THE DATE PALM

ate palm, Phoenix dactylifera L., is one of the oldest fruit trees in the world and is mentioned in the Quran and Bible. The number of the

date palms is about 100 million worldwide, of which 62 million palms can be found in the Arab world. The Date Palm is a palm extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. Due to its long history of cultivation for fruit, its exact native distribution is unknown, but probably originated somewhere in the desert oases of northern Africa, and perhaps also southwest Asia. On a commercial scale, the Middle East and North Africa are the major date palm producing areas in the world. Most of the dozen or more species of the genus Phoenix (family Palmae) are grown as ornamental palms indoors or out. Only the common date, P. dactylifera L., is cultivated for its fruit. Description The date palm is a perennial, the females of which normally begin to bear dates within an average five of years from the time of planting of the offshoot. The date palm reaches an age of about 150 years. It is a medium-sized tree, 15-25 m tall, often clumped with several trunks from a single root system, but also often growing singly.

The leaves are pinnate, 3-5 m long, with spines on the petiole and about 150 leaflets; the leaflets are 30 cm long and 2 cm broad. The full span of the crown ranges from 610 m. One large inflorescence may embrace 6,000 to 10,000 flowers. Small fragrant flowers (the female whitish, the male waxy and cream colored), are borne on a branched spadix. The fruit is oblong, 2.5-7.5 cm long, dark-brown, reddish, or yellowish-brown when ripe with thin or thick skin, sweet flesh (astringent until fully ripe) and a single, cylindrical, slender, very hard stone grooved down one side. Varieties Date varieties have been developed by thousands of years of selection of seedlings and only those possessing desirable characteristics have been propagated. Date palm counts for more than 3,000 varieties all around the world. There are about 400 in Iran, 370 in Iraq, 250 in Tunisia, 244 in Morocco, as well as many additional varieties in the other major date growing countries. The following, with brief comments, are the dates most commonly grown: 'Barhi' fruit is cylindrical, light amber to dark brown when ripe; soft, with thick flesh and rich flavor of superb quality. 'Dayri' (the "Monastery Date") fruits are long, slender, nearly black, soft. Palm requires special care. 'Deglet Noor'It is semi-dry, not very sweet; keeps well and much used for cooking. The palm is high yielding but not very tolerant of rain and atmospheric humidity. 'Halawy' ('Halawi') fruit is soft, extremely sweet, small to medium, may shrivel during ripening unless the palm is well-watered. It is especially tolerant of humidity. 'Hayany' ('Hayani') The fruit is dark-red to nearly black, soft. The palm is one of the most cold-tolerant. 'Khadrawy' ('Khadrawi') important in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and it is a soft date of the highest quality. It is early-ripening; does not keep too well. It is fairly tolerant of rain and humidity. 'Saidy' ('Saidi') fruit is soft, very sweet; palm is a heavy bearer and needs a very hot climate. 'Sayer' ('Sayir')the most widely grown cultivar, dark orange-brown, of medium size, soft, syrupy and the palm is one of the most tolerant of salt and other adverse factors.

Climate The date palm must have full sun. It is a plant sensitive to the cold, it thrives on any kinds of soil, provided that they are fertile and well drained; in mild climate regions, it is grown outdoors where it must be exposed to the sun; it is grown chiefly as an ornamental plant on account of its slender habit and foliage. In order for its fruits to come to a complete maturity, rather high temperatures (40C) and copious water amounts, these being sometimes provided by means of irrigation in production palms, are required. Soil The date thrives in sand, sandy loam, clay and other heavy soils. It needs good drainage and aeration. It is remarkably tolerant of alkali. A moderate degree of salinity is not harmful but excessive salt will stunt growth and lower the quality of the fruit. Propagation There are three techniques to propagate date palm, offshoot propagation, seed propagation and the recently developed tissue culture techniques. 1. Offshoot propagation The propagation suckers, usually or best is and by common means of the are in seasoning on the transplanting 34 kg. They

offshoots from

when they are 3 to 5 the parent palm and maintained after just a lying formed, though most

years old and weigh 18separated also some offshoots are nurseries until roots are are set directly in the field period of 10 to 15 days

ground, in order to lose 12 to 15% of their moisture. In general, it is said that at least 2 offshoots can be taken from each palm annually for a period of 10 to 15 years.

