ABSTRACT
The fruits of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) are one of the important agricultural commodities in North-African countries, the Middle East, and Asia. The fruit of date palm has served as a staple nutritious food and source of wealth for many years (Khan et al., 2008). In addition to their use as a dietary supplement, dates are of commercial importance and sold worldwide as a commodity or processed into various products (Omezzine et al., 1997). Dates are produced in 35 countries worldwide and cultivated on about 2.9 million acres of land. The world production of dates has increased considerably during the last 30 years, from ~2,289,511 tonnes in 1974 to ~6.9 million tonnes in 2004 (FAOSTAT, 2007). Edible dates pass through four distinct stages of ripening termed in Arabic-Kimri, Khalal, Rutab, and Tamr-and they represent, respectively, the immature green, the mature full colored, the soft brown, and the hard raisin-like stages of development (Ahmed et al., 1995). Following harvesting, dates at Tamr stage are dried typically by air or solar methods to different levels of moisture content for preservation.
