Date fruit, commonly known as “Dabino” in Nigeria is a fruit of date palm, can be considered as an ideal food that provides a wide range of essential nutrients with many potential health benefits.
Date Palm
Date palm with the scientific name Phoenix dactylifera from Palm family Arecaceae is believed to have originated from a fertile crescent region between Egypt and Mesopotamia which is assumed to be current Iraq. see more
Date palms are commonly found in Sokoto, Jigawa, Kebbi states, and the most Northern States in Nigeria.
The date palm is also grown in Canary islands, Northern Africa, Middle East, Pakistan, India, Mexico, and California and is believed to be a chief source of wealth in the irrigable desert of North Africa and the Middle East and has a long shelf life.
All three major Biblical religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have given high priority and significance to date palm and its fruit because of Prophet Abraham’s love and affection for date palm. (Ali et al., 2012)
Islam has, however, given the highest priority to dates. The nutritional significance and health benefits of dates have also been mentioned in the Muslim’s Holy Book “Al-Qur’an (The Koran).” (Ali et al., 2012)
Date Fruit
Date fruit, commonly known as “Dabino” in Nigeria, are palatable either in dried or soft form.
Dates are being consumed in modern cultures for the pleasant flavour, odour, and their biting texture in addition to their use for flavouring foods, beverages and medicine (Shina et al., 2003).
Date is a one seeded fruit or drupe. It varies in shape, size, colour, quality. The date palm is said to have more than 800 different dates which may appear on a single bunch.
Date fruits are eaten by most Christians during Christmas and are used in breaking the fast during the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan.
Dry or soft dates may be pitted and stuffed with fillings which may include walnuts, almonds, cream cheese or eaten like that.
Partially dried pitted dates may be glazed (coated) with glucose syrup as a snack food.
They can also be chopped and used in sweets savory dishes. Dates can also be processed into cubes, paste, spread, date syrup, or honey call “dibs”, powder (date sugar), vinegar, or alcohol. (Ali et al., 2012; Shina et al., 2003).
Nutritional Benefits of Date Fruit
The high content of carbohydrates in date fruit, especially sugars that reach to 88%, may lead to the impression that little is left to contribute to the nutritional value of dates.
However, the fruit is full of essential nutrients such as potassium, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper, iron, fluorine, and selenium. (Ali et al., 2012)
Dates are a great source of potassium that helps in the maintenance of a healthy nervous system and in balancing the body’s nervous system. (Shina et al., 2003)
Phosphorus functions with calcium to help with bone strength and growth.
Moreover, selenium is important for cell growth and repair. Iron is essential to the production of red blood cells, which carry all the nutrients to cells throughout the body (Ali et al., 2012; Shina et al., 2003).
10 Health Benefits of Date Fruit or Dabino
- Bone health: Dates are said to contain selenium, manganese, copper, and magnesium, all of which are important in growing healthy bones and preventing osteoporosis.
- Rich in Vitamins: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, A, C are contained in dates. It is believed that if a few dates are consumed daily, there will be no need for supplements, as it will not only keep you healthy but also there will be a change in energy levels due to the natural sugars such as glucose, sucrose, and fructose, contained in it.
- Nervous system: Dates contain sodium that helps to keep the nervous system in order, and also the potassium contained in it helps to reduce cholesterol which in turn reduces the risk of stroke.
- Iron: Phoenix dactylifera is said to contain enough iron which is an essential element for blood production and is also a need for proper immune function, therefore making it suitable for those who suffer iron deficiency.
- Promotes digestion and treatment of abdominal troubles: due to its high fiber content, it aids the digestive system and is suitable for those having constipation. It is believed that by soaking a few dates in water and eating them, your digestive system will be very active. Dates are used for the treatment of abdominal troubles. Because of their high phenolic contents, dates are used medicinally as a detersive (cleansing agent) and astringent in intestinal troubles. Water extracts of date flesh have been shown to induce a dose-dependent increase in the gastro-intestinal transit time of foods in rats(Al-Qarawi et al., 2003). According to folklore medicine to secure a laxative effect, the dates should be immersed in water at night and taken after making them into one syrup the next morning. The decoction of dates, free from fibrous material together with some table salt, can be used as a remedy to treat the dehydration resulting from vomiting and diarrhea(Ali et al., 2012).
