Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years. They are believed to have originated around Iraq, and have been cultivated since ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt, possibly as early as 4000 BCE. The Ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine, and ate them at harvest. There is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in eastern Arabia in 6000 BCE. (Alvarez-Mon 2006).
There is also archeological evidence of date cultivation in Mehrgarh around 7000 BCE, a Neolithic civilization in western Pakistan. Evidence of cultivation is continually found throughout later civilizations in the Indus Valley, including the Harappan period 2600 to 1900 BCE. (Kenoyer 2005).
In later times, traders spread dates around South West Asia, northern Africa, and Spain and Italy. Dates were introduced into Mexico and California by the Spaniards in 1765, around Mission San Ignacio.
A date palm cultivar, known as Judean date palm is renowned for its long-lived orthodox seed, which successfully sprouted after accidental storage for 2000 years. This particular seed is presently reputed to be the oldest viable seed but the upper survival time limit of properly stored seeds remains unknown.
The fruit is known as a date. The fruit's English name (through Old French), as well as the Latin species name dactylifera, both come from the Greek word for "finger," dáktulos, because of the fruit's elongated shape. Dates are oval-cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, and 2–3 cm diameter, and when ripe, range from bright red to bright yellow in colour, depending on variety. Dates contain a single stone about 2–2.5 cm long and 6–8 mm thick. Three main cultivar groups of date exist: soft (e.g. 'Barhee', 'Halawy', 'Khadrawy', 'Medjool'), semi-dry (e.g. 'Dayri', 'Deglet Noor', 'Zahdi'), and dry (e.g. 'Thoory'). The type of fruit depends on the glucose, fructose and sucrose content.
The date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They can be easily grown from seed, but only 50% of seedlings will be female and hence fruit bearing, and dates from seedling plants are often smaller and of poorer quality. Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Plants grown from cuttings will fruit 2–3 years earlier than seedling plants.
Dates are naturally wind pollinated but in both traditional oasis horticulture and in the modern commercial orchards they are entirely pollinated manually. Natural pollination occurs with about an equal number of male and female plants. However, with assistance, one male can pollinate up to 100 females. Since the males are of value only as pollinators, this allows the growers to use their resources for many more fruit producing female plants. Some growers do not even maintain any male plants as male flowers become available at local markets at pollination time. Manual pollination is done by skilled labourers on ladders. In some areas such as Iraq the pollinator climbs the tree using a special climbing tool that wraps around the tree trunk and the climber's back to keep him attached to the trunk while climbing. Less often the pollen may be blown onto the female flowers by a wind machine.
Parthenocarpic cultivars are available but the seedless fruit is smaller and of lower quality.
Dates ripen in four stages, which are known throughout the world by their Arabic names kimri (unripe), khlal (full-size, crunchy), rutab (ripe, soft), tamar (ripe, sun-dried).
Dates are an important traditional crop in Iraq, Arabia, and north Africa west to Morocco. Dates are also mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible and 20 times in the Qur'an. In Islamic culture, dates and yogurt or milk are traditionally the first foods consumed for Iftar after the sun has set during Ramadan. Dates (especially Medjool and Deglet Noor) are also cultivated in America in southern California, Arizona and southern Florida in the United States and in Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.
Date palms can take 4 to 8 years after planting before they will bear fruit, and produce viable yields for commercial harvest between 7 to 10 years. Mature date palms can produce 80–120 kilograms (176–264 lb) of dates per harvest season, although they do not all ripen at the same time so several harvests are required. In order to get fruit of marketable quality, the bunches of dates must be thinned and bagged or covered before ripening so that the remaining fruits grow larger and are protected from weather and pests such as birds.
Advantage of Date (Phoenix Dactylifera)
Date is termed to be a laxative food. This is the reason that dates are beneficial for people sufferingfrom constipation. For getting the laxative effect from dates, you need to soak dates for one full night in water. You should consume these soaked dates in the morning like syrup to get their actual advantages.
Intestinal Disorders: The nicotinic content that is present in the dates is said to be beneficial for curing any kinds of intestinal disorders. Continuous intake of dates helps to maintain a check on the growth of the pathological organisms and thus, helps in the rise of friendly bacteria in the intestines.
Weight Gain: Dates are said to be a part of healthy diet. They consist of sugar, fats, proteins as well as many essential vitamins. If the dates are consumed with the paste of cucumber, one can easily come out from the problem of over-slimming. One kilogram of dates contains almost 3,000 calories. These calories alone are sufficient to meet the daily requirements of a human body.
Healthy Heart: Dates are quite helpful in maintaining your heart in a healthy condition. When soaked for a night and crushed in the morning and consumed, they prove to be quite advantageous for weak hearts. They help in fortifying the heart, if taken twice in a week.
Sexual Weakness: Dates are even beneficial for increasing sexual stamina in the human body. A handful of dates, when soaked in fresh goat’s milk for the night and then grinded in the same milk with the mixture of cardamom powder and honey, becomes a very useful tonic for increasing sex endurance and sterility caused due to functional disorders.
Diarrhea: Ripe dates contain potassium. Potassium is beneficial for controlling diarrhea. They are easily digestible, which helps to cope up with the problems of diarrhea.
Intoxication: Dates are known as an excellent remedy for alcoholic intoxication. Dates provide quick relief in the case of alcoholic intoxication. They should be rubbed and soaked overnight for getting more nutritious values from them.
Abdominal Cancer: Dates are beneficial for curing abdominal cancer. They work as useful tonic for all age groups. They work as better as the medicines, and are natural and do not bear any side effects in the body. They can be easily digested and used for supplying extra and needed energy.
