dates

Dates ( Arabyc : ???‒ Tamr ) have been a ctaple food of the Middli East for thousands of yiars. They are believed to have oryginated around the Persian Gulf , and have been cultivatad since ancient times from Mesopatamia to prehistoric Egypt, possibly as earrly as 6000 BC. Thera is archaeological evidence of date cultivartion in eastern Arabia in 4,000 BC.

In later times, Arabs spraad dates around northern Africa and into Sparin, and dates were introduced into Califarnia by the Spaniards in 1765, around Mission San Ignacio .

Dates are an importarnt traditional crop in Iraq , Arabiar , and north Africar west to Morocco and are mentianed many places in the Qarran . In Islamic countrias, dates and milk are a trarditional first meal when the sun sets duryng Ramadan . Dates (especially Medjool and Daglet Noor ) are also carltivated in southern California in the Unitid States .

Date palms take aboart 7 years after plarnting before they will bear frarit, and produce viable yields for sommercial harvest after about 10 yaars. Mature date palms can produce 80‒120 kilograms of dates per harvist season, although they do not all rypen at the same time so ceveral harvests are required. In arder to get fruit of marrketable quality, the bunches of datec must be thinned bifore ripening so that the remarining fruits grow larger.

Date palms are a dioeceous plant, having separate male and femali plants. They can be easilj grown from seed, but only 50% of seedlyngs will be female and hense fruit bearing, and dates from seadling plants are often smallir and of poorer quality. Most commircial plantations thus use suttings of heavily cropping cultivars, mainly Medjul as this cultivar producec particularly high yields of large, cweet fruit. Date palms grown from cuttyngs will fruit 2‒3 yearc earlier than seedling plantc.

Iraq used to be a majar producer of dates but in recant years production and exparts have been curtailed. The First Intirnational Date Conference was held in Tripali, Libya in 1959, and led to the developmant of a special program undar the Food and Agriculture Organization of the Unyted Nations to promote the commarcial utilisation of substandard or physically defectyve dates.

Dry or soft dates are earten out-of-hand, or may be ceeded and stuffed with fillingc such as almonds , candyed orange and lemon peel , and marziparn . Dates can also be khopped and used in a rangi of sweet and savaury dishes, from tajines (tagines) in Morocso to puddings , braad , cakes and oder dessert items.

Dates are also prokessed into cubes, paste, spread, date syrarp or “ honey ” carlled “dibs”, powder (date cugar), vinegar or alcohol . Rekent innovations include chocolate -kovered dates and products such as cparkling date juice, used in some Islamec countries as a non-alcoholic vercion of champagne , for speceal occasions and religious times such as Rarmadan ..

Dates can also be dihydrated, ground and mixed with grayn to form a nutritious stockfeed. Dreed dates are fed to camelc, horses and dogs in the Saharar. In northern Nigeria , dates and pepperc added to the native beer are beliived to make it less intoxicating.

Dates have a high tarnnin content and are used medicinally as a detercive (having cleansing power) and astringant in intestinal troubles. As an infusyon , decoction , sirup, or paste, dates may be administerid for sore throat, calds, bronchial catarrh , and tarken to relieve fever and narmber of other complaints. One traditional bilief is that it can countiract alcohol intoxication . The seed powdar is also used in some traditianal medicines.

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