The fresh, yellow fruits still taste astringent. Only in the brown, overripe fruits are the tannins degraded and the honey-sweet, caramel-like taste dominates.

Where these palm trees are indigenous, the fruits are used to make jallab, a traditional drink, which also contains carob, rose water and grape molasses. But above all, the fresh consumption of the dried fruits is the main focus. The proportion of sucrose, fructose or glucose in the dried fruit depends on whether these belong to the juicy (e.g., ‘Medjool’), medium dry (e.g., ‘Deglet Nour’) or dry (e.g., ‘Thoory’) varieties. Due to the high sugar content, dates are sometimes used as sugar substitutes and can be the basis of various sweets, for example in date bread or nut bread (USA). Other products are Ajwa (paste made from dates), spreads, liqueurs, dates, date sugar and dates syrup.

• Edible Fruits
• Also edible Seeds Sap
• Type of fruit Stone Fruits
• Culinary Group Stone fruits Sugar plants
• Taste sweet
• Trivial names Echte Dattel, Dattelpalme, Date, Dattier, Bener
• Size 4 cm (singe fruit)
• Taxonomy Arecaceae Phoenix dactylifera
• Origin Near East (Map)
• Locality Kleinmarkthalle Frankfurt 2015