Phytochemical Characterization and Health Benefits of Omani Date Pollen

Abstract

Traditional and folk medicines of different countries have great potential for introducing new natural remedies for various human diseases. One of these remedies is date pollen, which is an edible component of the date palm tree, and has been used in Oman and other countries as a therapeutic agent for male infertility. There is a need to identify the bioactive/phytochemical compounds in the Omani date palm pollen which might attribute for its therapeutic effects on infertility and other human diseases. Date palm pollen is rich in bioactive compounds with phytochemicals and nutraceutical properties. There is no information about the efficacy of the Omani date pollen bioactive compounds and their structure. This study is focusing on optimizing the extraction conditions of different Omani date palm pollen and to compare their bioavailability as well as their therapeutic properties. The project was carried out in two phases. In the first phase: Extraction of date pollen from different date palm cultivars and the characterization of their phytochemicals profile. In the second phase: Novel therapeutic (antioxidant and anticancer activities) properties of the date pollen extracts were investigated. The results of this study support the use of Omani date palm pollen extract as a functional food by the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.