Antioxidant Content Determination in Ripe Date Fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.): a Scoping Review

Algerian date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruit cultivars: HPLC fingerprinting and antibacterial activity

The abusive use of antibiotics causes the destruction of intestinal flora and the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Date palm is used in traditional medicine in the Saharan regions due to its biological properties. The study aimed to identify the phytochemical composition and assess the antibacterial activity of the methanolic extracts of three date cultivars from Algeria. Their total phenolic, flavonoid, and flavonol contents were measured spectrophotometrically. The phytochemical screening was conducted by HPLC fingerprinting using twenty-three pure phenolic compounds as standards. The antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacterial species was assessed using the disk diffusion method. The colorimetric methods showed that the total phenolic, flavonoid, and flavonol contents ranged from 2.13 ± 0.09 to 2.67 ± 0.02 mg GAE/100 g DW, 1.33 ± 0.21 to 1.55 ± 0.13 mg CEQ/100 g DW, and 0.41 ± 0.23 to 0.47 ± 0.05 mg REQ/100 g DW, respectively. HPLC fingerprinting showed that the extracts of date cultivars served as an excellent source of bioactive compounds (gallic acid, tannic acid, ferulic acid, vanillin, caffeine, quercetin, luteolin, rutin, aspegenin, isorhamnetin, and hesperidin). They also exhibited an antibacterial potential with an inhibition zone diameter ranging from 8.40 to 12.50 mm. The results clearly demonstrate the antibacterial potency of date palm fruits, which could be attributed to their considerable content of phenolic compounds such as gallic acid, rutin, quercetin, and luteolin.

Date Components as Promising Plant-Based Materials to Be Incorporated into Baked Goods—A Review

Date (Phoenix dactylifera L. Arecaceae) fruits and their by-products are rich in nutrients. The health benefits of dates and their incorporation into value-added products have been widely studied. The date-processing industry faces a significant sustainability challenge as more than 10% (w/w) of the production is discarded as waste or by-products. Currently, food scientists are focusing on bakery product fortification with functional food ingredients due to the high demand for nutritious food with more convenience. Utilizing date components in value-added bakery products is a trending research area with increasing attention. Studies where the researchers tried to improve the quality of bakery goods by incorporating date components have shown positive results, with several drawbacks that need attention and further research. The objective of this review is to present a comprehensive overview of the utilization of date components in bakery products and to identify gaps in the current knowledge. This review will help focus further research in the area of valorization of date by-products and thereby contribute to the generation of novel functional bakery products that meet consumer expectations and industry standards, thus generating income for the relevant industry and considerable alleviation of the environmental burden this waste and by-products contribute to. Only a few studies have been focused on utilizing date by-products and their extracts for baked goods, while a research area still remaining under-explored is the effect of incorporation of date components on the shelf life of bakery products.

Total phenolic content in ripe date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.): A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ripe date fruits contain phenolic compounds which possess a high antioxidant activity. The current review was carried out to evaluate total phenolic content in ripe date fruits. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was followed during the review process. Relevant studies published from inception up to March 2019 were retrieved from three databases. Study selection was performed based on specific inclusion criteria. A total of twenty-two articles were selected and included in the present review. Data collected from these studies were organized, pooled, and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Total phenolic content means and medians have been reported for the collected ripe date fruit samples for each included study and pooled data. The results suggested that ripe date fruits contain a potent total phenolic content that can contribute mainly to their antioxidant properties.