AIMS Agriculture and Food (Feb 2024)

Innovations in extractable compounds from date seeds: Farms to future

  • Asma Hussain Alkatheri,
  • Mahra Saleh Alkatheeri,
  • Wan-Hee Cheng,
  • Warren Thomas ,
  • Kok-Song Lai,
  • Swee-Hua Erin Lim

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3934/agrfood.2024016
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 256 – 281

Abstract

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Since ancient times, date fruit has been used as a staple food because of its high nutritional value and caloric content. With the development of food science and the application of modern instrumentation, we now know that date seeds contain large amounts of dietary fiber, phenols, polyphenols, amino acids, fatty acids, and many vitamins and minerals. Due to the presence of these functional food ingredients, date seeds are used in various applications, including foods such as bread, hot beverages, cosmetics such as hair and skin products, and as feed for culturing aquatic animals. Date seeds have been used in clinical applications, making use of their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and antimicrobial properties. There is now growing awareness of the value of date seeds, which were considered a waste product. In this review, we focused on explaining the major biochemical constituents of date seeds and developing these constituents for various applications. We also highlight the expected developments in date seed use for the future.

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