Maximizing the nutritional value of low-quality immature date fruit using hot water dips: nutritional and shelf-life studies

Abstract

Dates are usually harvested at the immature Khalal stage to combat various climatic barriers, resulting in significant wastage of this precious crop. This study highlighted the potential of using immature dates with less commercial importance for processing into nutritious dry dates. Immature dates were subjected to boiling water dip (BWD) treatment for different intervals (0–20 min) followed by subsequent drying at 48 ± 2 °C for 72 h. The results revealed that BWD treatments significantly affected the quality of dates; changes being higher at BWD 15 and 20 min. Treated dates (5–10 min) showed lower weight loss, higher TSS, and reduced tannin content compared to control and showed considerable total sugars (64.26–69.35%), fiber (6.93–8.92%), protein (3.17–3.85%), macro (Potassium 684.3–696.2 mg/100 g) and micro (Iron 2.80–3.99 mg/100 g) minerals, phytonutrients (phenolics 272.48–470.06 mg GAE/100 g; flavonoids 178.32–373.38 mg QE/100 g) and antioxidant activity (477.45–496.93 mg TE/100 g). Also, the results were confirmed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Overall, the BWD-5 min treated dates exhibited higher overall sensorial acceptability, which were shelf-stable for 6 months under ambient temperature.