Assessment of Biochemical Changes in Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Cultivars During Fruit Growth and Ripening
Keywords:
Date palm, cultivars, antioxidant activity, sugars, protein, tanninAbstract
The study on biochemical changes in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars was conducted at ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, during the year 2014. The observations on the growth of fruits were recorded from 15th April till harvesting at 15-day intervals. The assessment of biochemical changes in date palm cultivars Halawy, Khalas, Khadrawy, and Shamran at different stages of growth and maturity showed significant differences among the cultivars. The qualitative characters, such as sugar contents (total, reducing sugars, and non-reducing sugars) and ascorbic acid content, increased from the initial stage to the doka stage of harvesting. In contrast, acidity, protein, tannin content, and antioxidant activity increased at the initial stage but exhibited a decreasing trend at the doka stage of fruit maturity. Percent acidity was found to be minimal in cvs. Halawy and Khalas (0.150%).Ascorbic acid content was highest in cv. Khadrawy (11.22 mg/100g pulp) followed by Khalas (10.61 mg/100g pulp) at the harvesting stage. Sugar contents accumulated gradually during fruit development, and the pattern varied among the four cultivars. Cultivar Halawy showed the highest sugar content (36.30% total sugars, 5.96% non-reducing sugars, and 30.34% reducing sugars). Protein content varied from 1.49% in cv. Khalas to 1.73% in cv. Khadrawy. Tannin content ranged from 0.72% in cv. Halawy to 1.00% in cv. Khalas. Antioxidant activity was recorded highest in cv. Halawy (3.50 mmol TE/g) followed by Khalas (3.21 mmol TE/g). The results revealed that cultivar Halawy is superior in respect of quality parameters, followed by cv. Khalas under hot, arid conditions.Downloads
References
Abbas, M.F. and Fandi, B.S. 2002. Respiration rate, ethylene production, and biochemical changes during fruit development and maturation of Jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 82(13): 1472-1476.
Apak, R., Gudu, K., Cayurek, M., and Karamdemir, S.K. 2004. Novel antioxidant capacity index for dietary polyphenols and vitamins C and E using their cupric ion reducing capability in the presence of neocuprine: CUPRAC method. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52: 7970-81.
Al-Qureshi, A.D. 2010. Physico-chemical changes during development and ripening of "Helali" date palm fruit. Journal of Food Agriculture & Environment, 8(2): 404-408.
Al-Farsi, M., Alasalvar, C., Morris, A., Baron, M., and Shohidi, F. 2005. Composition of antioxidant activity, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and phenolics of fresh and sun-dried (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties grown in Oman. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53(19): 7592-7599.
Awad, M.A., Al-Qurashi, A.O., and Mohtadi, A.S. 2011. Biochemical changes in fruit of early and late date palm cultivars during development and ripening. International Journal of Fruit Science, 11: 167-183.
Bacha, M.A., Nasr, T.A., and Shaheen, M.A. 1987. Changes in physical and chemical characteristics of the fruits of four date palm cultivars. Proceedings of the Saudi Biological Society, 10: 285-295.
Chandra, A., and Choudhary, N.L. 1990. Performance of date palm cultivars in the Thar desert, part II. Current Agriculture, 14: 3-4.
Chandra, A., and Panjek, O.P. 1992. A note on the performance of different date palm cultivars under Bhojka (Jaisalmer) conditions of Rajasthan. Haryana Journal of Horticultural Science, 21(3-4): 205-207.
Chandra, A., Chandra, Anjo, and Gupta, I.C. 1992. Date Palm Research in Thar Desert. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur. 116 pp.
Elbaher, M.A., and Al-Tamimi. 2014. Comparative study on the chemical composition of Saudi Sukkari and Egyptian Sawi date palm fruits. Journal of American Science, 10(6): 149-151.
Elahmer, R.A., Madi, N.S., Nohaisi, M.A., and Thabet, A.I. 2007. Some physical and chemical properties of three varieties of Libyan soft dates. Acta Horticulturae, pp. 489-895.
El-Agamy, El-Mahdi, T.K., and Khalil, O.A. 2001. A comparative study of the performance of soft date grown under environmental conditions. Proceedings of The 2nd International Conference on Date Palm, 25-27 March 2001, Al-Ain, UAE, pp. 686-710.
Gasim, A.A.A., Al-Madinah, Al-Munawwarah. 1994. Changes in sugar quality and mineral elements during fruit development in five date palm cultivars. IK AU. Sci., 6: 29-36.
Gopalan, C., Ramasastri, B.Y., and Balasubramanian, S.C. 1985. Nutritional Value of Indian Foods, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, Hyderabad, 87 pp.
Haider, M.S., Khan, I.A., Naqvi, S.A., Jaskani, M.J., Khan, R.W., Nafees, M., Maryam, and Pasha, L. 2013. Fruit development stages affect biochemical attributes in date palm. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 5(4): 577-580.
Iqbal, M., Rehman, U.U., Naimatullah, S.M., Khan, and Akhtar, A. 2012. Periodic growth and development in fruits of different date cultivars grown under agro-climatic conditions of OJ. Khan, Pakistan Journal Sci., 64(3): 259-264.
Lowry, O.H., Rosebrough, N.J., Farr, A.L., and Randall, R.J. 1951. Protein measurement with Folin-Ciocauteu reagent. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 193: 265-275.
Muhammad, N., Salim-ur, R., Anjumand, F.M., and Bhatti, I.A. 2011. Quality evaluation of some Pakistani date varieties. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 48(4): 305-313.
Mougheith, M.G., Hasaballa, I.A., and El-Ashram, M.M. 1976. Comparative study on fruit development, quality, and bunch characteristics at harvest of some Egyptian date cultivars. Annals of Agricultural Sciences, Moshtohor, Egypt, 5: 177-193.
Mrabet, A., Farchichi, A., Chaim, N., Mohamed, B.S., Baaziz, M., and Penny, T.M. 2008. Physico-chemical characteristics and total quality of date palm varieties grown in the southern of Tunisia. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 11(7): 1003-1006.
Osman, S.M. 2008. Fruit quality and general evaluation of Zaghloul and Samany date palm cultivars grown under conditions of Aswan. American-Eurasian Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Science, 4(2): 230-236.
Ranganna, S. 2000. Manual of Analysis of Fruits and Vegetable Products, 3rd Ed., Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi, India.
Schanderl, S.H. 1970. Tannin measurement with Folin-Denis reagent. In: Methods in Food Analysis, Academic Press, New York, pp. 709.
Shobana, H.R., Benjamin, N.D., and Mohammed, S. 1981. Pattern of growth and development in date palm fruit. Date Palm Journal, 1: 31-42.
Tain, D.A., Tareh, S.H., and Ati, M.A.A. 2013. Study on physical, chemical and enzymatic characteristics of date palm fruits (Phoenix dactylifera cv. Helali) during development. Diyala Agricultural Sciences Journal, 5(2): 203-212.
Thayumanavan, B., and Sadasivam, S. 1984. In: QWL Food Hum. Nutr., 34:253.
Zaid, A., El-Garaty, V., and Kaabi, I.S. 2007. Proceedings of the 3rd International Date Palm Conference. Acta Horticulturae, 736: 586.
