NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

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NFS Journal
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nfs

Dehydration of date fruit (Pheonix dactylifera L.) for the production of

natural sweet powder
Fayeza Hasan a, *, Akmal Nazir a, *, Bhawna Sobti a, Hamza Tariq b, Rehmat Karim b,
Ali H. Al-Marzouqi c, Afaf Kamal-Eldin a, *
a
Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, P. O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
b
Liwa Dates, Mezairaa, Abu Dhabi, P. O. Box 50238, United Arab Emirates
c
Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, P. O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The study aimed to produce natural additive-free powder from date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.). Dehydration of
Date fruit two date fruit varieties, i.e., Sukkari (semi-dry) and Barakawi (dry) was perforned at 65, 70 and 75 ◦ C up to 72 h
Phoenix dactylifera using a cabinet dryer. A temperature of 70 ◦ C was found optimum for drying of both varieties by considering
Dehydration
drying rate, total phenolic content, and hydroxymethylfurfural content. Barakawi date powder was found better
Powder
than the Sukkari counterpart on comparing the water activity and clumping, mainly due to a low initial moisture
Solubility
content of the corresponding date fruit. To overcome the issue of clumping, the powders were compressed into
tablets and cubes. The solubilities of the tablets/cubes were around 20% compared to 70–75% for powders. The
article also presents a comprehensive comparison of fine and coarse fractions of date fruit powders for various
physical parameters.

1. Introduction whereas, the same quantity of date fruit provides 282 kcal of energy, 8 g
fiber, 1 mg iron, 656 mg potassium, 0.29 mg zinc, and 0.206 mg copper
Date fruit (P. dactylifera, L.) is an important fruit of arid and semi- [60]. Thus, date fruit powder may provide a healthier option especially
arid regions. The total global production of dates amounted to since it was classified to have moderate to low glycaemic index [6,7,42].
88,71,351 t in 2018 with the top producing countries located in the However, drying of a hygroscopic fruit containing >65% sugars such as
Middle East and North Africa region [28]. The date fruit is intricately date [25] is not an easy task. Date fruits are usually classified into three
woven in the Arabic heritage and remains a major food security resource categories based on their moisture content at harvest: soft varieties
in some countries. The date fruit bears a good nutritional profile as a rich (>30% moisture, contain invert sugars and low in fiber), semi-dry va­
source of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, certain essential vitamins, and rieties (20–30% moisture, contain invert sugars), and dry varieties
minerals [4,32]. Moreover, it exhibits further health beneficial effects (<20% moisture, contain sucrose and high in fiber) [30,32,37]. The date
due to the presence of different bioactive compounds such as phenolic varieties with high dieatary fiber content could result in lower hygro­
compounds, anthocyanins, sterols, and carotenoids [23]. Various in scopicity but their powders are expected to have reduced solubility [22].
vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed the therapeutic potential of Hence, the challenge posed is two-fold: first is to dry dates such that a
date fruits [1,5,10,34,58,59]. Date fruits are mostly consumed as fresh, powder with limited level of caramelization could be formed, and sec­
while a small proportion is processed into various products like juice, ond is to deal with the hygroscopicity and solubility issues during
paste, spread and syrup, or used as ingredient in various food products storage of the powder.
like beverages, desserts, confectionary and baked items [36]. Several methods have been reported in literature for dehydration of
Here, we report production of date fruit powder that might replace dates in general, such as solar drying [12], hot-air drying [3], micro­
cane sugar in different food recipes like cookies [8], biscuits [24], etc. wave drying [13], and freeze drying [50]. A vacuum drier was used for
Typically, 100 g of cane sugar provides 387 kcal of energy, no fiber, making a powder out of date spread from three date varieties, having
0.05 mg iron, 2 mg potassium, 0.01 mg zinc, and 0.007 mg copper; low, medium, and high sugar contents [46]. Furthermore, spray drying

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Kamal-Eldin).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nfs.2022.02.002
Received 30 December 2021; Received in revised form 12 February 2022; Accepted 12 February 2022
Available online 10 March 2022
2352-3646/© 2022 Published by Elsevier GmbH on behalf of Society of Nutrition and Food Science e.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
F. Hasan et al. NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

