Phoenix dactylifera: discoveries through the eyes of science

Abstract

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), one of the oldest cultivated plants found generally in the Arabia Peninsula for its nutritive fruit that played a vital role to the mankind over the centuries. In fact, the history of date palm fruit had been documented in Surah Maryam verse 25, “And shake towards yourself holding the trunk of the palm tree, fresh and ripe dates will fall upon you”, and the Holy Quran also gave prominence to the date palm fruit for its extraordinary values. Consumption of date palm fruit is prevalent among Muslims during the fasting month due to its rich source of carbohydrates and dietary fibers which are strictly required by human body to stay rejuvenate. Interestingly, intensive scientific researches on Phoenix dactylifera had revealed numerous novel chemical constituents and pharmacological properties that possess multiple beneficial effects, supporting its employment in order to treat a variety of ailments in various traditional systems of medicine. Through the advancement of science and technology nowadays, the fruits of date palm are extensively utilized in the food processing industries producing a wide range of value-added products, credit to its great importance in human nutrition. However, the generation of date palm fruit wastes in the date palm agro industry as well as date processing industries has lead to environmental problems, thus, creating fascinating prospects for future research and development, such as utilizing the wastes as animal feed for farm animals to improve the production of high quality and safer meat products for human consumption.