To promote easy rooting, the base of the offshoot should be in contact with moist soil for at least twelve months before removal. Production of high offshoots is primarily of a varietal character but also related to climate. 2. Seed propagation Seed propagation is the easiest and quickest method of propagation, also called sexual propagation. However, it is not a true to type propagation technique and no two seedlings will be alike. Because of its diversity, the seed approach could only be useful for breeding purposes. Date palm is a dioecious species and consequently half of the progeny will be males and half will be females, with no certain way to determine at an early stage the sex of the progeny, or fruit or pollen quality prior to flowering (often only seven years later). 3. Tissue culture propagation Tissue culture is also called in vitro propagation. The ex-plants are shoot tips, Buds, leaf, stem, inflorescence and root sections. This technique has many advantages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Large-scale multiplication. No seasonal effect because plants can be multiplied under controlled (laboratory and greenhouse) conditions. Propagation of healthy selected female cultivars, which are disease-and pestfree. Propagation of males having superior pollen. Economical, easy and fast exchange between countries. The best way for large-scale production.

Pollination Date pollen is abundant but is not airborne very far. It has become customary to plant one male palm for every 48 or 50 females to provide pollen for artificial pollination which is an ancient practice. Traditionally, a few strands of open male flowers are put upside-down in a female inflorescence while it is still upright, and a cord is bound

around the latter to keep the strands in place when the cluster enlarges and bends downward. However, the pollen can be dried and will keep for 6 months at room temperature. Pollen stored for one year at 8F (-13.33C) has given 58% fruit set. There are various techniques for applying stored pollen to the female flowers. It may be dusted on by a tractor-drawn, convertible pollen/pesticide machine, or applied with a cotton pad, or sprayed on with other device. Lack of pollination results in small, seedless fruits. Planting Planting may be done at any time of year, but most often takes place in spring or fall. The base is set vertically in the ground and the curving fronds will gradually assume an upright position, especially if the concave side is set to face south. Most plants will root in 2 months if the soil is kept constantly moist, while some may be delayed for a year or even several years before they show vigorous growth. Some growers expect a loss of 25% of the off shoots. The offshoots that survive may begin to bloom in 3 years and fruit a year later but a substantial crop is not possible before the 5th or 6th year. In 8 or 10 years, the date will attain full production and it will keep on for a century though productivity declines after 60 to 80 years and also the flowers will be too high to pollinate and the fruits too high to pick. The palm grows at the rate of 1 to 11/2 ft (30-45 cm) a year and can reach 20 ft in 15 to 20 years depending on the cultivar and soil and water conditions. The palms are pruned twice a year, dry fronds being removed in the fall and the leaf bases may be taken off in the spring in order that their fiber may be used as a substitute for coir.

Harvesting and Ripening Some high-quality dates are picked individually by hand, but most are harvested by cutting off the entire cluster. All fruits in a cluster and all clusters on a palm do not ripen at the same time. A number of pickings may have to be made over a period of several weeks. Fruit Kimri stage of Barhee variety The growth and development of date palm fruit involves several external and internal changes. These changes are often classified on the basis of change in colour and chemical composition of the fruit. Dates go through 4 stages of development: 1. Chimri, or Kimri, stage, the first 17 weeks after pollination: green, hard, bitter, 80% moisture, 50% sugars (glucose and fructose) by dry weight; 2). Khalal stage, the next 6 weeks: become full grown, still hard; color changes to yellow, orange or red, sugars increase, become largely sucrose 3. Rutab stage, the next 4 weeks: half-ripe; soften, turn light brown; some sucrose reverts to reducing sugar which gains prominence; 4). Tamar stage: ripe; the last 2 weeks; in soft dates, the sugar becomes mostly reducing sugar; semi-dry and dry dates will have nearly 50% each of sucrose and reducing sugars. Yield Ordinarily, in palms 5 to 8 years old, the first crop will be 8-10 kg per palm, at 13 years, 60-80 kg. Some improved cultivars, at high densities, have yielded over 100 kg per year. Keeping Quality Slightly under ripe 'Deglet Noor' dates will keep at 32F (0C) up to 10 months; fully mature, for 5 to 6 months. Freezing will extend the storage life for a much longer period. In India, sun-dried dates, buried in sand, have kept well for 1 1/2 years and then have been devoured by worms.

