🌴 Date Palm

• Botanical Name: Phoenix dactylifera
• Family: Arecaceae
• Origin: West Asia
• Date contains 75 - 80% carbohydrates in form of invert sugars.
• One kg fully ripe fresh dates provide approximately 3150 calories.
• Single seeded berry.
• Inflorescence is known as spadix.
• In India-Date is harvested at Doka stage.
• In other countries date is harvested at Dang stage.
• Fruits for fresh eating are preferred at Dang stage.
• Date harvested at doka stage have 70-80% moisture.
• Doka fruits are successfully processed to prepare chhuhara.
• Drink of Date palm is known as Dibbis.
• Liquor prepared from date palm is Arrack, popular in Iraq.

• Developmental stage of Date
  • Hababouk
  • Gandora or chirmi: Fully grown, Hard, yellow in colour
  • Dang or Rutab: Softening
  • Pind or Tamer: Fully ripe and dehydrated
• It is said that,

  Its feet in running water and its head in the fire of the sky.

• A fine date variety requires 3300 units of heat for full maturity.
• 10% male should be raised in orchard to provide adequate pollen grains.
• Time of leaf pruning: June
• Ethephon is an effective fruit thinning agent.
• Metaxenia is common in Date palm.
• Exploitation of metaxenia – to induce earliness & improvement in quality.
• Trailer mounted palm duster is used for pollination.
• Date juice suitable varieties: Zagloul, Hayani.
• Khadrawy and Medjool developed by somatic embryogenesis.

Varieties

• Chuhharah making: Khadrawy, Medjool, Sharan
• Fresh eating: Halawy, Barhee, Khalas, Sevi, Khunezi
• Zahidi Pind khajoor (soft dates)
• Sharan: Uneven ripening

Type

• Bread type dry date: Thoory
• Cane sugar date (semi dry date): Dayari, Deglet Noor, Zahidi
• Invert sugar date (soft date): Halawy, Khadrawy, Barhee, Medjool