Three main cultivar groups exist: soft (e.g., Medjool); semi-dry (e.g., Deglet Noor), and dry (e.g., Thoory).

With the release of this improved genome assembly, the researchers were able to map genes for fruit color and sugar content.

According to some sources it probably originated from the Fertile Crescent region straddling Egypt and Mesopotamia[6] while others state that they are native to the Persian Gulf area.

Another significant insect pest is Ommatissus lybicus, sometimes called the "dubas bug", whose sap sucking results in sooty mould formation.

In the 1920s, eleven healthy Medjool palms were transferred from Morocco to the United States where they were tended by members of the Chemehuevi tribe[which?]

Eventually this stock was reintroduced to Africa and led to the U.S. production of dates in Yuma, Arizona and Bard, California.

Dates (especially Medjool and Deglet Nour) are also cultivated in the southwestern United States, and in Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.

[citation needed] Evidence of cultivation is continually found throughout later civilizations in the Indus Valley, including the Harappan period from 2600 to 1900 BCE.

[24] One cultivar, the Judean date palm, is renowned for its long-lived orthodox seed, which successfully sprouted after accidental storage for 2,000 years.

[26] In total seven seeds about 2000 years old have sprouted and turned into trees named Methuselah, Hannah, Adam, Judith, Boaz, Jonah and Uriel.

The most renowned cultivars worldwide include Deglet Noor, originally of Algeria; Yahidi and Hallawi of Iraq; Medjool of Morocco; Mazafati of Iran.

[33] In 2022, world production of dates was 9.7 million tonnes, led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria accounting for 46% of the total (table).

Date palm fruits contain 21% water, 75% carbohydrates (63% sugars and 8% dietary fiber), 2% protein, and less than 1% fat (table).

The primary carbohydrates are monosaccharides, comprising glucose (23–30%), fructose (19–28%), and non-starch polysaccharides (7–10%) of the fruit's total weight.

[36] Dry or soft dates are eaten out-of-hand, or may be pitted and stuffed with fillings such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied orange and lemon peel, tahini, marzipan or cream cheese.

Dates can also be chopped and used in a range of sweet and savory dishes, from tajines (tagines) in Morocco to puddings, ka'ak (types of Arab cookies) and other dessert items.

Reflecting the maritime trading heritage of Britain, imported chopped dates are added to, or form the main basis of a variety of traditional dessert recipes including sticky toffee pudding, Christmas pudding and date and walnut loaf.

In Palestine date syrup, termed silan, is used while cooking chicken and also for sweets and desserts, and as a honey substitute.

In Pakistan, a viscous, thick syrup made from the ripe fruits is used as a coating for leather bags and pipes to prevent leaking.

In the past, sticky dates were served using specialized small forks having two metal tines, called daddelgaffel in Scandinavia.

[43] These have generally been replaced by an inexpensive pale-colored knobbled plastic fork that resembles a date branch, which is traditionally included with numerous brands of prepackaged trays of dates, though this practice has declined in response to increased use of resealable packaging and calls for fewer single-use plastics.

Experimental studies have shown that feeding mice with the aqueous extract of date pits exhibit anti-genotoxic effects and reduce DNA damage induced by N-nitroso-N-methylurea.

The consumption of raw date palm sap is one of the means by which the deadly Nipah virus spreads from bats to humans.

Dried leaf petioles are a source of cellulose pulp, used for walking sticks, brooms, fishing floats, and fuel.

Young date leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, as is the terminal bud or heart, though its removal kills the palm.

The tree was heavily cultivated as a food source in ancient Israel where Judaism and subsequently Christianity developed.

[56] In the Quran, Allah instructs Maryām (the Virgin Mary) to eat dates during labour pains when she gives birth to Isa (Jesus).

[57] In Islamic culture, dates and yogurt or milk are traditionally the first foods consumed for Iftar after the sun has set during Ramadan.