Date is the most popular fruit in middle-east countries. The fruit is
an important product in the world and plays a significant role in the
economic and political life in date growing regions.
Date fruits are considered as a good source of sugars. It provides
natural sugar in the form of glucose and fructose. According to studies
conducted on the physicochemical properties of dietary fiber extracted
from date flesh, the dietary fiber concentrates showed some functional
properties in the food industry, e.g. high water-holding capacity, high
oil-holding capacity, emulsifying, pseudoplasticity behavior of their
suspensions, and gel formation.
Beside direct consumption of the whole dates, the fruits are
traditionally used to prepare a wide range of product such as
date juice concentrates (spread, syrup and liquid sugar),
fermented date products (vinegar, organic acids) and date pastes
for different uses e.g. bakery and confectionary.
Date juice is made by dissolving and diluting soluble solids of date in
water and removing insoluble solids. In this operation, stirring,
heating, and macerating the date can increase the yield of the process.
This product is sometimes consumed as a drink. In contrast with other
fruits, date juice cannot be extracted by pressing because of high total
soluble solid content.
Juice is pasteurized at 85°C to inactivate the enzyme, cooled and centrifuged at 3000 rpm to get clear juice.
Date juice was found to be rich in reducing sugars (16.1%) and total sugars (18.3%).
Date juice has considerable antioxidant and antimutagenic activity and
contains strong free radical scavengers. Many products are being made of
date juice including carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, ice
cream, jam, and jelly as a sugar substitute.
Date juice
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