ABSTRACT
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L., Arecaceae) is a valuable fruit tree for many populations living in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, and the Middle East, and to play significant role in its economy. Asides from its well-known edible fruit, date palm tree also provides numerous by-products which have yet to be fully capitalized upon commercially. All parts of the date palm tree are of value to include: seeds (pits and oil), date pollen and the leaves. Date palm seed is a by-product of the fruit industry being discarded, and used as animal feed or for human consumption as non-caffeinated coffee. Date pollen is used traditionally for the treatment of infertility. This review aims to introduce a holistic overview on the phytochemical composition, nutritional, economical and potential health benefits of date by-products. Prioritization of date palm by-products for a desired added value or production of certain economically valued products is presented.
Acknowledgment
Dr. M. A. Farag thanks the Alexander von Humboldt-foundation, Germany for continous support.
NS: not specified
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing interests.
Supplemental material
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