1st Edition

Dates Production, Processing, Food, and Medicinal Values

Edited By A. Manickavasagan, M. Mohamed Essa, E. Sukumar Copyright 2012
    442 Pages 110 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Of the many varieties of date palms, the species Phoenix dactylifera Linn. is cultivated extensively and traded and consumed worldwide. Dates: Production, Processing, Food, and Medicinal Values draws from a broad spectrum of contributors to present a comprehensive survey of this particular species. The book explores a range of essential facets of what many consider to be a wonder plant—from its cultivation to its potential for medicinal purposes.

    Divided into four parts, the book begins by examining cultural practices and their implications for date quality. The contributors discuss tissue culture studies, farm water management, mechanization approaches in pollination and harvesting operations, and marketing aspects. The second section focuses on postharvest operations such as drying and explores alternatives for methyl bromide fumigation and value-added products. It also reviews biofuel production from by-products and discusses the issue of waste generated from industry.

    The third part of the book highlights the physical, chemical, and structural characteristics of dates. It reviews fermentative products that use dates as substrate, discusses the fruits as a substitute for added sugar in food, and explores date palm feeding to livestock. The final section discusses the possibilities for nutritional and medicinal use and reviews the use of dates in indigenous medicine.

    Exploring essential properties and agricultural implications, this volume is a reliable resource for understanding the many aspects of the Phoenix dactylifera Linn.

    Production
    An Overview of Date Palm Production; R. Al-Yahyai and A. Manickavasagan
    Tissue Culture Studies in Date Palm; S. A. Farooq, R. S. Khan, and T.T. Farook
    The Date Palm Genome Project at Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; X. Zhang, J. Tan, M. Yang, Y. Yin, I. S. Al-Mssallem, and J. Yu
    Water Management in Date Palm Groves; M. Mumtaz Khan and S. A. Prathapar
    Fertilizer Application in Date Palm Cultivation; A. Al-Busaidi
    Environmental Concern in Date Palm Production from Atmospheric Trace Metal Contamination; S. H. Al-Rawahy and H. Sulaiman
    Salinity Problems and Their Management in Date Palm Production; N. Hussain, S. Al-Rasbi, N. S. Al-Wahaibi, G. A. Rehman Al-Ghanum, and O. El-Sharief Abdalla
    Insects in Date Palm Field and Their Management; M. Ali Al-Deeb
    Mechanization in Date Palm Pollination; A. Mostaan
    Design Concepts for Date-Harvesting Process; H. P. W. Jayasuriya
    Dates Marketing; M. Daudi Mbaga
    Processing
    Drying Characteristics, Rehydration, and Color Changes of Palm Fruits During Storage; K. O. Falade and E. S. Abbo
    Solar Tunnel Dryer: A Novel Dryer for Dates; M. A. Basunia and H. H. Handali
    Processing of Dates by Dehydration and Microwave Drying; D. G. Rao, T. Hariharan, and S. Feroz
    Quality Assessment of Dates by Computer Vision Technology; A. Manickavasagan and R. Al-Yahyai
    Nonchemical Methyl Bromide Alternatives in Dates’ Processing Sector; M. A. El Mohandes
    Processing of Dates into Value-Added Products; P. Vijayanand and S. G. Kulkarni
    Exploring the Possibility of Biofuel Production from By-Products and Wastes Generated from Date Industry; D. Ramesh, S. Karthikeyan, and G. Chinnanchetty
    Food
    Physical Characteristics and Chemical Composition of Date Palm Fruits; N. Guizani and V. Singh
    Sorption and Structural Characteristics of Date Palm Fruit; M. S. Rahman
    Fermentative Products Using Dates as a Substrate; N. Sivakumar
    Dates: Potential Substitute for Added Sugar in Food; A. Manickavasagan
    Use of Date Palm By-Products in Feeding Livestock; O. Mahgoub, I. T. Kadim, and W. Al-Marzooqi
    Medicinal Values
    Dates: A Fruit from Heaven; M. Qasim and S. A. Naqvi
    The Functional Values of Dates; M. Ali Al-Farsi and C. Yong Lee
    Nutritional and Medicinal Value of Date Fruit; A. Ali, M. Waly, M. M. Essa, and S. Devarajan
    Uses of Date Palm in Ayurveda; M. Shanmugapriya and K. Patwardhan
    Dates in Indigenous Medicines of India; E. Sukumar
    Antiamyloidogenic Effect of Dates Grown in Oman with Reference to Their Possible Protection against Alzheimer’s Disease; M. Mohamed Essa, G. J. Guillemin, S. Al-Adawi, A. Al-Asmi, R. Vaishnav, N. Ramachandiran, and M. A. Memon
    Index

    Biography

    Dr. Manickavasagan obtained a PhD in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Manitoba, Canada. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PEng) in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. After attaining his PhD, he worked with McCain Foods Limited (Canada) as a Scientist. Presently, he is an Assistant Professor at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. He has published more than 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences.

    Dr. M. Mohamed Essa obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Annamalai University, India and did Post doctoral research in Neurosciences in NYSIBR, New York, USA. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman and Visiting Assistant Professor in Neuropharmacology group, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He conducts research in pharmacological approaches of natural products against neurological diseases by using various available models. He has published nearly 55 research articles in various peer-reviewed international journals and conferences and is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Nutrition, Pharmacology, Neurological Diseases published by Wolters-Kluwer, USA.

    Dr. Ethirajan Sukumar obtained PhD in Phytochemistry and Phytobiology from the University of Madras,India and did Postdoctoral work at the University of Virginia in the USA. He is an Assistant Professor at the Higher College of Technology, Muscat, Oman. Prior to full time teaching, he was a Research Scientist in the Central Research Institute of Siddha Medicine in Chennai, India for more than 26 years. During his research career, he worked on medicinal plants used in indigenous medical practices and published 52 research papers in peer-reviewed journals.