Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)
Other names: Date palm
Harm score: 1 (Natural substances)
The date palm, also known as the date palm, is a tree native to North Africa and West Asia, which is best known for its fruit - dates. Its scientific name, Phoenix dactylifera, refers to the characteristic fruit of this tree. The date tree belongs to the areca family and can grow up to 25 metres high. Its leaves are feathery, hard and up to 6 metres long. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, but the fruits are very distinctive - they are dates that are up to 7 cm long and dark brown in colour.
The fruit of the date tree, the date palm, is popular and widely used in gastronomy. Sweet dates are eaten on their own as dried fruit or used to make various products and foods. A very popular product is date syrup, which is used as an alternative to sugar in baking or confectionery. Dried dates are also used to make date flour, which is used in some gluten-free baked goods. Dates are also used in the production of alcoholic beverages such as date wine or date beer. Apart from gastronomy, dates are also used in medicine, where they are used for their health benefits. In recent years, they have also become increasingly popular in the cosmetics industry, where they are used in the production of face masks and scrubs.