Effect of Date Varieties on Chemical Properties, Fatty Acid Composition and Amino Acid Contents of Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Seed and Oils

The chemical properties, fatty acid composition, and amino acid contents of the date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruit seeds (Barhi, Khulas, Monaif Rozaiz, Soukari, Soulag, and Soughi) were determined. While crude protein contents of date samples range from 5.70% (Soulag) to 7.59% (Bahri) (p 0.05), oil contents of seed samples changed between 3.66% (Khulas) and 7.87% (Soulag). Glucose contents ranged from 0.69% (Bahri) to 2.31% (Soughi). Glutamic acid contents of samples ranged from 0.81% (Rozaiz) to 1.20 %(Bahri)(p 0.05). Myristic acid contents of seed oils changed between 11.79% (Khulas) and 15.13% (Soughi). In addition, palmitic acid contents of oils ranged from 8.13% (Monaif) to 10.63% (Rozaiz). While oleic acid contents of date seed oils vary between 32.84% (Monaif) and 43.51% (Khulas) (p 0.05), lauric acid contents of oil samples ranged from 20,0 % (Rozaiz) to 32.83% (Monaif). Future studies will be conducted on phenolic and bioactive compounds of date seeds.