[20,39] and foam-mat freeze drying [51] were also used for the pro­ dark for about 90 min, and then the absorbance was taken at 725 nm
duction of date fruit powder, but with the addition of considerable using a UV/VIS spectrophotometer (Jenway®, Model No. 7315, Staf­
amounts (up to 50%) of drying aids such as maltodextrin and gum fordshire, UK). Prior to the experiment, a calibration curve was con­
arabic, The addition of drying aids will certainly reduce date powder structed using known concentrations of gallic acid (1–100 mg/100 mL
sweetness and hygroscopicity but may also result in lower consumer distilled water). The results were expressed as milligram of gallic acid
acceptability. The objective of this study was to dry two date varieties equivalents (GAE) per 100 g powder. As the Folin-Ciocalteu assay is
belonging to the semi-dry class (variety Sukkari) and the dry class (va­ sensitive to light, the entire experiment was conducted under a fume
riety Barakawi) for the purpose of converting them into date fruit hood with the light switched off. TPC of the date powder samples from
powders without addition of any drying aid using a cabinet dryer under the different drying treatments were plotted as a function of drying time.
different conditions. Secondly, the quality of the produced date powder
was assessed through various physicochemical characteristics, namely 2.3.3. Content of hydroxymethylfurfural
residual moisture, phenolic content, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was determined using the procedure
solubility, color, flowability/compressibility, and hygroscopicity stated by White (1979) (White, 1979) with minor modifications. The
immediately after drying and during storage. date powder samples (3 g) were added to 15 mL distilled water and
mixed thoroughly. Afterwards, 300 μL of Carrez Solution I (potassium
2. Materials and methods ferrocyanide trihydrate) and 300 μL of Carrez Solution II (zinc acetate
dihydrate) were added, while gently the tube after every chemical
2.1. Chemicals and reagents addition. The resulting mixture was then centrifuged at 7000 rpm for 15
min. For better clarity, about 2 mL of the supernatant was re-centrifuged
Carrez Solution I (Potassium ferrocyanide trihydrate) (15 g/100 mL), in a micro-centrifuge at 7000 rpm for 15 min. Then, in a 96 well plate
Carrez Solution II (Zinc acetate dihydrate) (30 g/100 mL), Folin – Cio­ about 100 μL of the supernatant was added to 100 μL of sodium bisulfite
calteu reagent (dilution 1:10), Sodium bicarbonate (60 g/L), Sodium (0.2%). This acted as the blank (as bisulfite destroys HMF). Another 100
Bisulfite (0.2%), Sodium Chloride, Toluene (Sigma – Aldrich®, St. Louis, μL of supernatant was added to 100 μL of distilled water. All the
USA), Silica for desiccator (Supelco®, Bellefonte, USA), Gallic acid chemicals were prepared freshly before each experiment. The absor­
(1–100 mg/100 mL distilled water) (EMD millipore®, Burlington, USA). bance readings of 96 well plate was then taken at 284, 336, 900, and
975 nm in a microplate spectrophotometer (Multiskan Sky®, Thermo
2.2. Date varieties Scientific, Waltham, USA). The path-length correction of absorbance
values was carried as the difference in absorbance (A) at 975 and 900
Two date fruit varieties were used in this study, namely Sukkari nm, represented by a factor ‘K', and calculated as:
(semi-dry) and Barakawi (dry). Sukkari dates were kindly donated by
K = A975 − A900 (1)
Liwa Dates factory, Abu Dhabi (UAE) whereas Barakawi dates were
purchased from a local market in Sudan. The date samples, upon being The corrected absorbance to 1 cm (as would be the case in a spec­
brought to the laboratory, were placed in sealable plastic bags (weighing trophotometer) was determined as:
about 200 g) that were stored in the freezer (− 18 ◦ C) until use. Prior to
K
the experiment, the dates were brought to room temperature, de-seeded Acorrected = Araw × (2)
A975 (well) − A900 (well)
and cut into four longitudinal sections.
where, ‘Awell' denotes the individual microplate well absorbance at the
2.3. Dehydration of date fruits respective wavelength. HMF content (mg/100 g sample) was deter­
mined using the following expression [62]:
Date fruit samples (50 g) were kept in a cabinet dryer (AGHD –
30ELC, China) at 65, 70, and 75 ◦ C for a period of 72 h. The drying at HMF =
(A284 corrected − A336 corrected ) × 74.87
(3)
each temperature was carried out using a constant drying area (18.1 × Sample weight (g)
12.7 m2). During drying, triplicate samples were randomly drawn from
Finally, HMF of date samples of different drying treatments were
the dryer at regular intervals to carry out following analysis.
plotted as a function of drying time.

