Desert Date is a slow growing, evergreen or semi-deciduous, multi-branched, spiny shrub tree member of the zygophyllaceae family with a spherical crown which can grow up to 10 metres. It has long, straight, green spines arranged spirally along the branches.
• Its one of the neglected staple crops of increasing importance and usefulness in the drought and famine-prone areas.
Desert Date Details
It is valued for its edible Fruit, leaves and flowers and many other uses. Its ripe Fruit is edible and eaten in moderation (1-2) by people.
Young leaves and tender shoots are used as a Vegetable, prepared by boiling and pounding, then fried or mixed with fat.
The flowers are a supplementary food in West Africa and sucked in order to obtain their nectar.
A greenish-yellow to orange red Resin is produced from the stems. It is sucked and chewed when fresh.
The kernels produce an edible oil used for cooking. The oil remains stable when heated and has a high Smoking point, and therefore its free fatty acid content is low. The seed contains up to 50% oil.
History
Types & Varieties
Mechanism of Action
Additional Information
• Desert Date possess:
• Anti-oxidant,
• Anti-Microbial,
• Anti-Cancer,
• Diuretic,
• Hypocholesterolemic,
• Wound-healing,
• Anti-viral,
• Anti-diabetic,
• Hepatoprotective,
• Mosquito larvicidal,
• Anti-Inflammatory,
• Analgesic,
• Anti-venin,
• Anthelmintic,
• Cardioprotective cum anti-oxidant activity, and
• Anti-nociceptive properties.
Usable Parts
Directions of Preparation
Recommended Dosage
• Its all parts contain:
• Iron (the most abundant micro-nutrient in all balanites parts), followed by,
• Manganese,
• Zinc and,
• Copper,
• It fruits contain contain:
• Significantly higher moisture content (5.06%) than the leaves and flowers (1.88%), all of them can be considered to have lower moisture content when compared with other fruits and vegetables (Lockett et al., 2000),
• It fruits and bark contain contain:
• Saponins,
• Its fruit mesocarp contain:
• Protein (1.2-1.5%),
• Sugars (35-37%),
• Organic acids (15%),
• 3-Rutinoside and
• 3-rhamnogalactoside,
• Diosgenin,
• It also contain a mixture of 22R and 22S epimers of 26-(O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-3-ß-[4-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-2-O-(a-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-ß-D-glucopyranosyloxy]-22,26-dihydroxyfurost-5-ene,
• Balanitoside (furostanol glycoside),
• 6-methyldiosgenin,
• Balanitin-3 (spirostanol glycoside),
• Balanitin-6 and Balanitin-7,
• Diosgenyl Saponins,
• Two pregnane Glycosides (namely pregn-5-ene-3ß,16ß,20(R)-triol 3-O-(2,6-di-O-a-l-rhamnopyranosyl)-ß-d-glucopyranoside (balagyptin), and pregn-5-ene-3ß,16ß,20(R)-triol 3-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside),
• Long chain hydrocarbon,
• Xylopyranosyl derivative of above Saponin present in the mesocarp,
• Its fruits kernel contain:
• Protein (32.4%),
• 45-46% oil (which has fatty acids such as palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids),
• Nine (9) Saponin (where 6 are potent),
• It leaves contain contain:
• Significantly higher fat content than that in fruits pulp,
• Saponin,
• Furanocoumarin,
• Flavonoids (such as Quercetin-3-glucoside, Quercetin-3-Rutinoside; 3-glucoside, 3-Rutinoside, 3-7-diglucoside and 3-rhamnogalactoside of isorhamnetin),
• It leaves and flowers contain contain:
• Rich in macro-nutrients (such as Potassium, Sodium and Magnesium respectively) than in its fruit pulp,
• Crude Protein content is greater in the leaves and flowers (16.95%) than in the fruit pulp (5.4%),
• Its leaves and fruit kernels contain:
• Six (6) diosgenin glucosides (including di-glucosides, tri-glucosides, and tetra-glucosides).