Nutritional value Dates are very nutritious, assimilative and energy producing. Date fruit is rich in nutrients, and due to its dietetic values it has always been held in high esteem by people. Food Value per 100 g of Edible Portion

Fresh, uncooked Dried Calories Moisture Protein Fat 142 31.9 -78.5 g 0.9- 2.6 g 0.6- 1.5 g 274- 293 7.0 -26.1 1.7 -3.9 g 0.1- 1.2 g 72.9 -77.6 g 2.0- 8.5 g 0.5 -2.7 g 59- 103 mg 63 -105 mg 3.0- 13.7 mg 648 mg 15.60 mg

Carbohydrates 36.6 g Fiber Ash Calcium Phosphorus Iron Potassium Vitamin A ( carotene) Thiamine Riboflavin Niacin Tryptophan Ascorbic Acid NA NA 4.4-6.9 mg NA 30 mg 2.6- 4.5 g 0.5- 2.8 g 34 mg 350 mg 6.0 mg NA 110-175 mg

0.03 -0.09 mg 0.10- 0.16 mg 1.4 -2.2 mg 10- 17 mg 0

Furthermore, the date palm is one of the greatest producers of food per hectare, and world date production is well over 3 million tons. The date fruit consists of 70 % carbohydrates (mostly sugars), making it one of the most nourishing natural foods available to man.

Date products Dates are especially delicious as a fresh fruit. When used in baking they provide superb taste to the final product. Dates are also used as a component in food preparations like sweets, snacks, confectionery, baking products, institutional feeding and health foods.

Home-made delicacies
Pastry, bakery, confectionery products, and beverages Sandwich spreads Party snacks, salads and appetizers

Dates

Semi-finished date products

Whole pitted dates Macerated chips Date paste and date paste mixtures Extruded date pieces and diced dates Dehydrated dates, date flour (dietetic baby foods) Breakfast foods (dates with other dried fruits, cereals, almonds and nuts)

Nuts

Ready for use date products Sweets and snacks (date nut roll) Chocolate-coated and stuffed dates (with nuts) Date jams, date butter or cream Date preserves and cardiments, caramel products Date desserts (with juice, ice-cream, whipped cream, etc.)

Rolls

Derived date fruit products Date juice and syrup

Liquid sugar (Saccharin as a low calorie sweetener for soft drinks), protein yeast and vinegar Fermentation products (wine, alcohol, organic acids, etc.).

Other Uses

Seeds: Date seeds have been soaked in water until soft and then fed to horses, cattle, camels, sheep and goats. Dried and ground up, they are now included in chicken feed. In addition, the seeds are burned to make charcoal for silversmiths and they are often strung in necklaces. The seed powder is an ingredient in a paste given to relieve ague. Leaves: Mature leaves are made into mats, screens, baskets, crates and fans. The processed leaflets, combined with ground up peanut shells and corn cobs, are used for making insulating board. The leaf petioles have been found to be a good source of cellulose pulp. Dried, they are used as walking sticks, brooms, fishing floats, and fuel. The midribs are made into baskets. The leaf sheaths have been prized for their scent. Fiber from the old leaf sheaths is used for various purposes including rope, coarse cloth and large hats.

Woven from date palm leaf

Fruit clusters: The stripped fruit clusters are used as brooms. Fruits:

A viscous, thick syrup made from the ripe fruits, is employed as a coating for leather bags and pipes to prevent leaking. Wood: Posts and rafters for huts are fashioned of the wood from the trunk of the date palm, though this wood is lighter than that of the coconut. It is soft in the center and not very durable. That of male trees and old, unproductive females is readily available and used for aqueducts, bridges and various kinds of construction. All left over parts of the trunk are burned for fuel. Medicinal Uses: The fruit, because of its tannin content, is used medicinally as a detersive and astringent in intestinal troubles. In the form of an infusion, decoction, syrup or paste, is administered as a treatment for sore throat, colds, bronchial catarrh. It is taken to relieve fever, cystitis, gonorrhea, edema, liver and abdominal troubles. And it is said to counteract alcohol intoxication. A gum that exudes from the wounded trunk is employed in India for treating diarrhea and genitor-urinary ailments. It is diuretic and demulcent. The roots are used against toothache. In conclusion, dates have many strong points such as nutritional value, laxative power, exoticism, originality and a source of energy.

C. Indu Rani, T.Kalaiselvi & V. Jegadeeswari Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India