2.3.1. Determination of moisture content

2.4. Physical characterization of date fruit powder
The moisture content of the date powder samples were analyzed
using Bidwell-Sterling Moisture Trap [15]. In this procedure, date fruit
The date powder samples were removed from the dryer and were left
sample (15 g) was immersed in 75 ml toluene and the mixture was
to equilibrate to room temperature. Afterwards, the dried date samples
heated for about 6 h under reflux. Due to the time consuming nature of
were pulverized for 3 min in an industrial level grinder (Galite JLT –
this technique, the moisture content was also analyzed using vacuum
50B®, China). The resultant powder was characterized for various
oven. About 5 g samples were placed in the oven at 70 ◦ C for 6 h at a
physical parameters as described below.
pressure of 100 mmHg [9]. A correlation curve between the two tech­
niques was used to remove discrepancy in results obtained by the vac­
2.4.1. Clumping
uum oven drying method. The corrected moisture contents for all the
The date fruit powder was divided into fine and coarse fractions
drying experiments was plotted as a function of drying time.
using a 400 μm sieve. The sieving was performed using a sieving ma­
chine (Sieve shaker OASS203, Orto Alresa, Spain) at a mechanical power
2.3.2. Total phenolic compound contents
of 70% for 15 min. The weights of the separated fractions were
Total phenolic contents (TPC) of date fruit samples were determined
measured and the degree of clumping (%) was calculated as per Seer­
during dehydration as per Seerangurayar et al. [51]. Date powder
angurayar et al. [51]:
samples (2 g) were added to 100 mL of distilled water and the mixture ( )
was centrifuged at 350 rpm for 15 min (Digicen 21®, Orto Alresa, Powder mass left on seive
Clumping = × 100 (4)
Madrid, Spain). Later, about 200 μL of supernatant was added to 1.5 mL Original mass of powder prior to seiving
of Folin-Ciocalteou reagent (prepared by a dilution of 1:10 v/v) and the
mixture was allowed to stand for 5 min. Subsequently, 1.5 mL of sodium
bicarbonate (60 g/L) was also added. The entire blend was stored in the

14
F. Hasan et al. NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

Barakawi Sukkari
20 20

Moisture content (%)

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80

35 35
TPC (mg of GAE/100g)

30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80

140 140
120 120
100 100
HMF (mg/kg)

80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80
Drying me (h) Drying me (h)

Fig. 1. Moisture content, total phenolic content (TPC) and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) of Barakawi and Sukkari date varieuies versus drying time at different
temperatures: 65 ◦ C (Blue line), 70 ◦ C (Green line), and 75 ◦ C (Red line). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to
the web version of this article.)

2.4.2. Solubility 2.4.4. Flowability and compressibility

The solubility of the fine and coarse powders was determined by The powder flowability was measured using the Hausner ratio [50],
dissolving 2 g of powder in 25 ml of distilled water and then centrifuging which is a ratio of tapped and bulk densities. A sample of date powder (3
the solution at 7000 rpm for 15 min. The supernatant was discarded and g) was poured into a 15 ml measuring cylinder and the bulk density (g/
the sediment was dried in an oven at 80 ◦ C to a constant weight [51]. cm3) was calculated as [50]:
The solubility of the powder (%) was calculated as:
Powder mass
Bulk density = (7)
Sample weight − Dried sediment weight Powder volume
Solubility = × 100 (5)
Sample weight To determine the tapped density, the cylinder was tapped until a
constant volume was reached. The tapped density (g/cm3) was calcu­
2.4.3. Color lated as [50]:
The color of the date powder was determined using a Hunter Lab
colorimeter (ColorFlex EZ®, Reston, USA) and the parameters of light­ Tapped density =
Powder mass
(8)
ness ‘L', redness/greenness ‘a’, and blueness/yellowness ‘b’ were Powder volume after tapping
recorded [32]. Total color change was determined using the formula After calculating the bulk and tapped densities, Hausner ratio was
stated below, where L0, a0, b0 are color values of the date while L, a, b calculated as [50]:
are values of the powder [51].
Tapped density
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ Hausner ratio = (9)
Total color change = [L0 − L]2 + [a0 − a]2 + [b0 − b]2 (6) Bulk density
The Carr index, representing powder's compressibility, was calcu­
lated as [50]:

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F. Hasan et al. NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

