A review of the chemical composition, nutritional and health benefits of dates for their potential use in energy nutrition bars for athletes

Figures & data

Table 1. Proximate composition of dried dates

Date Variety	Total Sugars (g/100 g)	Protein (g/100 g)	Fat (g/100 g)	Ash (g/100 g)	Calcium (mg/100 g)	Potassium (mg/100 g)	Sodium (mg/100 g)	Magnesium (mg/100 g)	Phosphorus (mg/100 g)	Moisture (g/100 g)
Ajwa	74.3	2.91	0.47	3.43	187	476.3	7.5	150	27	22.8
Medjool	66.47	1.81	0.39	1.74	64	696	1	54	62	21.32
Deglet Noor	86.42	1.71	0.40	1.78	25.05	774.71	5.79	50.26	-	13.50
Dabbas	-	2.54	0.41	1.64	35.71	419.05	14.38	42.17	48.36	19.5
Barhi	-	2.3	0.10	1.40	12	855	75	82	-	29.5

Table 2. Sugar composition of selected date varieties in UAE (g/100 g of fruit flesh) (Ahmed et al., 2014; Assirey, 2015)

Date Variety	Glucose (G)*	Fructose (F)*	G/F ratio	Sucrose*
Barhe	34.6 ± 0.1	39.3 ± 0.2	0.88	4.2 ± 0.1
Bumaan	32.3 ± 0.1	34.8 ± 0.1	0.93	4.4 ± 0.3
Dabbas	36.3 ± 0.5	35 ± 0.2	1.04	6.4 ± 0.7
Fard	31.3 ± 0.2	32.1 ± 0.2	0.98	5.2 ± 0.2
Jabri	35.2 ± 0.2	35.6 ± 0.3	0.99	5.8 ± 0.1
Khalas	33.4 ± 0.3	33.2 ± 0.1	1.01	6.1 ± 0.5
Lulu	40.2 ± 0.5	35.5 ± 0.1	1.13	6.7 ± 0.3
Maktoomi	47.4 ± 0.4	35.7 ± 0.2	1.33	6.9 ± 0.1
Raziz	31.8 ± 0.7	33.9 ± 0.1	0.94	4.5 ± 0.1
Shikat	35.1 ± 0.4	36.6 ± 0.3	0.96	4.9 ± 0.2
Shishi	33.7 ± 0.2	34.3 ± 0.2	0.98	5.5 ± 0.6

Table 3. Major phytochemical compounds in dates (Biglari et al., 2008; Ghnimi et al., 2017)

Class	Compounds
Benzoic acid and derivatives	Gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, sinapic acid
Cinnamic acid and derivatives	Caffeic acid, hydrocaffeic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, syringic acid, dactyliferic acid, 2 caffeoylshikimic acid hexoside, 3-caffeoylshikimic acid, 4-caffeoylshikimic acid, 5-caffeoylshikimic acid, caffeoylsinapoyl hexoside, and dicaffeoylsinapoyl hexoside
Flavonoid glycosides and esters	Luteolin, quercetin, and apigenin, quercetin rhamnosyl-hexoside sulfate, quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (rutin), quercetin hexoside sulfate, quercetin acetyl-hexoside, isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside, isorhamnetin hexoside, chrysoeriol rhamnosyl-hexoside, isorhamnetin acetyl-hexoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside (isoquercitrin), chrysoeriol hexoside sulfate, and chrysoeriol hexoside
Flavan-3-ols	(+)-catechin, and (−)-epicatechin
Proanthocyanidins	Procyanidin oligomers based on (−)-epicatechin including procyanidin B1, procyanidin B2, procyanidin trimer, procyanidin tetramer, procyanidin pentamer, and procyanidin polymers based on (−)-epicatechin (decamers to heptadecamers)
Anthocyanins	Cyanidin (in some dark varieties)

Figure 1. Date nutrition bars with different formulations and coating ingredients.