Use of Date Palm Fruit Processing Wastes to Produce High-Value Products

Abstract

Fruits of the date have found great value in human nutrition because of their rich content of essential nutrients. Tons of palm fruit waste are being discarded daily. Waste such as date holes represents 10% of date fruit. Within the framework of the bio-economy, there is a high potential for date waste use in ligne-cellulosic products in a broad spectrum of bio-industries. Extensive and varied biomolecules may capture energy for use in the pharmaceutical industry as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), or in the development of nutraceuticals without using them as substrates for mass production of bacteria, phenolic, sterols, carotenoids, anthocyanins., procyanidin, flavonoids, minerals, various vitamins, economically beneficial amino acids, organic acids, biosurfactants, biopolymers, biofuels, exopolysaccharides, probiotics with date flavors, etc. Date fruits are commonly used to prepare many kinds of products such as date juice concentrate (distribution, syrup, and liquid sugar), date products (wine, alcohol, vinegar, organic acids) and date pastes for different uses (e.g., bakery and - confectionery) without the direct use. Date seeds can be converted into high-value liquids (bio-oil), gas, and solid products (bio-char) by pyrolysis, and coal and activated carbon can be produced from date seeds. Significant progress has been made in developing specific date fruit products and using products from packaging and processing. Additional economic benefits will also increase so far as farmers increase the number of commodities they produce, as well as diversify their sources of income.