Abdou Rabab M, Fahmy Heba A, Khattab Amira R, Farag Mohamed A
Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Modern University for Technology & Information, Cairo, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 18;15(1):32604. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-19541-2.
Date syrup is a valued ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine and is widely used in the food industry for its sweetness and high nutritional value, prepared from fruits post-heat processing. The current study assesses the chemical composition of 7 commercial date syrup products (D1-D7) of different origins via a metabolomics approach using hyphenated UHPLC-MS and GC-MS techniques, followed by multivariate data analysis. Primary metabolites profiling via GC-MS assigned 36 peaks belonging to sugars, sugar alcohols, fatty acids/esters, alcohols, organic acids, and nitrogenous compounds. Sugars and sugar alcohols amounted for ca. 97.04%, dominated by mono-sugars. Aroma profiling using headspace coupled to GC-MS revealed 17 volatiles belonging mainly to furans, alcohols, and esters, with furans likely produced upon processing as a major class in most products at ca. 48%, except samples (D2 and D3) where alcohols predominated at ca. 64%. Classification of date products was more reliable using silylated metabolites than from the aroma dataset. UHPLC-MS analysis of date syrups identified 77 metabolites, of which 33 are reported herein for the first time in Phoenix dactylifera, including sugars, phenolic acids, flavonoids, lignans, and fatty acids, with the former being the most abundant. The antioxidant effect of date syrups was attributed to their relatively high total phenolic and flavonoid contents. This study provides, for the first time, detailed profiling of date syrups from various origins to elucidate their nutritional composition and potential health benefits.
椰枣糖浆是中东美食中的一种珍贵原料，因其甜味和高营养价值而在食品工业中广泛使用，它是由水果经过热处理后制成的。本研究通过代谢组学方法，使用联用的超高效液相色谱-质谱（UHPLC-MS）和气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）技术，随后进行多变量数据分析，评估了7种不同产地的商业椰枣糖浆产品（D1-D7）的化学成分。通过GC-MS对初级代谢产物进行分析，确定了36个峰，分别属于糖类、糖醇类、脂肪酸/酯类、醇类、有机酸类和含氮化合物。糖类和糖醇类约占97.04%，以单糖为主。使用顶空进样结合GC-MS进行香气分析，发现了17种挥发性成分，主要属于呋喃类、醇类和酯类，在大多数产品中，呋喃类可能是加工过程中产生的主要类别，约占48%，但样品D2和D3除外，其中醇类占主导地位，约为64%。使用硅烷化代谢产物对椰枣产品进行分类比使用香气数据集更可靠。对椰枣糖浆进行UHPLC-MS分析，鉴定出77种代谢产物，其中33种是首次在海枣中报道，包括糖类、酚酸类、黄酮类、木脂素类和脂肪酸类，其中糖类含量最高。椰枣糖浆的抗氧化作用归因于其相对较高的总酚和黄酮含量。本研究首次提供了来自不同产地的椰枣糖浆的详细分析，以阐明其营养成分和潜在的健康益处。
