arthritis (Mohammed and Al-Okbi, 2004).

3. Neutralizer of harmful substance
   It is a common belief in the Middle East that the consumption of dates, particularly in the morning on an empty stomach, can reverse the actions of any toxic material that the subject may have been exposed to (Vyawahare et al., 2009).
   Date extracts and products can also be used prophylactically as a dynamic liver support and can counteract the alcohol intoxication. A number of herbal formulations are available in the markets, which have been shown to reduce or prevent the alcohol-induced hangover symptoms in human volunteers as well as protection against liver disorders in acute and chronic alcoholics (Thornfeldt et al., 2006).

4. Helps in fighting emotional treat
   It is also believed that consuming seven dates daily can protect the children from anxiety and nervous disorders.

5. Dates as remedy for eye blindness
   The daily consumption of dates with meals and its decoction as eye-lotion is considered to help in the maintenance of eye hygiene and a remedy for night blindness and ophthalmic disorders.

6. It helps in treatment of diabetic patients
   Dates have been shown to have low-to-medium glycemic index values (Ali et al., 2009) and therefore can have some beneficial effect in the glycemic and lipid control of diabetic patients (Miller et al., 2003). In folklore traditional medicine, the date seed powder is considered to be the best medicine for diabetic patients.

Thus, eating of this fruit is very medicinal and can be used in curing many harmful substance and chronic diseases such as type-2-diabectics, cardiovascular disorder, etc which are common to our society. The pulp from date can also be supplemented in food such as candy.

Reference

1. Al Farsi, M. A., & Lee, C. Y. (2008). Nutritional and functional properties of dates: a review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 48, 877–887.

2. Augstburger, F., Berger, J., Censkowsky, U., Heid, P., Milz, J., & Streit, C. (2002). Date Palm. Naturland. Germany.

3. Allaith, A.A.A. 2008. Antioxidant activity of Bahreini date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit of various cultivars. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 43(6): 1033–1040.

4. Mohammed, B.A., Nabil, A.H., and Hanan, A.H. 2008. Protective effects of extracts from dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and ascorbic acid on thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 7: 193–201.

5. Mohammed, D.A. and Al-Okbi, S.Y. 2004. In-vivo evaluation of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of different extracts of date fruits in adjuvant arthritis. Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Science 13: 397–402.

6. Vyawahare, N., Pujari, R., Khsirsagar, A., Ingawale, D., Partil, M., and Kagathara, V. 2009. Phoenix dactylifera: An update of its indigenous uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. Internet Journal of Pharmacology 7: 1.

7. Thornfeldt, C.R., Paster, E.K., and Inventors, D., Shaver and Nipper, LLP, US, Assignee. 2006. Treatment of Muco-Cutaneous Disorders through Reversing Chronic Inflammation and Barrier Disruption, US patent Al.

8. Ali, A. Yusra, M. Al-Kindi, and Al-Said, F. 2009. Chemical composition and glycemic index of 3 varieties of Omani dates. International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition 60(S4): 51–62.

9. Miller, C.J., Dunn, E.V., and Hashim, I.B. 2003. The glycemic index of dates and date/yoghurt mixed meals: Are date the candies that grow on plants? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 57: 427–430.