*5.1.2.1.3 Date or date palm (*Phoenix Dactylifera *L.)*

Date or date palm is a flowering plant species belongs to the palm family Arecaceae cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. It is a dioecious having separate male and female plants. It is a source of human nutrition rich with dietary fibers, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, some vitamins and mineral matter [86]. For millennia, the date palm tree has been cultivated in the Middle East and North Africa, and it is thought to be the world's oldest domesticated fruit tree. Because of the variety of resources it provides, it has traditionally been the most valuable fruit crop in harsh arid or desert

**Figure 16.** Monotheca buxifolia *(gurguray).*
