Effect of Drying Methods and Variety on the Chemical Composition, Functional and Microbial Properties of Date Flour

Abstract The effect of three drying methods (sun, hot air oven and cabinet drier) on the chemical, functional and microbial properties of date flour was comparatively studied. The flesh of the two date varieties (amber and sukkari) were washed, dried at 65oC, milled and sieved to obtain fine flour, and thereafter analyzed. Proximate analysis revealed that hot air oven-dried amber date powder exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher ash (2.64%), fat (5.35%), crude protein (10.50%), crude fibre (8.57%) while cabinet dried amber date exhibited the highest sugar (0.125%) and vitamin C (0.024mg/100g) content. Oven-dried amber date powder exhibited higher water absorption (1.10ml/g) and solubility (66.60%). Microbial analysis showed that hot air oven-dried amber and sukaari dates had the lowest total viable count (1.19×105g/CFU/ml and 9.45×104g/CFU/ml, respectively). Thus, the results suggest that hot air oven drying can be appropriately used to obtain date flour with good functionality, microbial property and chemical composition.