( )
Tapped density − Bulk density 3. Results and discussion
Carr index = × 100 (10)
Tapped density
3.1. Dehydration of date fruit
2.4.5. Hygroscopicity
The hygroscopicity of the fine and coarse powders was determined as 3.1.1. Moisture contents
per the procedure described by Manickavasagan et al. [39]. A sample of The moisture contents of the fresh date samples were 11.3 ± 0.8%
date powder (1 g) was placed on a petri dish and kept in a desiccator for Barakawi and 17.2 ± 3.3% for Sukkari. The decrease in moisture
containing a saturated solution of NaCl (relative humidity of about 76%) content during dehydration of date fruits was plotted as function of time
for a week. Hygroscopicity was expressed as weight gain per 100 g of as shown in Fig. 1. A sharp decrease in moisture content was observed
powder. during the first 10 h of drying, resulting in evaporation of more than half
of the initial moisture. Further drying proceeds at much slower rates,
2.4.6. Texture analysis during storage which can be explained by a diffusion dependent drying behavior [26].
Sukkari powder (250 g) was stored in glass jars (300 ml) at room Thus, the diffusion of water molecules from inner to the outer surface
temperature for a period of one month in order to understand the becomes a limiting factor with reduction in available moisture content
behavior of the date powder in terms of hardness when exposed to at­ during dehydration. Thus, the more fibrous Barakawi date variety will
mosphere. The hardness of the powder in jar was analyzed as per the dry faster than the Sukari variety. Additionally, the hardening of surface
procedure described by Wang and Zhou [61] using Brookfield CT3 layer due to moisture loss (that may result in glass transition), may
Texture analyzer (AMETEK, Middleborough, USA). The compression further slowdown the diffusion phenomena [14]. The moisture curves
cycle was conducted using a cylindrical probe of 6 mm and trigger load followed almost the same trend for all drying temperatures; however, a
of 6.8 g with a test speed of 0.5 mm/s and a test target distance of 10 significant difference was observed among moisture contents for
mm. The texture analysis was carried out at regular intervals, and to different drying temperatures at any measuring point (p < 0.05). A
represent the daily usage a teaspoon of date powder was removed every higher drying rate is usually expected with an increase in drying tem­
day from the jars. perature but in this study a non-significant difference was observed
between drying at 70 ◦ C and 75 ◦ C. Similar observations have been re­
2.5. Formation of tablets and cubes from date powder ported previously, i.e., drying rate increases linearly as a function of
time up to a certain limit, and a further increase in drying temperature is
Sukkari and Barakawi date powder produced after 24 h of drying at not equally effective [26,49]. Hence, 70 ◦ C seems an optimum temper­
70 ◦ C was transformed into tablets and cubes by applying compression. ature for drying of date fruit in cabinet drying. At this temperature, the
About 4 g of powder was placed in specifically designed molds (15*9 final moisture contents (i.e., after 72 h of drying) were 2.1 + 0.5% and
cm) and a pressure of 1, 2, 3, and 4 ton was applied using the Carver 3.7 + 1.2%, which corresponds to 81% and 78% of the original moisture
Standard Unheated Manual Press® (Carver,Wabash,USA). The pressure for Barakawi and Sukkari dates, respectively.
was applied for about 1 min. The solubility of tablets/cubes was deter­
mined by dissolving samples in 250 ml boiling water. The tablets/cubes 3.1.2. Total phenolic contents
were manually stirred in water for 1 min using a teaspoon at about 90 An increase in total phenolic contents (TPC) was observed during the
rpm and the changing trend of solubility as a function of compression dehydration of dates at 70 ◦ C and 75 ◦ C but not in samples dried at 65 ◦ C
force was determined. (Fig. 1). After 72 h of drying, the phenolic contents were increased to
almost three times of initial value with similar behavior being observed
2.6. Statistical design and analysis for both date varieties. This rise in phenolic contents could be due to
concentration of phenolic compounds in dry matter, and heat-associated
All analyses were conducted in triplicate unless otherwise stated and release of phenolic compounds from bound components (e.g. hydrolysis
results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. The statistical of esterified phenols, lignin, and tannins) [30,35] or by-product of
analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 21.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, Maillard reactions [35]. Similar observations were reported for apricots
USA). Tukey's test was used for post–hoc analysis and results were re­ [57] and grapes [17] during drying. However, it has also been reported
ported as mean ± standard deviation. All graphical representations and that phenolic content decreases with an increase in temperature [53].
plots were made using Microsoft Excel 2019 (Microsoft, USA). The behavior of phenols with respect to temperature could perhaps be
associated with the type of phenol and their sensitivity and the nature of
the food matrix.

