Suad NA-H, Jiwan SS. Functional foods from date fruits. In: Shi J, Ho C-T, Shahidi F, editors. Asian functional foods. New York: CRC Press; 2005. pp. 491–524. [ Google Scholar] Date syrup has all the nutritional benefits of its fruit; the minerals, vitamins, and calories in this product will be so healthy and energy-boosting. Since no sugar is added to the syrup, dates syrup will be one of the healthiest sweeteners you can find in the stores. Is date syrup healthy? Ratti C. Hot air and freeze-drying of high-value foods: a review. J Food Eng. 2001; 49(4):311–319. doi: 10.1016/S0260-8774(00)00228-4. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] You can consume date syrup as a single product, like honey. It is a useful product to add a sweet flavour to different drinks such as tea or any beverages. It is easy to find recipes with date syrup. Since it is sweet, you can mostly make cakes and different desserts with this product.

Entezari MH, Hagh Nazary S, Haddad Khodaparast MH. The direct effect of ultrasound on the extraction of date syrup and its micro-organisms. Ultrason Sonochem. 2004; 11(6):379–384. [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Pectinase/cellulase enzymatic extraction: the date fruit pulp was blended with 3 times of distilled water and the pH value was adjusted to 6.0±0.2 before the addition of enzyme preparations. Pectinase enzyme was obtained in already available liquid form, but in the case of cellulase, 250mg of enzyme powder was dissolved in 100ml distilled water before use (or 50 U of pectinase and 5 U of cellulase). Pectinase and cellulase enzyme preparations were added at the rate of 1% for each; on a date pulp weight basis. The mixture of date pulp, water and enzyme preparations was mixed carefully and incubated at 40±2°C for 90min (or during the 120min at 50°C) with a continuous shaking. At the end of the incubation period, the mixture was autoclaving using 15psi steam pressure for 10min to stop the enzyme activity (Abbès et al. 2011; Al-Hooti et al. 2002). The pulp was preheated to 45°C and divided into different parts of enzyme treatment. The pectinase enzyme was pipetted (0.05 and 0.1ml / 100g pulp) into the date pulp. The enzyme treated pulp was incubated at 45°C for 30–150min. After clarification, treated date pulp was pressed in a hydraulic press for extracting the juice. The date juice yield was measured and recorded as weight/weight of pulp. The juice was heated to 85°C for 60s to inactivate the added enzyme and cooled (Kulkarni et al. 2010). Dehghan-Shoar Z, Hamidi-Esfahani Z, Abbasi S. Effect of temperature and modified atmosphere on quality preservation of sayer date fruits ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) J Food Process Preserv. 2010; 34(2):323–334. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2008.00349.x. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] WHO . Wholesomeness of irradiated food: report of the Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO expert committee. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1981. [ Google Scholar]Today’s recipe is my most recent obsession, which I found out about by complete accident. In search of whether something like healthy sugar actually exists, I came across date syrup or Silan (also referred to as date nectar or date honey) – a natural, liquid sweetener that is a staple in several Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, date syrup contains many more antioxidants than maple syrup, making it a perfect product for brain health. What is date syrup used for? Thermal processing is one of the conventional preservation methods which assures processed foods to be safe and shelf-stable (Ramaswamy and Chen 2002), so by giving time at a specified temperature to the food it can be ensured that the products do not pose a public health problem (Holdsworth 2004). Al-Farsi M, Alasalvar C, Al-Abid M, Al-Shoaily K, Al-Amry M, Al-Rawahy F. Compositional and functional characteristics of dates, syrups, and their by-products. Food Chem. 2007; 104(3):943–947. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.12.051. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] While I do enjoy lot of Dates, but unfortunately I cut down on Dibs wa Thineh.......however I make up on Masgouf and probably Masgouf deserves it's own thread.

Azelmat K, ElGarrouj D, Mouhib M, Sayah F. Irradiation of ‘Boufeggous’ dates: effects on chemical composition during storage. Postharvest Biol Technol. 2006; 39(2):217–222. doi: 10.1016/j.postharvbio.2005.10.008. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Very interesting. I recently bought grape molasses (haven't used it yet), I'm assuming it is used similarly to the date molasses? I have seen recipes that call for it to be mixed with tehina. From what I've read, the grape molasses seems to be more prevalent in Turkish cuisine, whereas the date molasses is more Iraqi. I'm also wondering if date molasses would be the same thing as date honey? (Apparently the phrase "land of milk and honey" refers to date honey.) Al-Farsi M, Alasalvar C, Morris A, Baron M, Shahidi F. Comparison of antioxidant activity, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and phenolics of three native fresh and sun-dried date ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties grown in Oman. J Agric Food Chem. 2005; 53(19):7592–7599. doi: 10.1021/jf050579q. [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Wilkinson VM, Gould GW. Food irradiation: a reference guide. New York: CRC Press; 1996. [ Google Scholar]Ashraf Z, Hamidi-Esfahani Z. Date and date processing: a review. Food Rev Int. 2011; 27(2):101–133. doi: 10.1080/87559129.2010.535231. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Ultrasonic extraction: the date fruit pulp was blended 3 times with distilled water and then, the mixture was mixed carefully and the extraction was carried out at 30±5°C for 30min in ultrasonic device (Entezari et al. 2004).