Basrah Journal For Date Palm Research

This study was conducted to identifying the possibility of using the date syrup (Rub-
Altmr) made by traditional and modern methods in preparing natural drink without added
sugar and preservatives, and determining its susceptibility to storage. The drink was
prepared from some samples of the home-made dates syrup (Rub Altmr) of varieties
(Degla Nour, Khadrai, Tasfert and Bekrari) and sample of dates dibs manufactured by
modern methods (Al-Waha Date Dibs / Al-Waha Company / Benghazi Libya) and preserve
the drink with pasteurization. The chemical and microbial properties of the drink were
measured three times during the storage period (0,5 and 8 months). A sensory evaluation
was performed to assess the quality attributes of the drink. Some date drink samples
recorded some chemical changes during the storage period, especially in total solids,
sugars, titrated acidity and pH. The obtained results indicated that the types of date syrup
(Rub- Altmr) under study (traditional and modern) are suitable for the manufacture of
pasteurized natural, flavored drink, and supported with vitamin C, and the date dibs sample
manufactured by modern method was the best among the samples under study in the
chemical, microbial and sensory properties as well as in chemical and microbial stability
during the storage period. The results of the sensory evaluation also showed that the date
syrup drink obtained the acceptance and satisfaction sensory atrbitrators, and high sensory
characteristics.

Date Palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.), is a dioecious monocotyledonous plant, with
separate male and female trees and it is impossible to distinguish tree sex at an early
stage until reaches the time of first flowering, which takes about 5-10 years. Date
palm trees are propagated either from seed or vegetative offshoot. Although
propagation with seeds is an economically desirable objective, which enhance
breeding programs for genetic improvements of the date palm but it is hard to
differentiate the male and female plants at early stages and that makes hard to
employ the genetic diversity. There have been numerous attempts to use the
biochemical and molecular markers at an early stage to discriminate among male and
female seedling. Here, we tested sex- specific PCR-based markers that may assist in
early gender determination at seedling stage. Four male varieties (Ghnami Ahmer,
Ghnami Akhdhar, Khkry and Khkry-Semesmy) and 4 female varieties (Breem,
Khidrawi Mandli, Maktoum and Teberzal) were subjected to PCR amplification
using 7 Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 8 Simple Sequences
Repeat (SSR) primers to identify sex-linked markers. Four SSR markers exhibited
differential fragments between males and females which indicate marker to detect the
sex in date palm seedling in the early stage. In order to identify the genome segments
unique to male, selected bands at 582 pb for mPdIRD80 for Ghnami Akhdhar and at
926 bp for RAJF1R1 for Khkry have been sent for sequencing. Nucleotide
sequences revealed high degree of similarity with Phoenix dactylifera L. sex-
determination region sequence and now are available in GenBank NCBI under the
Accession no. MK542703.1 and MK542705.1 for Ghnami Akhdhar and Khkry
varieties respectively.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of different concentrations of
Phloroglucinol (PG) (0, 25, 50 and 100) mg.l–1 on callus growth and shoot
regeneration of in vitro cultures of the date palm cv. Barhee. The addition of PG in a
concentration of 50 mg.l-1 to the culture medium was more effective in increasing the
weight of callus, percentage of callus response for shoots regeneration, as well as,
substantially increasing the number of shoots per a jar, compared to the other
treatments, including the control treatment, during different study periods. In
addition, our results showed a decrease in the browning and vitrification percentage
of cultured tissues at 50 mg.l-1 of PG, compared to other treatments.

Taxonomy is the science of law of arrangement and the attempt to come up with a method
or system for placing different plants into groups based on the similarities and the different
connections that combine them to facilitate their study. It can be counted on a key to
diagnosing date palm varieties and identifying them through their phenotypic (vegetative
and floral) properties. There is also the possibility to distinguish between the date palm
varieties using gel transfer technology for proteins and enzymes to analyze some gene
systems - enzymes. In addition to the possibility of studying the genetic variation between
the different varieties of date palm using the genetic fingerprint by following several
techniques as the genetic index a characteristic used to infer the presence of a specific site
on a chromosome or gene. Anatomical traits have been used in taxonomic studies for more
than a hundred years, and these traits are more beneficial at the level of genera and higher
taxonomic ranks.

This study was conducted during the growing season 2018, with the aim to study the effect
of pollution of heavy metals resulting from the combustion of fuel from oil wells in the
Nahran bin Omar region in some physical properties of fruits and the yield of date palm
trees Hillawi cultivar, in four sites with different dimensions are A (207 m) and B (2500
m), C (4000 m) and D (7,000 m) from the source of pollution, as well as a site for control
(35,000 m). The results of the study showed that the fruits in the site closest to the source
of pollution A recorded the highest mean in the weight, length and diameter of the fruit and
reached (8.65 g and 3.54 cm and 1.39 cm) respectively, with a significant difference
compared to other sites, while the lowest mean was found in the fruits of site B, which
were (5.37 g and 2.76 cm and 1.19 cm) respectively. The results also showed that the
highest tree production was at the control site of 42.82 kg with a significant difference
compared to other sites, while the lowest was at site A and reached 14.17 kg. The results of
the study showed that the proximity to the source of contamination with heavy elements
negatively affects the total yield of date palm trees, but it was positive in influencing the
physical characteristics of one fruit.

The present study was undertaken at tissue culture laboratory, Date Palm Research Centre-
Basrah University to determine the effect of Auxins and Cytokinens on the some
characteristics of somatic shoots (growth, development and rooting) of date palm cv.
Hillawi and Ashkar. Results showed that Benzyl amino purine superior significantly in the
average number of vegetative branches of the Hillawi cultivar (4.2) compared to Iso
pentyle adenine and Kinetin, when 1 mg/L concentration superior significantly compared
to other concentrations, which the number of branches was 6.37. The concentration of 1.0
mg/L of growth regulator Iso pentyle adenine exceeded the other concentrations
siginificantly in the mean number of vegetative branches and their lengths for Asker
cultivar as it reached 3.90 vegetative branches and 4.25 cm respectively. Also the results
showed the increase in the average number of vegetative branches when using the growth
regulator Iso pentyle adenine with a significant difference from the Kinetin, regardless of
the concentration and cultivar, as it reached 3.47 vegetative branches and there were no
significant differences in the average length of vegetative branches among the growth
regulators used, as the average length of vegetative branches reached 3.15 and 3.37 And
2.98 cm, respectively. In the comparison of cultivars, the Hillawi cultivar significantly
superior on the Asker cultivar in the average number of vegetative branches, as it reached
3.50 and 2.90 vegetative branches respectively for the two cultivars, and there were no
significant differences between the two cultivars in the average length of the branches.
The concentration 0.75 mg / l of Naphthalene acetic acid showed significant difference
than the other concentrations used except for the same concentration with Indole acetic
acid in increasing the percentage of rooting of the vegetative branches of 80 and 90% for
Hlillawi and Ashker cultivars respectively.