Date, Fruit
Date is the fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), one of the 13 species in genus Phoenix in family Arecaceae. Phoenix dactylifera is native to Northern Africa and the Middle East. Dates are an important crops in Arabia, Turkey , Iraq, north Africa west to Morocco. The date palm is a medium-sized plant, 15-30 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems emerge from a single rooting system. The spreading crown is 6-10 m across. The leaves are pinnate, 3-5 m long, with thorny petiole and about 150 leaflets. Each leaflet is 30 cm long and 2 cm wide. Dates are grown in heavy clusters suspended under the leaves. The date palms are dioecious, having separate male and female plants. Date palms are naturally wind-pollinated, but in modern commercial orchards and traditional oasis horticulture, they are pollinated manually. Dates are oval-cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, and 2–3 cm diameter. Depending on varieties, the unripe dates can range from bright red to bright yellow in color. There are three main cultivar groups of dates: soft, semi-dry and dry. Depending on variety, the date may be higher in natural sugars, or have an intense honey-like flavor. Dates ripen in four stages, as known in their famous Arabic names, kimri (unripe), khalal (full-size, crunchy), rutab (ripe, soft), tamr (ripe, sun-dried). They are a very good source for dietary potassium, and protein, fiber, and trace elements including boron, cobalt, copper, fluorine, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc. In addition to eaten fresh, the dates are dried and eaten whole as a snack or included in an assortment of desserts.  Dates on a phoenix dactylifera Author: Nepenthes (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) | ||
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