More than one million Date Palm Trees are grown in Saudi Arabia
Lateral Buds
Medium: 30kb Lateral Buds of the Date Palm Tree are seen in this picture not long after they appeared. |
Yellow Dates
Medium: 39kb Yellow Dates are shown in this photograph and some of the dates are harvested at this stage and are a delicious treat. |
Ripe Dates
Medium: 38kb Ripe Datesare wrapped with loosely woven burlap and allowed to dry on the tree before they are harvested. |
Horticultural experts believe the cultivation of the Date Palm Tree started around 6000 bc and is a tree with many uses. The wood and leaves provide timber and fabric for houses and fences. The leaves are used for making ropes, cord, baskets, crates and furniture. The base of the leaves and the fruit stalks are used as fuel. The fruit yields food products such as young yellow dates, dried dates, date vinegar, date chutney and date paste for bakery products. Only young trees, between three and seven years old, bear flowers. The lateral buds of older trees bear the fruit as seen in the first photograph.
Dates are highly nutritious, with a sugar content of ripe dates about 80%, and the remainder is a rich blend of protein, fat and mineral products including copper, sulfur, iron, magnesium and fluoric acid.
Saudi Arabia donates approximately 16,000 tons of its annual production of 500,000 tons of dates to the World Food Program. There are about 150 different varieties of dates, the most popular and most expensive is Anbara.
Saudi Arabian Trivia
It is the custom in Saudi Arabia to break a fast during Ramadan by eating dried dates and drinking a cup of tea.


