ABSTRACT
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is the main fruit crop in arid and semiarid regions, particularly in the arid regions of western Asia and North Africa. The palm tree is well adapted to desert environments that are characterized by extreme temperatures and water shortage, both in quality and quantity, due to scarcity of rainfall. Beyond the arid climates, date palm can also be grown in many other countries for food or as an ornamental plant including the continents of Americas, southern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The majority of date palm-growing areas are located in developing or underdeveloped countries where dates are considered the primary food crop, thus playing a major role in the nutritional status of these communities. By-products from date palm are used in building structures, animal feed, and also in several items such as baskets and ropes. The date palm tree that has been in cultivation since 2400 BC was praised and cherished as is evident from the drawings and sculptures of ancient civilizations of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians, and later by the Greeks and the Romans that inhabited the Mediterranean basin where date palm and other Phoenix species are also commonly grown (Pruessner 1920). Date palm still carries great religious signiŸcance in all three major religions of the world. In Islam, date palm is cited 21 times in the Holy Quran and 300 times in the Hadith of the Prophet Mohammed, making it by far the most frequently cited plant. Similarly, date palm is praised in Christian and Judaism faiths and has been linked to numerous religious ceremonies such as Passover and Palm Sunday (Musselman 2007).
