Study on morphological and anatomical components of some Iraqi date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

A study was conducted during 2019 on three selected varieties (Zahidi, Halawi and Sayer) of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) chosen from healthy trees based on their ripeness, freshness, uniformity, absence of diseases, cost effective and better market availability. This study was primarily performed to identify the morphological and anatomical properties of these selected varieties at the stage of fruit maturity. The results indicated significant differences in weight, length, size, weight of the flesh part and diameter of fruit. Halawi was superior to other varieties in length and weight of the fleshy part of the fruit. Moreover, the variety Halawi exceeded in seed weight (1.09g) over Zahidi (0.95g) and Sayer (0.85g). There were significant differences in the chemical properties of the extracted crude oil, moisture, ash, protein and carbohydrates. Higher protein content was recorded for the cultivar Zahidi, followed by Halawi and Sayer. In terms of oil content, the cultivar Sayer (8.50%) can be considered the best variety over Zahidi (8.17%) and Halawi (8.13%).