**4. Chemical composition of doum fruit**

Also, it is very resistant to destruction by fire in scrub or a forest [3]. This chapter focuses on the biological activities and beneficial effects of the Doum palm extract and its bioactive

The doum palm is a dioecious palm and grows up to 17 m (56 ft) high. The trunk, which can have a girth of up to 90 cm (35 in), the trunk divided into two branches, each branch divided again into two branches, and the ends of the branches contain tufts of large leaves. The bark is smooth, dark gray and contains the scars of fallen leaves. The petioles are about 1 m long, sheathing the branch at the base and contain curved claws. The leaves are fan-shaped and measure about 120 by 180 cm (47 by 71 in) (**Figure 1**). Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The inflorescences are similar in general appearance, up to about 1.2 m (3 ft. 11 in) long, irregular in the branching and have two or three spikes in each branch. Male flowers have a short-stalk, solitary in pits of the spadix, spathe-bracts encircling the spadix, pointed. Branches of female spadices become thicker in the fruiting stage. Woody fruits are produced in the female palm that continues on the tree for a long time. They are 6–10 × 6–8 cm, smooth, rectangular to cubical with rounded edges, shiny brown when ripe. Its fresh weight is about 120 g and dry weight is about 60 g and each one containing a single seed. The size of seeds about 2–3.5 × 3 cm, the color is ivory, truncate at the base and the apex

*H. thebaica* tree is one of the most useful plants in the world [5]. Along the Nile, people used its fiber and leaflets to spin baskets. The fruits of doum palm are contained antioxidants [6]. Palms are used for firewood and charcoal. Leaves are probably the most important part of

components in humans.

is obtuse [4].

**3. Traditional uses**

**Figure 1.** *Hyphaene thebaica* L. (Doum).

**2. Botanical description**

50 Antioxidants in Foods and Its Applications

Doum fruit has a high-quality protein varied between 2.86 and 5.01%, high proportion of lysine and cysteine of crude protein varied between 4.09–4.16% and 0.2–1.62%, respectively, the limited amino acid threonine, crude fat varied between 1.2 and 8.4%, crude fiber varied between 52.26 and 66.5%, the most important carbohydrates component was mannose varied between 13 and 75.9%, also the presence of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron sodium and negligible amount of nickel, cobalt and molybdenum. Phytochemical compounds of doum fruit such as tannins, saponin, steroids, glycosides, flavonoid, terpenes and terpinoids were found at low and moderate concentrations [14].

## **5. Pharmacological activities of doum**

Various extracts of *H. thebaica* (L) Mart are used in the treatment of hypertension, bilharzias and as a hematinic agent [15]. The water extract of doum fruits can reduce hyperlipidemia in nephrotic syndrome and leads to decrease the risk of glomerulosclerosis and atherosclerosis and consequently the natural, safe and nontoxic *H. thebaica* fruit could be of great merit for use as hypolipidemic drugs [16]. It is also good as hypocholesterolemic agent, hypolipidemic and hematinic suspensions lipidemic, and hematinic suspensions [17]. The identification of compounds by thin-layer chromatography showed that the doum fruit contains significant amounts of saponins, coumarins, hydroxyl cinnamates, essential oils and flavonoids [18]. It was found that the administration of flavonoid extracts to diabetic rats significantly increased adiponectin levels that stimulate the hypoglycemic action of insulin without altering the concentration of insulin in blood and decrease the weight and volume of contents of granuloma in inflammation [19]. Therefore, this might be its probable mechanism of anti-inflammatory action. Furthermore, the hypoglycemic effect of these herbs may be due to the increased level of serum insulin by increasing the pancreatic secretion of insulin from cells of islets of Langerhans or its release of bound insulin and also may be due to the enhancement of peripheral metabolism of glucose [20]. The decoction of doum fruits is well tolerated and no mortality or morbidity until the dose of 5 g/kg b. wt. Repeated oral administration of doum fruits at 0.5 g/kg b. wt. or 2 g/kg b. wt. was ineffective on the normal reproductive parameters. While the red blood corpuscles, packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration and percent of phagocytic activity were significantly increased [21]. A significant decrease in blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and total lipid levels was observed after 1 and 2 months of administration of the decoction of doum fruits [21]. The obtained results confirm the value of doum fruits as hematinic potentials, hypolipidemic, improve the hepato-renal functions and without side effects on the studied reproductive parameters.

Also, triglycerides were independently related to coronary heart disease and most of the antihypercholesterolemic drugs did not decrease triglycerides levels, but the aqueous extracts of doum fruits lower it significantly [22]. This effect may be related to the increase in endothelium bound lipoprotein lipase which hydrolyzes the triglycerides into fatty acids. Previously, the authors reported that the hypolipidemic properties of the aqueous pulp suspension of doum could be partly due to the presence of glycosides [23]. Saponins have been reported to form complexes with cholesterol and bile in the intestine thereby indirectly reducing the cholesterol level in the blood [24]. In addition, administration of 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg body weight of aqueous extracts of both stem and bark of *H. thebaica* (L) Mart showed no significant (p > 0.05) difference in feed intake, this may be due to the absence of tannin in both the stem and bark extracts. Decrease in feed intake was observed at the highest dose of 800 mg/kg of the methanolic fruit pulp extract of the same plant, this may be due to tannin content of the methanolic fruit pulp extract of the plant [25].

4-ol (1.77%), α-terpineol (0.95%), sesquiterpenes (3.2%), diterpenes represent 40.49%, of which incensole (19.81%) and incensole acetate (17.52%) were found to be the main components, non-terpenoidal components amount to 15.21% of which octylacetate (9.38%) was found to be the major and fatty acid (8.55%) with the main component palmitic acid (5.90%). Oxygenated compounds constituted 66.78% of the total compounds identified which indicated the economic value of this oil. Fruit of doum oil was found to contain volatile diterpenes especially cembrene A which showed cytotoxic activity, and this revealed the medical importance of the

Biological Activities of the Doum Palm (*Hyphaene thebaica* L.) Extract and Its Bioactive…

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Different total soluble phenols values in doum were published in different studies; it ranged from 45.08 to 64.90 mg GAE/g DW [27]. While it recorded the highest values in pitted doum fruit extracts varied from 116.26 to 139.48 mg GAE/g DW [16]. The bioactive potential of fruits

volatile oil of doum which could be utilized medicinally [26].

**6.2. Chemical structure of doum fruit phenolic compounds**

and vegetables attributed to their high content of polyphenols [28].

*6.2.1. Total soluble phenols content and compounds*

**Figure 2.** Chemical structures of doum fruit essential oil.
