THE PHENOLIC CONTENTS OF FOUR DATE PALM SEEDS ( PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L) GROWN IN OUARGLA REGION AND THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

Abstract

The objective of the present investigation was to study the polyphenol content , flavonoid content and the antioxidant activity of date seeds from four major date cultivars Deglet-Nour (DN), Ghars (Gh) , Degla Baidha (DB), and Tamjouhert (Tam), grown in Ouargla region Algeria considered as one of the major date producing countries. The production reaches up 468,000 tons annually, most of it consumed locally. The seeds or date stones which represent a relatively high yield are considered in most cases as waste and hence the present work was planned with the aim of making use to them and to study the possible economic and medicinal potentialities of this crop in Algeria. The polyphenol content was determined using Folin–Ciocalteu ,The phenol contents of these seeds range 3.44 – 14.64mg/g Gallic acid equivalents. Total flavonoid content was determined by using aluminum chloride method and The contents of the flavonoids of these seeds range 0.034 – 0.126 mg/g Rutin equivalents. The antioxidant activity of the extracts date seeds were determined by ABTS test ; all the samples showed a significant antioxidant activity.