In order to break their fasts as the sun sets during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, many Muslims will grab for a date, a sweet, brown fruit.
Observant Muslims who are physically capable of doing so refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and having sexual relations during the day in order to increase their “taqwa,” or awareness of God.
Breaking one’s fast with dates and water is rooted in the religious teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and has a specific mention in the Quran for its nutritional value.
Dates, fresh or dried, contain important vitamins, minerals and fibre. They are also high in antioxidants, which protect the body from several diseases.
Given their high level of fructose, a natural sugar found in fruit, dates are a great source of energy, especially after a long day’s fast.
There are many different varieties of dates, each with different tastes and textures.
Medjool: Known for their large size, sweet taste, amber colour, and richness in flavour.
Mabroom: Known for their elongated shape, reddish-brown hue and chewiness, and are less sweet than other kinds of dates.
Ajwa: Among the dates most revered by Muslims around the world as they are grown in Medina, they have a soft, fleshy, almost juicy feel and are very sweet tasting.
Deglet Noor: Medium-sized, lighter in colour, and ideal for cooking and baking.
Piarom: Darker skin, rich flavour, slightly drier and known for their unique taste.
Interesting facts about dates
Dates have been grown for a very long time. Date palms can only produce fruit when they are female, and they are either masculine or female.
A healthy date palm can yield about 10,000 dates, or more than 100kg (220 pounds) of dates, during one harvest season.
The most costly date in the world is the Ajwa, which is grown in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Top producers of dates
According to the food and agriculture database Tridge, nine million metric tonnes of dates are made annually.
Long, hot summers, like those found in the Middle East and its neighboring areas, tend to be favorable for dates.
With nearly one in five, or 18%, of the world’s dates produced there, Egypt is the world’s largest date producer.
Iran completes the top three at 14 percent, closely followed by Saudi Arabia at almost 17 percent.
The chart below demonstrates where the majority of dates are produced worldwide:
Source – Aljazeera