3.1.3. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content

The presence of HMF is not preferred in foods due its carcinogenic,

1 100

0.8 80
Water ac vity (-)

Clumping (%)

0.6 60

0.4 40

0.2 20

0 0
Barakawi Sukari
Sukkari Barakawi
Barakawi Sukkari
Sukari
Fig. 2. Water activity and clumping of Barakawi and Sukkari date fruit powders dried at 70 ◦ C at different time intervals: 24 h (White bars) and 72 h (Black bars).

16
F. Hasan et al. NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

100

80

Solubility (%)
60

40

20

0
Barakawi (C) Barakawi (F) Sukari (C) Sukari (F)

70
(b)
60

50
Lightness (-)

40

30

20

10

0
Barakawi (C) Barakawi (F) Sukari (C) Sukari (F)

30
(c)
Hygroscopicity (g /100g powder)

25

20

15

10

0
Barakawi (C) Barakawi (F) Sukari (C) Sukari (F)

Fig. 3. (a) Solubility, (b) lightness, and (c) hygroscopicity of coarse ‘C' and fine ‘F' date fruit powders dried at 70 ◦ C at different time intervals: 24 h (white bars) and
72 h (grey bars).

organo-toxic, and enzyme inhibiting effects [54]. Glucose and fructose, at 75 ◦ C (104 and 123 mg/kg for Barakawi and Sukkari powder,
the two major precursors required for HMF formation [38] are highly respectively) may be considered high. However, when the date fruits
abundant in date fruits [31,43]. The HMF content was the highest at were dried at a lower temperature (i.e., 70 ◦ C), HMF concentrations
75 ◦ C being 104 and 123 mg/kg of sample after 72 h of drying for were around 28 and 34 mg/kg for Barakawi and Sukkari dates,
Barakawi and Sukkari dates, respectively (Fig. 1). The increase in HMF respectively.
during heating of foods was also reported in previous studies [44]. This
further concrete another reason to not increase drying temperature in an 3.2. The physical characteristics of the date fruit powders
unprecedented manner. A high HMF content could make the powder
hazardous to health rather than being beneficial [54]. From the above discussion, 70 ◦ C was recommended as optimum
To the best of our knowledge, no specific recommendations exist temperature for drying of date fruits. In this section, various physical
regarding HMF concentration limits in fruit powders. However, ac­ properties of date fruit powder, dried at 70 ◦ C at different intervals (i.e.,
cording to Codex Alimentarius Commission, HMF should not exceed 80 24 and 72 h), are compared to find the optimum drying time.
mg/kg for honey [27]. In our study, HMF contents of date powder dried

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F. Hasan et al. NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

Table 1
Hausner ratio and Carr index of date powders of Barakawi and Sukkari dates dried at 70 ◦ C at different time intervals.
Date variety Fine/coarse Drying time (h) Hausner ratio Classification Carr index Classification

Barakawi Coarse 24 1.12 ± 0.01 Medium 10.37 ± 0.64 Excellent

72 1.12 ± 0.01 Medium 10.74 ± 0.64 Excellent
Fine 24 1.31 ± 0.02 Difficult 23.72 ± 1.11 Medium
72 1.43 ± 0.03 Difficult 30.04 ± 1.27 Poor
Sukkari Coarse 24 1.09 ± 0.01 Free 8.59 ± 0.44 Excellent
72 1.09 ± 0.00 Free 8.12 ± 0.37 Excellent
Fine 24 1.24 ± 0.02 Medium 19.39 ± 1.05 Medium
72 1.26 ± 0.02 Difficult 20.74 ± 1.28 Medium