• Hydrolysis of the Saponins gives 25D-spirosta-3, 5-diene and 3ß-chloro-25D-spirost-5-ene balanitin-1, balanitin-2, and balanitin-3,
• Its roots contain:
• Glycosides (about 1%),
• Yamogenin (major sapogenin),
• Other Glycosides are (3ß,12 a,14ß,16ß)-12-hydroxycholest-5-ene-3,16-diyl bis(ß-D-glucopyranoside), (3ß,20S,22R,25R)-, and (3ß,20S,22R,25S)-26-(ß-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-22-methoxyfurost-5-en-3-yl-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1?3)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1?4)[a-L rhamnopyranosyl-(1?2)]-ß-D-glucopyranoside; and (3ß,20S,22R,25R)- and (3ß,20S,22R,25S)-spirost-5-en-3-yl ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1?3)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1?4) [a-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1?2)]-ß-D-glucopyranoside, and ,
• Balanitins 1-7 (from the root and bark),
• Its bark contain:
• Furanocoumarin bergapten,
• Dihydrofuranocumarin D-marmesin,
• Two (2) Alkaloid (N-trans-feruloyltyramine and N-cis-feruloyltyramine),
• Three (3) common metabolites (vanillic acid, syringic acid and 3-hydroxy-1-[4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl]-1-propanone),
• Long-chain aliphatic compound, 10-methyl-n-heptacosane, and diglucosyldirhamnoside (a new sugar reported to be found from the stem-barks),
• Bergapten,
• Marmesin,
• Beta-Sitosterol glucoside,
• Balanitins 1-3 (balanitin-1 for example possesses a Yamogenin aglycone with a branched glucose and rhamnose side chain),
Note:
* Saponins is a bitter and Poisonous plant substance that is poorly absorbed by the Human Body and so most pass through without harm).
* It is not advisable to eat large quantities of food that contain Saponins.
* Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes in order to stupefy or kill the fish.
* Saponins can be removed by carefully leaching in running Water, thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking Water once, will also normally remove most of them.
Health Benefits of Desert Date
Cancer & Tumor Prevention
• Its Fruit kernel oil exhibit Anti-Cancer activity against lung, Liver, and brain human carcinoma cell lines. It also had anti-mutagenic activity against Fasciola gigantica-induced mutagenicity.
• A mixture of Steroidal Saponins (balanitin-6 and balanitin-7) isolated from Desert Date kernels, demonstrate appreciable Anti-Cancer effects in human Cancer cell lines (such as Lung Cancer and glioblastoma cell lines).
Foods & Cancer
Cardiovascular System
• Desert Date plant acts as an anti-oxidant against adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity and a pre-treatment with Desert Date extract significantly prevents the alterations and restore the enzyme activities to near normal levels.
Note:
* Adriamycin reduces the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and plasma catalase (CAT) on heart tissue by causing elevation of serum lactate dehydrogenase, creatine phosphokinase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, Lipid peroxide, total nitric oxide, erythrocyte lysate, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and plasma catalase (CAT) on heart tissue.
Foods & Cardiovascular System
Circulatory System
• An oral administration of the aqueous extract of Desert Date (30% w/v given at 100 ml every 8 hours for 30 days) for the treatment of HIV (AIDS) and Leukemia patients.
• Desert Date has shown a good increase in platelets and a normal blood differential reading after one month (30 days).
Foods & Circulatory System
Diabetes
• Desert Date Fruit mesocarp extract of pure Saponin is reported as a Hypoglycemic agent, having hypocholesterolemic effect. In Egyptian folk medicine, Desert Date Fruits are used as an oral Hypoglycemic and an anti-diabetic.
Foods & Diabetes
Digestive System
• Desert Date roots decoction is used as an emetic (causes Vomiting) and an infusion of Desert Date bark is used to treat Heartburn.
• Its Fruits are used to treat dysentery and Constipation. Its root and fruits are used in various folk medicines for the treatment of abdominal pain and as purgative. In Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, and Ethiopia, Desert Date is taken as a purgative for Colic and stomach ache.
• Its also used as a Laxative in the treatment of Hemorrhoids, stomach aches, and yellow Fever. The roots are boiled in a soup to be used in the treatment of Dropsy / Edema and stomach pains.
