Assessing Fruit Characteristics to Standardize Quality Norms in Date Cultivars of Saudi Arabia

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L) is the most important crop of the Gulf region in the Middle-East. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with an estimated 25 million date palms produces nearly a million tones of dates annually with a good potential for exporting the surplus produce. In order to standardize quality norms of major date cultivars in the Kingdom, studies were taken up at the National Date Palm Research Centre, Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia to ascertain fruit characteristics of dates (Tamar stage) in the cultivars Khalas, Sheshi and Reziz with respect to fruit weight (g) , size of fruit (length and breath), number of fruits /500g, fruit moisture, colour and texture. Khalas recorded the maximum fruit length in all the three categories of large, medium and small sized fruits. With regard to the breath of fruits, the cultivar Sheshi registered the highest values. Further, Sheshi recorded the highest fruit weight values, which in turn influenced the number of fruits per unit weight, with Sheshi recording the least number of fruits per 500g. The cultivar Khalas had the least fruit moisture and the highest mean ΔE for colour indicating light colour (yellow) fruits. We also studied four texture parameters viz, hardness, springiness, cohesiveness and resilience of Khalas, Sheshi and Reziz date cultivars. Findings of this investigation will strengthen the data base of fruit quality norms in major Saudi Arabian date cultivars and boost export of dates from the Kingdom, besides protecting the identity of the cultivars studied.