3.2.1. Water activity 3.2.4. Color

Water activity is a measure of ‘free water’ available in a food product The color of food products is one of many factors that determine
and is used as a factor for the determination of microbial growth [41]. consumption [56]. In the case of date powder, a very light-colored
The initial water activities of date fruits were 0.59 ± 0.01 and 0.76 ± powder might be associated with adulteration, while a very dark pow­
0.01 for Barakawi and Sukkari dates, respectively. During dehydration der might be less enticing. The lightness (L) values of date powders as a
at 70 ◦ C, a significant reduction in water activity was observed for both function of date fruit variety, drying time and particle size are presented
varieties as shown in Fig. 2a. Around 63% and 49% reduction in water in Fig. 3. The powders of both varieties were not significantly different
activity was observed after 24 h for Barakawi and Sukkari dates, from each other in terms of lightness index. However, drying time and
respectively. A further dehydration resulted in water activity drop for particle size had a decisive impact on color. The powders obtained after
Sukkari dates only (p < 0.05), which is mainly due to a higher initial longer drying times were significantly darker than those obtained after
moisture content in this variety. The minimum water activates achieved shorter drying times. Conversely, the date powders became more lighter
in this study without anti-caking agents, for Barakawi and Sukkari were with a reduction in particle size. The development of dark color with a
0.23 and 0.30, respectively, which is comparable to previous studies longer heating time could possibly be attributed to melanoidins, a by-
[39,45]. product of Maillard as well as caramelization reactions [2,18].
A smaller particle size has been associated with a lighter product
3.2.2. Clumping previously [40]. The total color change after the completion of the
The high sugar content of date fruits poses a major challenge in date drying process (72 h) in Barakawi ranged from 2.61–12.73 and
powder formation. At higher temperature, the sugars melt and transform 5.09–11.61 for coarse and fine powders (based on drying temperature),
from glassy to rubbery state along with an increase in their solubility and respectively. In Sukkari, the total color change ranged from 11.38–22.39
reactivity [14]. The clumping or agglomeration of the fruit powder is a and 7.09–15.61 in the coarse and fine powders (based on drying tem­
physical measurement that can provide an initial judgment about perature), respectively.
powder flowability. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction in clumping was
observed between powders obtained after 24 and 72 h of drying at 70 ◦ C, 3.2.5. Hygroscopicity
irrespective of the date variety (Fig. 2b). However, for any time interval, The hygroscopicity of date powders was recorded as amount of water
the degree of clumping was lower for Barakawi than the Sukkari powder in ‘g’ absorbed by 100 g of date powder. Fig. 3 shows a comparison
(p < 0.05) due to a lower retention of moisture [48]. Moreover, the total between hygroscopicity of date powders as a function of date variety,
sugar content in Barakawi was reported as 69.7% [55] compared to drying time and particle size. The date variety and particle size signifi­
78.5% in Sukkari [11]. Thus, the lower sugar content in Barakawi could cantly affected the hygroscopicity of date powders (p < 0.05). The
also be a contributing factor to its lower clumping. powders obtained from Barakawi dates absorbed more moisture as
The date powders of both varieties, obtained after 24 and 72 h of compared to those of Sukkari dates, mainly due to low moisture content
drying at 70 ◦ C, were further divided into two fractions through sieving. of Barakawi dates. The same behavior has already reported for dehy­
In the following sections, the difference between fine and coarse pow­ drated fruits, i.e., higher moisture gradient between the fruit and the
ders will be discussed. surrounding environment is expected to increase moisture absorption by
the fruit [29]. Likewise, the fine powders absorbed more moisture due to
3.2.3. Solubility exposure of larger surface area as compared to coarse powders [52] and
A powder with good solubility is required for various food applica­ as the particle size decreases, the cohesion/adhesion within particles
tions. The solubility of date fruit powder as a function of date fruit va­ relative to food particle size increase [19]. However, the date powders
riety, drying time, and particle size is presented in Fig. 3. The fine obtained after different time intervals were not significantly different for
Barakawi powder obtained after 24 h of drying was significantly more their hygroscopicity, which can be attributed to the reason that majority
soluble than its coarser counterpart (p < 0.05). However, there was a of the water evaporated after 24 h of drying.
non-significant difference (p > 0.05) between the fine and coarse pow­
ders of the same variety obtained after 72 h of drying. On the other hand, 3.2.6. Flowability and compressibility
there was a non-significant difference between fine and coarse powders Good flowability and low compressibility are usually the desirable
of Sukkari dates at both drying intervals. This could be because the fine characteristics for powders, otherwise the powders would clog machines
powders tended to float on the water and hence not mix well [33]. and might affect productivity [16]. The Hausner ratio and Carr index
Overall, the solubility of Barakawi's fine powder was the highest, which were calculated for the date powders to represent their flowability and
is in agreement with a previous study in which powders with a low compressibility (Table 1). The fine powders of both varieties had
moisture content tended to be more soluble [33]. The overall solubility significantly (p < 0.05) lower flowability than their coarser counter­
for the powders in this study ranged from 65 to 82% depending on parts. Moreover, a significantly higher compressibility was observed for
temperature of drying, variety and their fineness/coarseness. This the fine powder as compared to coarse powders, which agrees to lower
agrees with previous literature where the solubility of the date powder flowability of fine powders (p < 0.05). Various forces like gravity,
was reported to range from 66 to 88.6% [39]. friction, cohesion, adhesion, van der Waals forces, particle shape and
size that have an impact of powder flowability [21]. The fine particles
are expected to pack efficiently and hence have higher inter molecular

