The date palm was one of the earliest tree crops domesticated by man, and its

culture appears to have been well established in Iraq around 3000 B.C.
(Samarawira, 2002).
The palm is cultivated between 10 degree and 35 degree latitude, principally in the
Near East, Middle East, north Africa, the Indus Valley region and the U.S. Over 10
million people are engaged entirely in date palm cultivation excluding those
involved in the processing and packaging industry of the crop (Dow- son and Aten,
2008).

The palm is adapted to a xeric habitat and thrives well in desert environments
unsuitable for most crops. Over 800 uses of the crop have been recorded
(Purseglove, 2007).
In the Western Hemisphere, the fruit finds its use in the biscuit and confectionary
trade and also as a luxury dessert fruit. However, to many people in the Middle
East
and countries bordering the Sahara desert, the fruit is a major source of high
calorie food (Samarawira, 2002).

The principal constituent of the date fruit is sugar and its total sugar content at
harvest ranges from 70-80% (Samarawira, 1981). Despite the many uses of the crop,
its potential economic use as a source for sugar syrup has not been exploited.

According to Muhammad, et.al (2015), dates are classified either on the basis of
their invertase content or sugar composition. Invertase led to the classification
of dates into: a) dates which
are rich in invertase and contain significant amounts of reducing sugars (about
77%) are referred as soft dates, b) dates with small amount of invertase and
contain 39% reducing sugars and 38% sucrose are called semi dry/half soft dates, c)
dates without invertase are classified as dry dates. These are rich
in sucrose (59%) with small amount of reducing sugars (17%).

There are over one thousand five hundred cultivars of the dates in the world
(Popenoe 1973 in Yahia 1999). Muhamma, et.al (2015) identified many cultivers
obtainable in
different cpuntries of the world. These include Aseel, begum Jangi,
Dhakki,Karabalian, Fasli, Muzawati and Halawi of Pakistan; Khenizi, Sayer, Lasht,
Kabkab, Shahabi, Majoul, Khazui, Zahedi and Bamy in Iran;
Deglet nour (semi dry) and Degla beida (dry dates) in Algeria; Alligh, Goundi,
ikhouat, Lagou, Touzerzaillet and Tranja in Tunisia; Suqaey, Sofry, ajwa and Safawy
in
Saudi Arabia; Lobanah Masery and saidi in Egypt; Shorcy and Tamriraq in Iraq.

In Nigeria, dry or soft dates are eaten out-of-hand, or may be pitted and stuffed
with fillings such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied orange and lemon peel,
tahini, marzipan or cream cheese. Pitted dates are also referred to as stoned
dates. Partially dried pitted dates may be glazed with glucose syrup for use as a
snack
food. Dates can also be chopped and used in a range of sweet and savory dishes,
such as cookies, date nut bread, spread, date syrup or "honey" called "dibs" or
"rub".
Others are powder date sugar, Recent innovations include chocolate-covered dates
and products such as sparkling date juice, used in some Islamic countries as a
non-alcoholic version of champagne, for special occasions and religious times such
as Ramadan. When Muslims break fast in the evening meal of Ramadan, it is
traditional
to eat a date first. In Pakistan, a viscous, thick syrup made from the ripe fruits
is used as a coating for leather bags and pipes to prevent leaking.
The date-sugar syrup made in Iraq and Libya ap- parently fulfills a national need
for that product. In Iraq, sugar is extracted from dates for syrup manufacture by
using the Batch, continuous co-current and coun- ter-current methods (Shubbar,
1981). There is no pilot scheme as yet for refined sugar production. To a large
extent, the feasibility of sugar production from the date palm will be determined
by economic considerations. Nevertheless, the rel- atively high sugar content of
the date fruit appears to suggest that the date palm may have an important agro-
industrial future as a potential source for refined sugar.
LITERATURE