Dates – These Exotic Fruits have Amazing Health Properties
People have used dates (Date Palm or Phoenix dactylifera) as an addition to salty meals or desserts since ancient times, especially in the Near East, but a recent study conducted by the famous British Cardiff Metropolitan University has shown that its chemical composition could be extremely effective when it comes to protection and elimination of bacterial infections, especially in cases of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
Hajer Taleb, a PhD student at Cardiff Metropolitan University has tested the effects of date syrup produced in Basra, Iraq on colonies of bacteria grown in a lab. He concluded that date syrup contains numerous phenolic compounds that are naturally formed as the dates mature. These phenolic compounds, which can also be found in grapes, affect the texture, taste and color of the syrup and they are known as powerful antioxidants. In addition, Taleb has recently found that they also have strong antibacterial properties too.
He mixed date syrup with several types of bacteria, including Escherichia Coli, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Enterococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. In the next 6 hours, bacteria were not able to multiply. This conclusion was confirmed after he conducted the same test with artificial syrups which contained sugar identical to that found in dates, but they didn’t contain phenolic compounds. It turned out that they are not able to prevent further multiplication of bacteria.
These amazing results were presented at the annual conference of microbiologists held two weeks ago in the United Kingdom. According to Ara Kanekanian, Taleb’s mentor and respected food technologist, although these results are based on in vitro studies, they suggest that date syrup could be very useful because of its antibacterial properties. In some cases, date syrup can be more effective than raw honey.
Even though the research is still in lab phase, Kanekanian and Taleb believe that date syrup will soon find its clinical use just like honey which is used as a disinfectant in cases of injuries.
Source NDTV