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F. Hasan et al. NFS Journal 27 (2022) 13–20

40
(a) Barakawi cubes Barakawi tablets (b)
Sukkari cubes Sukkari tablets

Solubility (%)
Barakawi
20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Sukkari
Compression (Ton)

Fig. 4. a) Solubility and b) images of tablets and cubes of Barakawi and Sukkari dates dried at 70 ◦ C for 72 h. The dotted line represents an average solubility of
original powders.

forces of adhesion and cohesion translating to poor flow [19]. On (moisture content <20%). It was found that dry varieties, such as Bar­
comparison of the coarse powders of both varieties, it was found that akawi dates, are more suitable for production of a less clumpy date fruit
Sukkari date powder can be characterized as free flowing powder powder. Furthermore, the physical properties of date fruit powder can
whereas Barakawi date powder falls into medium flow category. This be modified through fractionating it into fine and coarse powder
may be due to the variation of sugar content in dates [31]. Furthermore, through sieving. The fine powder was significantly lighter and had lower
the flowability and compressibility was less affected by drying time in flowability and higher compressibility compared to their coarser coun­
most of the observed cases (p > 0.05). terparts (p < 0.05). The finer versions also had a higher tendency to
absorb moisture from the environment (hygroscopicity) (p < 0.05). The
conversion of powder into cubes/tablets seems a less suitable option due
3.3. Formation of tablets and cubes from date powder
to their low solubility, perhaps soaking them for a longer period of time
would be able to overcome this issue.
Powder caking is a detrimental aggregation of powder particles,
usually due to moisture adsorption during storage, which transforms a
Funding
free-flowing powder into a coherent solid [48]. The hardness of Sukkari
powder was analyzed at different intervals over a period of one month,
The study was funded by the United Arab Emirates University (UPAR
as an indicator of caking (results not shown). The increase in hardness
grant 31F125).
during storage is greatly related to moisture adsorption by date powder
during storage (almost increased to 2–3 times after one month), which
Author contributions
must be addressed to get high solubility and to ensure powder quality
during storage.
All authors have equally contributed in the preparation of the
As a possible strategy to cope with caking problem and to facilitate
manuscript.
consumer's handling, tablets and cubes were prepared from coarse
powders of both varieties dried for 72 h (Fig. 4b), as suggested in pre­
Ethical approval
vious studies [40,47]. The produced tablets and cubes were dissolved in
hot water (to mimic their potential use in tea/coffee/milk) to determine
Ethics approval was not required for this research.
their solubility. The solubilities of all tablets and cubes (of both vari­
eties) prepared after different compression forces were typically around
Permission to reproduce material from other sources
20%, which was extremely lower than solubilities of original powders, i.
e., 70–75% (Fig. 4a). The solubilities of fine powders, although not
Not applicable.
tested, would have been even less than 20% due to possibility of a higher
compaction as compared to coarse powders. Hence, formation of tablets
Data availability
and cubes from natural date powder (i.e., without addition of any ad­
ditive) seems a less suitable option due to low solubility. This necessi­
The data would be made available on reasonable request.
tates provision of appropriate interventions, for instance, use of suitable
packing materials, reduced serving sizes in the form of sachets, etc.
Moreover, the storage at refrigeration temperatures (4 ◦ C) might Declaration of Competing Interest
discourage caking/hardness, as sugars transform from glassy to rubbery
state typically around 20 ◦ C [14]. None.

4. Conclusions Acknowledgement

The use of an appropriate temperature for drying of dates is quite The authors would like to thank Mr. Ismail Abdulhalim for the kind
crucial as a higher temperature may encourage case hardening, car­ technical assistance.
amelization, HMF formation, and a higher hygroscopicity; whereas a
lower temperature would be insufficient to remove significant moisture References
leading to a clumpy powder. In this study, we found that a temperature
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