Foods & Digestive System
Immune System
• Its roots decoction is used to treat Malaria as it has purgative and vermifuge properties. Its Fruit mesocarp extracts have a reported mosquito larvicidal activity against A. aegypti and Culex pipiens. The amount of Saponin is correlated with larval mortality.
• Its seed is used as a febrifuge (reduces Fever).
Note:
* The extracts of Desert Date plants demonstrate the highest anti-bacterial activity than Moringa oleifera.
* The activities of these plant extracts are comparable with those of Anti-Biotics, ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, and chloramphenicol, commonly used for treating typhoid Fever.
• Desert Date and Moringa leaves extracts (shown to contain Saponins, Tannins, and Phenols) are reported to have anti-bacterial effect against salmon fishella typhi, where anti-bacterial activity appears to increase when extracts of the two (2) plants were used in combination at 100 mg/ml each.
• Its stem bark acetone and methanolic extracts have anti-venin activity against saw-scaled (Echis carinatus) viper venom concentration at lethal dose (0.194 mg/ml), when administered intramuscularly to Wistar albino rats.
• Its leaves extracts and fractions have shown a significant anti-oxidant inhibitory activities against xanthine oxidase and acetylcholinesterase. The anti-oxidant activities are correlated significantly with its total Phenolic and Flavonoid contents.
• The plant is a potential source of Steroidal sapogenins (diosgenin) for the hemisynthesis of corticosteroids.
Foods & Immune System
Infections
• Desert Date has Anti-malarial and molluscidal activity, where the root, bark, kernel, and Fruit have been shown to be lethal to mollusks. An emulsion made from the Fruit and bark is lethal to the freshwater snails that are the host of miracidia and cercaria stages of bilharzia and to a Water flea that acts as a host to the guinea worm.
• Its Fruit kernel oil has anti-viral activity against Herpes simplex virus and also an Anti-Microbial activity against selected Strains of Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and Candida.
• Its bark is used in the treatment of syphilis, round worm Infections, and as a fish Poison.
• Desert Date aqueous leaf extract and Saponins isolated from its kernel cakes have anti-bacterial activity.
Foods & Infections
Intestine
• In Chifra District, the root of plant is used for the treatment of render pest and anthrax. Desert Date possesses Anthraquinones.
• In East Africa, Desert Date seeds are used as Anthelmintic (destroys or expels intestinal worms) and purgative (causes evacuation of Fluid excrement). Desert Date Fruit kernel oil also has Anthelmintic activity against Hepatic worms (schistosoma mansoni and fasciola gigantica). For intestinal worm, the Fruits are dried and mashed in millet porridge and eaten.
Foods & Intestine
The Liver
• Desert Date Fruit aqueous extract is used in Sudanese folk medicine in the treatment of Jaundice. Its Fruit aqueous extract show hepatoprotective activity and significant decrease in serum bilirubin level. The bilirubin concentration can be reduced by 22.2%.
Foods & The Liver
Musculoskeletal System
• Desert Date wood Gum, mixed with Corn (Maize) meal porridge, is used to treat chest pains.
• Desert Date ethanol and petroleum ether extracts show a greater Anti-Inflammatory and analgesic effects compared with the standard drugs (such as indomethacin and diclofenac Sodium, respectively).
Foods & Musculoskeletal System
Respiratory System
• For Asthma, about 10gm of Desert Date seed powder is taken with glass of Water in the morning for 10 days.
Foods & Respiratory System
Skin Health
• In Libya and Eritrea, Desert Date leaves are used for cleaning infected Wounds.
Foods & Skin Health
The Brain & Nervous System
• Desert Date latex is used in Epilepsy, administered through intra-nasal route.
Foods & Nervous System
Women Health
• A mixture of dried leaves powder of Desert Date and Castor Seed oil (ricinus communis) in Water is used in Nigeria, while in Somalia, Desert Date root bark is crushed and mixed with two (2) cups of Water, which is then filtered. This preparation is repeated for three (3) days and one (1) cup is drunk three (3) times daily for three (3) days.
Foods & Women Health