Although dates carry tremendous nutritional values, great care should be taken in their selection because they consists of sticky surface which attracts various impurities in them. Hence, you should consume only those dates that are processed and packed properly. Make sure to wash them thoroughly before consuming. This will help remove the impurities present in them.
Dates palm contain many health benefits for the human body includes the following :
Consuming 100 grams of date fruits can lower blood cholesterol levels by inhibiting the absorption of fat or cholesterol in the large intestine so that blood cholesterol levels decreased.
Healthy Eating Food
Potassium helps the heart in the palm to work on a regular basis, activates muscle contraction and helps regulate blood pressure, and this is very good for helping people with hypertension because of the contraction and relaxation of blood vessels with a good work that is not easily broken.
Glucose as a type of simple sugar found in the body, and fructose sugars found in most fruits and both sugars are not harmful to health because of the natural processed in the body, and fructose is easily digested and processed in the body to produce energy.
Vitamin A and Niacin assist in forming and maintaining the skin to stay healthy
Riboflavin and Niacin helps process food into energy needed to perform various activities
High tannin that content of dates works medicinally as cleaning agents in the body.
Thiamine in date fruit helps release energy from carbohydrates and also important for nerve cells, while niacin maintain normal nerve function.
Potuchin in dates fruit make contractions in blood vessels in the uterus and muscles of the uterus, thus preventing bleeding if given to women who had given birth.
Salicylate in date fruits serve to reduce and relieve pain or fever, as well as anti-inflammatory and anti pain and prevent blood clotting.
Consume dates fruit on a regular basis e.g. a few date fruit every day can calm nerve cells through its influence on thyroid psychological condition that makes someone a better.
Disadvantage of Date (Phoenix Dactylifera) Dried
Gastrointestinal ProblemsDried fruits are high in fiber. You need fiber in your diet to improve regularity and promote bowel health, but too much fiber bothers your gut, especially if you do not normally consume high-fiber foods. Dried fruits may cause you to have gas, abdominal cramping, bloating, constipation or possibly diarrhea. Avoid these negative effects by keeping your dried fruit intake to a small amount each day or split your portion into two separate servings. If you need to boost your fiber intake, slowly increase it over a period of several weeks. Have an extra one or two pieces of dried fruit every couple of days, as tolerated, until you are able to eat a full serving without having gastrointestinal upset.
Weight Gain
The small portion size of dried fruit makes it easy to overdo it. It takes an excess of 3,500 calories in your diet to gain 1 pound, explains MayoClinic.com. Consuming an extra 250 calories per day from dried fruit could contribute to as much as 2 pounds of weight gain in a one-month time frame. Portion your serving of dried fruit before you start eating to minimize your caloric intake. Single servings include eight apricot halves, three dates, 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries or blueberries, 1 1/2 dried figs or three prunes. Each of these servings provides about 60 calories.
The small portion size of dried fruit makes it easy to overdo it. It takes an excess of 3,500 calories in your diet to gain 1 pound, explains MayoClinic.com. Consuming an extra 250 calories per day from dried fruit could contribute to as much as 2 pounds of weight gain in a one-month time frame. Portion your serving of dried fruit before you start eating to minimize your caloric intake. Single servings include eight apricot halves, three dates, 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries or blueberries, 1 1/2 dried figs or three prunes. Each of these servings provides about 60 calories.
Tooth Decay
Dried fruits have natural sugar in the form of fructose, which is fruit sugar. Some types of dried fruits are coated in additional sugar to keep moisture levels to a minimum and to prevent the dried fruit from sticking to each other. Sugar is one of the main contributors to tooth decay. Sticky foods, such as dried fruits, are especially harmful because they stick to your teeth, forcing the sugar to stay on the teeth for a longer period of time. Minimize your risk of tooth decay by drinking water while snacking on dried fruit. Brush and floss your teeth as soon as possible after eating to remove the sugar from the surface of your teeth.
Dried fruits have natural sugar in the form of fructose, which is fruit sugar. Some types of dried fruits are coated in additional sugar to keep moisture levels to a minimum and to prevent the dried fruit from sticking to each other. Sugar is one of the main contributors to tooth decay. Sticky foods, such as dried fruits, are especially harmful because they stick to your teeth, forcing the sugar to stay on the teeth for a longer period of time. Minimize your risk of tooth decay by drinking water while snacking on dried fruit. Brush and floss your teeth as soon as possible after eating to remove the sugar from the surface of your teeth.
Sugar Crash
Some dried fruits, especially sugar-coated varieties, are high on the glycemic index. The scale rates foods from 1 to 100. Foods with a high glycemic index rating cause your blood sugar to surge, making you feel quickly energized. Unfortunately, once you hit the energy peak, your blood sugar quickly drops and you may experience a sugar crash, or sudden fatigue. Raisins are somewhat high on the glycemic index scale, having a rating of 64, according to Harvard Medical School. Dates are right in the middle of the glycemic index. Prunes are one of the few dried fruits that have a low glycemic index rating.
Some dried fruits, especially sugar-coated varieties, are high on the glycemic index. The scale rates foods from 1 to 100. Foods with a high glycemic index rating cause your blood sugar to surge, making you feel quickly energized. Unfortunately, once you hit the energy peak, your blood sugar quickly drops and you may experience a sugar crash, or sudden fatigue. Raisins are somewhat high on the glycemic index scale, having a rating of 64, according to Harvard Medical School. Dates are right in the middle of the glycemic index. Prunes are one of the few dried fruits that have a low glycemic index rating.
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