The fruit of a palm tree, Phoenix dactylifera, is a staple food in the desert regions of N. Africa and the Middle East; indeed, in such regions the tree is often the essential plant on which life depends, a universal provider which is said to have 800 distinct uses.
The tree, like all palms, has a single growth point at the tip, so the removal of this terminal bud kills the tree. Starting at ground level, the plant grows a new section every year, with fresh leaves on top of the previous year's section. The leaves live for an average of five years. Thus the tree consists of about five leafy sections on top of a stack of sections whose leaves have died, and this stack rises higher and higher away from the ground. The date palm is a long-lived tree and may eventually exceed 30 m (100′) in height. However, commercial growers usually cut down their trees when they are 15 m (50′) tall because of the difficulty in managing them, since they flower and fruit only at the top.
Trees may be male or female, and only the latter produce fruit. Although natural pollination may occur by wind, cultivated trees are (and have been since time immemorial) artificially pollinated. One male provides enough pollen for 100 or more females.
The fruits are produced in large bunches of over 10 kg (20 lb) in weight and containing as many as 1,000 dates. An average yield is about 50 kg (100 lb) of fruit from each tree every year, but good trees may produce two or three times as much. A single date fruit is up to 5 cm (2″) long, depending on the variety.
The area of origin cannot be pinpointed, but must have been somewhere in the hot, dry region stretching from N. Africa through the Middle East to India—quite probably oases in the region of the Persian Gulf. Cultivation is of prehistoric origin. The palm is often shown in carvings from the earliest period of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, and it is clear that dates were then already a staple food.
The classical Romans were fond of dates, which they had to import from their Eastern Empire. The best ones came from Jericho in Palestine. Since sugar was then almost unknown, the fruit was used as a sweetener, or else stuffed to make a sweetmeat. The recipes of Apicius include several dishes in which dates are used in sauces for meat or fish.
The Chinese came to know the date in early times but, since they could not grow date palms in their climate, even in the southern provinces, they imported dates from Persia from the time of the T'ang dynasty (ad 618–907) onwards.
Most dates are still grown in their Old World region of origin, the biggest producers being Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Large quantities are also grown in N. African countries, Pakistan, and the Gulf countries. Some are grown in the Canary Islands, and even in S. Spain, which is at the extreme northern limit of cultivation. Beyond this the tree may grow, but it will not bear fruit.
The production of dates in the drier parts of the American tropics and in the hotter parts of the USA, especially California, expanded considerably after the US industry was established at the beginning of the 20th century, but levelled out in the 1960s and is a small percentage of world production.
The chief food value of the date lies in its very high sugar content, which can be 70% by weight in a dried date, although the semi-dried dates sold in western countries only contain about 50%. The fruit contains a fair amount of protein, plus vitamins A and some of the B group. It is not a perfectly balanced staple food; but desert Arabs nonetheless exist in good health for long periods on almost nothing but dried dates and milk, which makes up most of the deficiencies.
Three main types of date are grown. Soft dates have a high moisture content, relatively little sugar in the fresh fruit stage, and a mild flavour. They are grown in the Middle East mainly for eating fresh, though they are also matured, dried, and compressed into blocks. Because of the naturally mild flavour and the concentration of sugar caused by the drying, these compressed dates are very sweet. Soft dates are not often seen in the West, although there is an international export trade within the Middle East. There is also a sporadic trade reaching further afield, as for example, during the fasting month of Ramadan in Indonesia where dates are suddenly to be seen on every street corner, being considered a suitable way to ‘break’ the fast, whereas at other times they are unobtainable.
Hard dates, also called ‘bread’ or ‘camel’ dates, are dry and fibrous even when fresh, and when further dried become extremely hard, friable, and again intensely sweet, though with a good flavour. They may be left whole or ground into flour. Either way, they remain in good condition for years. These were the staple food dates of the Arab world, particularly for nomads. However, with the arrival of modern packaging and marketing, these dates are probably passing into history.
The dates most popular in the West are of the semi-dry type. It is these which are sold packed in the familiar long boxes with a stem, or plastic imitation thereof, between the rows. The dates grown in the USA are nearly all of this type. The flavour is less sweet than that of the other types, and more aromatic and distinctive.
When dates are classified by their degree of ripeness and the extent to which they have been dried, it is the Arabic terms which are used internationally. These start with khalal, which refers to fruits which have reached full size but are still green and not really edible; progress through bisr (marked by colour change and the commencement of conversion to sugars) and rutab (softening and darkening); and end with tamr, the stage when the dates are ready for packing.
For details of some of the numerous named varieties of date, see the section on Date varieties which follows.
For other products of the date palm, see Palm sugar, Sago, and Date palm flower. See also Palm, for the delicacy known as ‘palm cabbage’ or ‘palm heart’ (the terminal bud at the top of the tree which can only be obtained at the cost of killing the tree, so normally taken from a less valuable species of palm).
The date is a fruit whose qualities and uses vary considerably according to the variety being grown. And there are very many varieties, as an interesting book by Popenoe (1913) attests in a readable manner.
The reproductive characteristics of the date palm ensure that growing plants from seed is a lottery with regard to the eating qualities and productivity of the palm. The only way to ensure particular characteristics is to propagate vegetatively. In practice date orchards are developed in this way as particular palms are selected for desirable aspects such as fruiting season, bearing capacity, keeping and transport characteristics, and above all flavour. Various numbers are quoted for the named varieties in any one of the main producing countries, with 600 being a common figure. Certain varieties have come to dominate the market and it is these dates which have entered world commerce.
When first studied in detail in the early part of the 20th century many of these varieties had a localized distribution in one country or even in one cultivated area. Improved transport and communications have enabled the spread of particularly fine examples to challenge the past domination of Deglet Noor in world commerce. In the main producing countries 30 to 40 named varieties will be found in the markets during the season and represent the diversity which is still available to local consumers.
A selection of the main world varieties with the characteristics which have ensured their popularity follows:
Philip Iddison is a British road engineer whose hobby when he is working on projects abroad (Turkey, Thailand, the Gulf States) is to accumulate all possible data about local foods.
Popenoe, Paul B. (1913), Date Growing in the Old and New Worlds, Altadena, Calif.
