Date fruits are considered as a good source of sugars. It provides natural sugar in the form of glucose and fructose. According to studies conducted on the physicochemical properties of dietary fiber extracted from date flesh, the dietary fiber concentrates showed some functional properties in the food industry, e.g. high water-holding capacity, high oil-holding capacity, emulsifying, pseudoplasticity behavior of their suspensions, and gel formation.
Beside direct consumption of the whole dates, the fruits are traditionally used to prepare a wide range of product such as date juice concentrates (spread, syrup and liquid sugar), fermented date products (vinegar, organic acids) and date pastes for different uses e.g. bakery and confectionary.
Date juice is made by dissolving and diluting soluble solids of date in water and removing insoluble solids. In this operation, stirring, heating, and macerating the date can increase the yield of the process. This product is sometimes consumed as a drink. In contrast with other fruits, date juice cannot be extracted by pressing because of high total soluble solid content.
Juice is pasteurized at 85°C to inactivate the enzyme, cooled and centrifuged at 3000 rpm to get clear juice. Date juice was found to be rich in reducing sugars (16.1%) and total sugars (18.3%).
Date juice has considerable antioxidant and antimutagenic activity and contains strong free radical scavengers. Many products are being made of date juice including carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, ice cream, jam, and jelly as a sugar substitute.
Date juice