- Skin improvement: the presence of vitamin c and d in Dates allows for improvement in skin elasticity and smoothness. Dates come with anti-aging benefits and prevent the accumulation of melanin in the body.
- High Antioxidant, Anti-inFLammatory, Antimutagenic, and AntiCancer Activities: Date fruits are considered to protect against many chronic diseases including cancer and heart diseases as they have been shown to contain antioxidant and antimutagenic properties (A. A. A. Allaith, 2008). Aqueous extracts of dates have also been shown to inhibit the lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation as well as exhibit a potent superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity(A. Allaith, 2005). The date fruit is believed to contain flavonoids, which are believed to possess many biochemical properties, the best of which has to do with its capacity to act as antioxidants. As a dietary component, flavonoids are thought to have health-promoting properties due to their high antioxidant capacity (Ali et al., 2012). Dates also contain carotenoids, which are antioxidants that serve to protect an individual from diseases and helps to enhance the immune system. A type of carotenoids known as Provitamin A can be converted into vitamin A which is good for growth, eye, and immune system. Likewise, Dates contain phenolic compounds which are secondary metabolites found in fruits. They also possess the antioxidant potential and help in the prevention of some diseases especially those associated with oxidative stress (A. Allaith, 2005; A. A. A. Allaith, 2008). Also, see Benefits of Ginger and Garlic and Benefits of Bitter Kola
- Promote brain health: they lower inflammatory markers such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), a high amount of which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, in the brain.
- Protection against Colds, Sore Throat, and Fever: Date products in the form of infusion, decoction, syrup, or paste are administered as a treatment for sore throat, colds, bronchial catarrh (inflammation of mucus membranes). Although no clinical data are available in the literature for such claims, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of dates (A. A. A. Allaith, 2008) could be regarded as the main contributing factor for such effects. The traditional recipe that is considered as an effective expectorant consists of a mixture of 50 g dates, 50 g fig, 50 g hibiscus, and 50 g raisins boiled in 1 L of water. This mixture is recommended to be taken three times daily to control the throat and chest infections (Ali et al., 2012).
- Effects on Pregnancy, Lactation, and Reproductive System: The most common medicinal use of dates and its products is as a tonic, especially for women who are close to delivery and at the postpartum stage. The consumption of dates by women before and after delivery can act as a tonic to strengthen the uterine muscles (Ali et al., 2012). It is also believed that eating the dates fruits throughout the last few weeks of pregnancy may promote cervical dilation and also may be helpful for reducing labor time. The potassium, glycine, and threonine content of dates are thought to activate the production of milk hormone (prolactin). Small quantities of oxytocin have also been detected in dates and therefore dates can act as lactagogue if used in the daily meal plan of a woman during her lactation period (Ali et al., 2012).
Other Medicinal Benefits of Date Fruit
- The daily consumption of dates with meals and its decoction as eye-lotion is considered to help in the maintenance of eye hygiene and a remedy for night blindness and ophthalmic disorders(Ali et al., 2012; Shina et al., 2003). Also, see Health Benefits of Velvet Tamarind
- Because of their high-potassium and low-sodium contents, dates can help alleviate potassium deficiency, maintain the sodium−potassium balance in the body and may help in treating the cardiac disorder especially after diarrhea, vomiting or after the use of diuretic medications (Ali et al., 2012; Shina et al., 2003).
REFERENCES
- Ali, A., Waly, M., Mostafa, M., Mohamed, E., & Devarajan, S. (2012). Nutritional and Medicinal Value of Date Fruit. Dates: Production, Processing, Food, and Medicinal Values.
- Allaith, A. (2005). In-vitro evaluation of antioxidant activity of different extracts of Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit as functional foods. Deutsche Lebensmittel Rundschau, 101, 305–308.
- Allaith, A. A. A. (2008). Antioxidant activity of Bahreini date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit of various cultivars. . International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 43(6), 1033–1040.
- Al-Qarawi, A. A., Ali, B. H., El-Mougy, S. A., & Mousa, H. M. (2003). Gastrointestinal transit in mice treated with various extracts of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.). Food and Chemical Toxicology, 41, 37–39.
- Shina, S., Izuagie, T., Shuaibu, M., Dogoyaro, A. I., Garba, A., & Abubakar, S. (2003). The Nutritional Evaluation and Medicinal Value of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera). International Journal of Modern Chemistry, 4(3), 147–154.