Investigating the Proximate, Ultimate and Chemical Composition of Four Cultivars of Date Seed, Phoenix dactylifera L.

Proximate, ultimate and chemical composition of four varieties of dates, namely Digila, Krikri, Sukur and Trigal were determined in the pulp. In addition, the seed kernel of dika nut (Irvingia gabonensis) was assessed on a dry weight basis. The proximate analysis included moisture, volatile matter, Fixed Carbon and ash, respectively, with the pulp of Digila having the highest fixed carbon of 72.73%, while the krikri date pulp contained the highest moisture of 79.22%, Sukur pulp has the highest volatile matter of 59.20%, and Trigal seed contained 88.05% moisture - establishing that its kernel holds the highest moisture content among the four cultivars. Ultimate Analysis showed that Digila and Trigal pulp contained the same amount of total carbon (94.10%), the pulp of Krikri contained the highest amount of hydrogen (3.55%), while the pulp of Sukur has 1.44% Nitrogen, and the dika nut seed contained 9.82% Oxygen - making it the highest. Moreover, Sulpur, Digila, Sukur, Trigal and Krikri have available hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and phosphorus for the body to absorb for physiological activities, but lacked chlorine, aluminum, and silicon at detectable levels. All these quality food properties make dates a good source of sweetening agent in the food processing industry.