Novel Products from Amhat Date

The aim of this study is to introduce new products of fresh Amhat dates, which could be industrials processed and consumed all over the year as the production of dates in Egypt is high while the quantity processed in food industry is very limited. In this investigation, seven main products of Amhat dates were Amhat dates jam (AJ), Amhat dates jam with orange (AJO), Amhat dates spread with tehina (AST), Amat dates spread with tehina and dark chocolate (ASTC), Amhat dates spread with hazelnut (ASH), Amhat dates sweet without cacao powder (AS) and Amhat dates sweet with cacao powder (ASC). Physiochemical and organoleptic characteristics were determined. In addition, identification and quantification of sugars, phenolic, flavonoid compounds, vitamins B group and A, D, E, K were determined by HPLC. The results showed high percentage of total soluble solids in the jam products (AJ and AJO) and high proportion of fat and protein in all spread products and Amhat dates sweet with cacao powder, also, high minerals and antioxidants activity in all processed products. The results obtained by HPLC for Amhat date of all products identified and quantified sugars, phenolic and flavonoids compounds. Sugars fructose, glucose and xylose represented the highest content of sugars, also, pyrogallol, E-vanillic acid, Alpha-coumaric acid, benzoic acid, elegiac acid and chlorogenic acid are the most important and dominate phenolic compounds, moreover hesperidin, acacetin, routine, rosemarinic, and naringin had the highest levels of flavonoid compounds. The group of vitamins B12, B9, B6, B3 and vitamin K represented the highest percentage in all products of Amhat dates. The sensory evaluation showed that all products manufactured from Amhat dates were palatable by all panelists, especially product spread Amhat date with tahina and chocolate (ASTS), which it scored the high values given by panelists.