Palm Flower Research Articles

479 Fruit Characteristics and Productivity of Date Palm Trees (Phoenix dactylifera L.) as Affected by Some Growth Regulators

Date palm trees are among the most plentiful fruit trees in the Arabian Gulf States. Bioregulators have been used for the improvement of quality and productivity of date plam tree fruits. Application of gibberellic acid (GA3), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), and ethephon, separately or in a mixture, has significant effects on fruit set, fruit dry matter percentage, fruit soluble percentage, fruit ripening, and yield of date palm trees. A study was conducted to assess relative effectiveness of GA3, NAA, ethephon, and a mixture of growth regulators on some fruit characteristics, and productivity of `Barhee' date plam trees. Five uniform female `Barhee' date palm trees were pollinated on 5–15 Mar. 1994, 1995, and 1996 by placing eight fresh male strands on female spadix centers (flower cluster). Ten flower clusters were used on each tree, and every two flower clusters were subjected to one of the following treatments: control (water), 150 mg·L–1 GA3, 100 mg·L–1 NAA, 1000 mg·L–1 ethephon, and a mixture of growth regulators. The fruit set (%), dry matter (%), total soluble solids (°Brix), fruit ripening (%), and fruit weight (kg per bunch and per tree) were measured. The data showed that the application of GA3 or ethephon on flower clusters of `Barhee' date palm trees had no constant effect on fruit characteristics and productivity of trees. NAA or a mixture of growth regulators reduced fruit dry matter percentage, fruit ripening percentage, and increased fruit weight per bunch and per tree. Spraying `Barhee' date palm flower clusters with NAA or a mixture of growth regulators 20 days after pollination decreased dry matter percentage, fruit ripening, and increased fruit flesh percentage and tree yield.

Microfiltration system with swirling flow around filter medium

The Chihuahua desert has different plant species that have historically been used as food for a long time. Some of these plants can be novel sources of dietetic fiber, which is considered a functional ingredient. The aim of this work was determine the chemical and functional properties of six desert sources of dietary fiber: cabuche, palm flower, leaves of smooth amaranth, peel pickle pears, green and ashen agave bagasse. A proximate analysis was carried out to determine moisture, ash, protein and extractable lipid. Content of insoluble fiber (IF), soluble fiber (SF), and dietary total fiber (DTF), as well as the functional properties of dietary fiber as water holding capacity (WHC), swelling capacity (SW), oil holding capacity (OHC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined. The results showed that leaves of smooth amaranth were chemically different to the other analyzed samples. On the other side, the best DTF and IF content was observed in cabuche, while agave bagasses (green and ashen), peel of prickly pears and leaves of smooth amaranth showed the highest SF content. The dietary fiber sources that presented the best functional properties were cabuche and palm flower for water hold capacity and swelling capacity properties and for the oil hold capacity and cation exchange capacity properties were agave bagasses (green and ashen) which suggest that they could be a good source of dietary fiber.