Evaluation of Oil Percentage, Content of Fatty Acids and Mineral Elements in Seeds of some Date Cultivars

Fruit and seed of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) have primary and special metabolites which result in therapeutic effects in preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, liver diseases and cancer. Date seeds have fatty acids and can be used in food, cosmetic health and pharmaceutical industries. Considering the effect of the cultivar on the type and contents of biochemical compounds, seeds of 7 date cultivars ('Ashrasi', 'Barhi', 'Bream', 'Khastawi', 'Khyara', 'Mekawi' and 'Zahdi') originated from Iraq, were investigated in terms of the amount and type of fatty acids and mineral nutrients. The seed percentage was different from 4% in 'Barhi' to 6.3% in 'Khyara'. The type and amount of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were affected by the cultivar. The highest amount of saturated fatty acids, capric acid (0.34%) and lauric acid (26.06%), was observed in 'Mekawi' and the highest caprylic acid (0.35%) content was observed in 'Barhi'. The highest content of myristic acid (12.60%) and margaric acid (0.28%) was observed in 'Khastawi' and the highest content of palmitic acid (11.99%) and stearic acid (3.76%) was observed in 'Zahdi'. The type of cultivar had no effect on the oleic acid content, while the content of linoleic acid in 'Khastawi' was significantly higher than 'Zahdi'. The content of mineral elements was also affected by the type of cultivar. The highest phosphorus content is in 'Khyara' (0.35%) and 'Bream' (0.32%), the highest amount of potassium is in 'Mekawi' (0.44%) and 'Khastawi' (0.43), the highest calcium content was observed in 'Khastawi' (403 mg/kg) and the highest content of iron was observed in 'Ashrasi' (21.4 mg/kg) cultivar.