Potential of date seeds as a functional food components

Cold-Pressed Okra Seed Oil Byproduct as an Ingredient for Muffins to Decrease Glycemic Index, Maillard Reaction, and Oxidation

This study aimed to investigate the effects of adding cold-pressed okra seed oil byproduct (OSB) to the muffin formulation, as a partial substitute for wheat flour, on the nutritional, physicochemical, rheological, textural, and sensory properties of muffins. The carbohydrate, protein, oil, moisture, and ash contents of OSB were 44.96, 32.34, 10.21, 7.51, and, 4.98%, respectively, indicating that OSB was rich in protein and carbohydrate. All muffin samples showed a shear thinning behavior, indicating that the viscosity of all samples decreased with increasing shear rate. The frequency sweep test showed that all samples showed viscoelastic solid-like structure [G' (storage modulus)> G″ (loss modulus)]. The K' values (between 66.45 and 139.14) were higher than the K″ values (between 36.62 and 80.42) for all samples. The result was another indication of the viscoelastic solid characteristic of the samples. In our study, it was found that the fluorescence of advanced Maillard products and soluble tryptophan index decreased with increasing amount of OSB, indicating that OSB addition led to a decrease in the amount of fluorescent Maillard reaction (MR) products. The fortified muffins with more than 10% OSB had a reduced estimated glycemic index (GI) significantly in comparison with control muffin samples (p < 0.05). The induction period (IP) values of the muffin samples containing OSB (between 11:57 and 15:15 h/min) were higher than the IP value of the control sample (10:50 h/min), indicating that OSB improved the oxidative stability of the muffin samples. The addition of OSB has shown no negative effect on sensory attributes considering texture, mouth fell, odor, and taste. This study suggested that the addition of OSB in muffins could improve rheological properties and oxidative stability and decrease GI and the amount of MR products without negative impact on sensory properties.

Date (Phoenix dactylifera L. cv. Medjool) Seed Flour, a Potential Ingredient for the Food Industry: Effect of Particle Size on Its Chemical, Technological, and Functional Properties

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of particle size on the chemical composition, fatty acid and polyphenol profile, physicochemical and techno-functional properties, and antioxidant capacity of flour obtained from date seeds. The date seed flours obtained had a high content of total dietary fiber (67.89-76.67 g/100 g), and the reduction in particle size decreased the moisture and protein contents, while the fat, mineral (Ca, Fe, Zn, and Mg), and fatty acid contents were significantly increased, with oleic acid being the highest. Water activity increased with decreasing particle size, and the finest flour (<210 mm) tended to be yellowish and reddish. The water- and oil-holding capacities decreased in the flours with the smallest particle size compared to the largest sizes. The main polyphenolic compounds in all the samples were catechin, epicatechin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. The antioxidant activity significantly improved with reductions in the particle size of the date seed flour, with the ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP values ranging between 8.99 and 20.68, 0.66 and 2.35, and 1.94 and 4.91 mg Trolox equivalent/g of date seed flour. The results of the present study suggest that the flour obtained from date seeds cv. Medjool can be a valuable co-product for the food industry due to its fiber content, essential fatty acids, and bioactive compounds that can help reduce the amount of waste generated, promoting the circular economy in the food chain.

Applications of date pits in foods to enhance their functionality and quality: A review

Summary of the abstract

Use of Endemic Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Seeds as an Insoluble Dietary Fiber: Effect on Turkey Meat Quality

In order to enhance the quality of a meat product, turkey burgers with a low-fat and a high-fiber level were formulated by the incorporation of insoluble fibers from Tunisian Deglet Nour date seeds as insoluble fiber concentrate (IFC) at 3%, 5%, and 10% (w/w). Compared to Deglet Nour date seeds powder (DSP), physicochemical results revealed that IFC presented higher ( $P$  < 0.05) levels in carbohydrates at 88.85% and lower values of fat (5.94%), protein (3.81%), and ash (2.35%). For the technofunctional properties, IFC improved the oil-holding capacity (OHC) by 57.14% compared to DSP. IFC addition into turkey burgers was also instrumentally investigated by color (L ${}^{\ast }$ , a ${}^{\ast }$ , and b ${}^{\ast }$ ) and textural parameters (hardness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, and elasticity) and sensory attributes using a 5-point hedonic scale. Furthermore, IFC changed significantly the color of the formulated products. In addition, hardness and adhesiveness values of all experiments increased significantly ( $P$  < 0.05) with the increase of the incorporation levels compared to the control sample. Regarding sensory analysis, formulated with 5 % IFC, turkey burger samples were most appreciated by the panel with higher ( $P$  < 0.05) overall acceptability. Additionally, two multivariate exploratory techniques, namely, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), were used to all obtained data describing the main characteristics attributed to refrigerated turkey meat samples. The applied chemometric approaches were useful in discriminating meat samples and therefore offer an approach to rely interrelationships between meat quality traits. Overall, the findings demonstrate the potential functional and economic utility of IFC as a promising ingredient for future healthy meat applications.