Physico-chemical characteristics and fungal profile of four Saudi fresh date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars

Fahad Al-Asmari; Nilesh Nirmal; Mridusmita Chaliha; David Williams; Ram Mereddy; Kinnari Shelat; Yasmina Sultanbawa

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.125

Physico-chemical characteristics and fungal profile of four Saudi fresh date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars

Food Chem. 2017 Apr 15:221:644-649. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.125. Epub 2016 Nov 23.

Authors

Fahad Al-Asmari¹, Nilesh Nirmal², Mridusmita Chaliha³, David Williams⁴, Ram Mereddy⁴, Kinnari Shelat⁵, Yasmina Sultanbawa⁶

Affiliations

¹ Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Australia; Department of Food and Nutrition Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
² Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Australia.
³ Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Australia; Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Australia; Australian Institute of Nano and Bioengineering (AIBN), Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF), The University of Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: y.sultanbawa@uq.edu.au.

PMID: 27979253
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.125

Abstract

Physico-chemical and microbial analyses of four commercial fresh date cultivars (Sukari, Barhi, Khalas and Rothana) grown in Saudi Arabia were evaluated. Colorimetric assay indicated that Sukari had the highest total sugar content of 13.21g/100gFW while the lowest was in Rothana with 7.96g/100gFW. Total phenolic content (TPC) ranged from 76.74 to 122.20mgGAE/100gFW in Barhi and Rothana respectively, whereas antioxidant activity was highest in Sukari (105.99μgGAE/gFW) and lowest in Khalas (90.81μgGAE/gFW). The dominant fungal genera were Aspergillus sp., Rhizopus sp., Penicillium sp. and Sarocladium sp., occurring at 37, 18, 13 and 12% respectively. The highest fungal occurrence was in Barhi (30%) followed by Sukari (29%), Khalas (26%) and Rothana (15%). The TPC had a negative correlation with fungal occurrence whilst the total sugars had a positive correlation.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Fungal occurrence; Phoenix dactylifera L.; Total phenolics.

MeSH terms

Antioxidants / analysis
Aspergillus / chemistry*
Phenols / analysis*
Phoeniceae / chemistry*
Saudi Arabia

Substances

Antioxidants
Phenols