Dates - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 188

and texture analysis was reported by Al-Janobi (1993). In
a further work, Al-Janobi (1998) applied a line-scan-based
vision for inspecting fast moving date fruits, where it is
capable of determining the color/quality of the fruits. The
classification accuracies were 98.4% and 77% for color
and monochrome models, respectively. A computer vision
system based on color threshold technique for grading Sifri
variety of date fruits was developed by Al-Janobi (2000).
Fadel et al. (2001) carried out a study for date fruits to
find out the color properties of different cultivars. They have
used (red, green, blue) color space to measure the color vari-
ation. Their work shows that color luminosity and red, green
and blue color space can be used to find out color properties
of different dates varieties. Fruit size and skin delamination
are the two important quality factors for the date indus-
try. Lee et al. (2008) developed a machine vision system
for automatic date quality evaluation for commercial pro-
duction using reflective near-infrared imaging to evaluate
date quality by analyzing two-dimensional images. Rela-
tive to manual grading, the operational system results in
improved grading accuracy and a substantial reduction in
operating costs.

phenolics content and antioxidant activity (Al-Farsi et al.,
2007; Al-Turki et al., 2010b). The antioxidant properties of
date fruits vary depending on their content of phenolic com-
ponents and vitamins C and E, carotenoids, and flavonoids
(Mansouri et al., 2005; Al-Farsi et al., 2007). Sun-dried
dates grown in Oman, namely, 'Fard,' 'Khasab,' and
'Khalas,' were found to be a good source of antioxidant
constituents, including selenium (0.356 to 0.528 mg/100 g),
total antioxidants (8212-12543 μ M of Trolox equiv/g),
carotenoids (0.92-2.91 mg/100 g), and phenolics (217-
343 mg of ferulic acid equiv/100 g). These results suggest
that all date varieties serve as a good source of natural
antioxidants and could potentially be considered as a func-
tional food or functional food ingredient (Al-Farsi et al.,
2007). Many of these antioxidants are the same or similar
to those contained in fruits and vegetables, but some are
unique. Structural diversity of antioxidant compounds may
increase the likelihood of protection in complex biological
systems.

Medicinal uses of dates
Researchers found that the consumption of dates might be
of benefit in glycemic and lipid control of diabetic patients
(Miller et al., 2003) and reduces blood pressure by relax-
ing arterial constriction by increase in circulatory arterial
blood flow and was also found to reduce heart diseases
(Skidmore-Roth, 2001). A number of other health ben-
efits of dates consumption are reported in the literature,
for example, anticancer activity (Sun et al., 2002), effect
on immune response (Pur, 2000; Al-Chramawindi, 2007),
antiulcer activity (Al-Qarawi and Badr-El-Dain, 2005), an-
timicrobial activity (Sabah and Mazen, 2007), antihyper-
lipidemic activity (Al-Maiman, 2005; Rock et al., 2009),
and positive effect on the reproductive system (Ali et al.,
1999; Bahmanpour et al., 2006).

NUTRITIONAL PROFILE AND HEALTH
BENEFITS OF DATES

Nutritional composition and antioxidants
Dates are composed of 10-22% moisture, 62-75% mainly
inverted sugars, 2.2-2.7% proteins, 0.4-0.7% fat, 3.5-4.2%
ash, 0.06-0.20% total acidity, and 30.0 to 50.0 mg/100 g
ascorbic acid on a dry weight basis (FAO, 1992; Lieb-
ster and Levin, 1999; Myhara et al., 1999; Baraem et al.,
2006). Total dietary fiber content fluctuates from 6.26 to
8.44 g/100 g, of which 84-94% is insoluble fiber. Owing
to the high carbohydrate content, the energy is 278-301
kcal/100 g of fresh weight basis (Al-Farsi et al., 2007). The
potassium content of dates is 25% higher than that of ba-
nanas, while it is low in less unfavorable components like
fats, cholesterol, and sodium.
Phytochemicals from fruits have been shown to possess
significant antioxidant capacities that may be associated
with lower incidence and lower mortality rates of degener-
ative disease in human (Javanmardi et al., 2003). Date fruits
were found to be a good source of antioxidant components.
Studies conducted on antioxidant activity and phenolic con-
tent of various fruits of dates demonstrated a linear rela-
tionship between antioxidant activity and the total phenolic
content of date fruit extract (Alliath and Abdalla, 2005).
Fruits of different date palm cultivars have different total

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Special thanks to Mrs. Al-Sarra Nasreen for her assistance
in preparation of this manuscript.

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Abdel-Latif SA. 1988. The physiology of ripening of date
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summary). MSc thesis, Baghdad University, Iraq.