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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Murrey Walker who wrote (56113)	11/8/2002 3:28:36 PM
From: elpolvo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

What dates do yer jackelope hunt? 1) The fruit yields food products such as date vinegar, date chutney or sweet pickle, date paste for bakery products and additional flavoring for oranges, bananas and almonds. The Arabian-flavoured Bedouin dish known as Canua and roasted whole date seeds are popular as far away as Libya. Even the tree's terminal buds (heart of palm) make tasty additions to vegetable salads. 2) The date palm is often the only available staple food for the inhabitants of desert and arid lands, and as such it is vital to millions throughout North Africa and the Middle East. According to the World Food and Agricultural Organisation, there are 90 million date palms in the world and each tree can grow for more than 100 years. 64 million of these trees are grown in Arab countries, which produce 2 million tons of dates between them each year. 3) Trees start producing after 4-5 years and reach full production after 10-12 years. 4) Date-producing Arab countries are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. Between them Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia produce 600 different kinds of dates, which accounts for 60% of the world's production. In Saudi Arabia, Madinah's date market (Souq Al Tumoor) contains about 150 varieties, the most popular of which is Anbara, the most expensive. 5) Dry or bread dates: self-curing on tree. Soft dates: require harvest at appropriate time and sun-drying to increase sugar content and prevent spoilage. The latter are packaged traditionally in palm leaves and widely traded (caravans, ships) 6) The date palm is also highly prized as an ornamental tree, as it is ideally situated in streets, avenues and driveways. Optimum planting conditions dictate that trees should be set 6-8m apart and then well soaked with water. The date palm can tolerate a high salinity level of up to 22,000 parts per million. 7) Iraq is the top commercial producer and exporter of dates, closely followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria. 8) The sugar content of ripe dates is about 80%; the remainder consists of protein, fat and mineral products including copper, sulphur, iron, magnesium and fluoric acid. Dates are high in fiber and an excellent source of potassium. 9) Five dates (approx. 45 grams) contain about 115 calories, nearly all from carbohydrates. 10) Bedouin Arabs, who eat them on a regular basis, show an extremely low incidence rate of cancer and heart disease