Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Fruit Processing Wastes and By-Products: Valorization Using Bioprocess Technology
摘要
Dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.), the fruit of the date palm, hold significant cultural, social, and economic importance in many regions. While primarily consumed fresh, dates are also processed into various products, generating substantial by-products. Although the composition and nutritional value are well-documented, recent research has increasingly focused on valorizing by-products such as date sheaths, low-quality dates, fallen fruits, date seeds, and date press cakes into biocommodities and bioproducts. Valorization involves transforming waste materials into valuable products, maximizing resource utilization, and contributing to sustainable development. Once considered waste, these by-products present substantial potential for various industrial applications. In the food industry, they are utilized in food ingredients, animal feed, food-grade biopolymers, fermentation, enzyme production, and food preservation through organic acids. In nonfood industries, valorization extends to bioplastics, biofuels, and building materials. This chapter provides an in-depth review of the compositional, biological, and functional properties and their valorization through bioprocessing technologies for food and nonfood applications.