Sweetening Potential and Phytonutrient Constituents of Date Palm

Abstract

Granulated sugar is rich in calorie with little or no nutritional value. Excessive consumption of sugar is dangerous to human health for example, its increase blood pressure, causes, hyperglycaemia, inflammation and diabetes. Also, date palm have a unique, sweet, caramel-like taste. It had been reported that date palm have low glucose contents but is rich in fructose, it is therefore less likely to spike the blood sugar level. In this research, the fruits of date palm (phoenix dactylifera) was analysed for tis phytochemical and Nutritional components in order to provide an up-to-date nutrient composition data and phytochemical potentials of these commonly grown and consumed fruits. The samples were collected from international market Lokoja Kogi state. The sample was extracted and analyzed for proximate values and mineral contents using the recommended method of the Association of Analytical Chemist. The result of the proximate analysis revealed that date palm contain 14% moisture, 11% ash, 5% lipid, 18% carbohydrate, 2% crude fibre and 0.53% protein. The samples were also screened for phytochemical properties using standard procedures. Alkaloids, terpenoid and saponins were found to be present in moderate proportion while flavonoid and tannin are detected in slight proportion. Phlobatanin was not detected in the sample. The phytochemical constituents show that apart from the nutritional value of date palm, it have a good health sustaining activities. The carbohydrate content of date palm detected in this research is nothing to be worried about despite the sweet taste therefore, date palm can serve as a potential sweetener without any side effect or damages that can arise as a result of consuming excess sugar.