Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity of Date Seeds

Abstract

Seeds  of  five  varieties  of  date  palm  (Phoenix  dactylifera  L.)  grown  in  Qassim  region,  Saudi  Arabia,  were  analyzed  for  their proximate  composition,  including  total  phenolic  compounds  (TP),  and  antioxidant  activities.  Water,  ethanol,  methanol,  and  acetone,  were evaluated as different polarity solvents to extract the phenolic compounds. Ethanol exhibited the highest extraction ability for such phenolic compounds (4.94%) followed by acetone (4.30%) and methanol (4.00%). Also, proximate composition (especially TP) in date seeds varied according to variety. The antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts, determined as Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) using 1,1-Diphenyl-2-  Picrylhydrazyl  (DPPH)  assay,  ranged  from  1163  to  1650  µmole  TEAC/g  on  wet  weight  basis.  This  study  exhibits  the antioxidant activity of date seeds which could be considered as a good source of antioxidant ingredient.