Date (phoenix dactylifera L) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Date (phoenix dactylifera L) - Research Paper Example A single bunch of date palms that weighs about 8 kg may contain as many as 1000 dates. â€Å"The dried fruit is more than 50% sugar by weight and contains about 2% each of protein, fat and mineral water† (online-family-doctor.com, n.d.). Date palm belongs to the Phoenix dactylifera tree in the palm family. The mt genome of P. dactylifera shows a variety of unique traits as it happens to be the first of the family plants of palm. It not only positions at the known monocot mt genomes’ roots, but also has a significantly low repeat content level while it exhibits the RNA editing events in abundance. Date palm shows â€Å"a high level of chloroplast sequence insertions as compared to other known angiosperm mt genomes† (Fang et al., 2012, p. 9). There is no objective record of the exact location where and time when the date palm originated as this information is believed to have been lost in antiquity, yet there are many records that suggest the cultivation of date palm in 4000 B.C. as the date palm was employed in the construction of the moon god’s temple in the Southern Iraq, Mesopotamia. Another proof of the antiquity of this fruit is the Nile Valley in Egypt where the date palm was adopted to symbolize a year in the Egyptian hieroglyphics whereas the frond of the date palm was used as a month’s symbol. â€Å"[This information] is confirmed by history, and corroborated by the archaeological research into ancient historical remains of the Sumerians, Akadians and Babylonians†¦Houses of these very ancient people were roofed with palm tree trunks and fronds. The uses of date for medicinal purposes, in addition to its food value, were also documented† (Zaid and Wet, n.d.). Date palms are believed to originate in Babel, Iraq, though there are also evidences of its origination in Harqan, and Dareen. Date is one of the most nutritious and delicious fruits that have been