Phoenix dactylifera L. is widely distributed and performs an important socioeconomic role in the south of Tunisia.The objective of this work was to evaluate different methods of estimating the diversity and genetic structure of Tunisiandate palm subpopulations. Nine morphological traits and five SSR loci were used to study morphological and genetic diversity. Correlations between phenotypic and genetic distances were assessed. Analyses of variance of the morphological data reveal significant differences among subpopulations for all traits measured. The Mantel test shows that morphological variation is correlated with fruit maturity period (r = 0.161; p = 0.020). Analysis of molecular variance reveals significant genetic variation among fruit-consistency subpopulations (p < 0.05) and the Mantel test emphasises a correlation between genetic distance and fruit consistency (r = 0.110; p = 0.029). This information will be useful for germplasm collection, for conservation and for various date palm culture programmes in the Tunisian continental oases.

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Date palm fruits and their seeds are excellent sources of dietary fiber (DF). Date fruits contain 8.1 -12.7 % Total DFs (of which 84-94 % is insoluble and 6-16 % soluble DF) and is very rich in phenolic antioxidants (1-2 %). Date fruit fibers are composed of cellulose and NSP. Moreover, date DF has important functional properties, such as water-holding capacity and oil-holding capacity. Date seeds contain about 15 % fiber, characterized by a high level of water-insoluble mannan fibers. It has been suggested that date fruits and seeds can be exploited in some food applications. In order to improve fiber yields, pretreatment procedures can be applied, which give excellent results in the case of date palm fibers. Date fruits are widely available in the global market, but there is still room for improvement, particularly in the revalorization of date processing waste, and secondary cultivars. The incorporation of date fruits and seeds as food ingredients would promote the presence of dates in the modern's consumer shopping basket. Present knowledge about different aspects of date DF, and suitable extraction methods and applications of date fiber (flesh and seed), will be the focus of this report.Abbreviations: DF (dietary fiber); IDF (insoluble dietary fiber); SDF (soluble dietary fiber); WHC (water-holding capacity); OHC (oil-holding capacity); DSF (date seed fiber).

ABSTRACT:Capparis spinosa is cultivated for several proprieties and the different parts of the plant (flower buds, fruits, leaf and seeds) have been employed in drugs, foods and cosmetics. This study aimed to explore the antioxidant potential effect and to assess the anthelmintic efficacy of an aqueous extract of Capparis spinosa. In vitro antioxidant activity of aqueous extracts from the fresh leaves and flower buds of C. spinosa was measured by determining free radical-scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS radical cations. In vitro anthelmintic activities against eggs and adult worms of Haemonchus contortus from sheep were investigated in comparison to albendazole. DPPH and ABTS activities of both aqueous extracts increased in a dose dependent manner. The IC 50 values of aqueous extracts from fresh leaves, flowers buds and ascorbic acid in the DPPH radical scavenging assay were 101.40; 70.40 and 57.56 μg/ml, respectively. The IC 50 values of aqueous extracts fresh leaves, flowers buds and ascorbic acid in the ABTS radical scavenging assay were 110; 87.89 and 58.17 μg/ml, respectively. Both plant extracts showed ovicidal activity at all tested concentrations. The aqueous extract from flower buds (IC 50 = 2.76 mg/ml) showed higher inhibitory effects (P < 0.05) than aqueous extract from leaves (IC 50 = 8.54 mg/ml) in the egg hatching assay. The aqueous extract from flower buds inhibited more worms than the aqueous extract from leaves at all tested concentrations. After 6 h of exposure, the highest tested concentrations of aqueous extracts from flower buds and leaves induced 100 and 41.66% inhibition of motility, respectively. These results show for the first time that C. spinosa possesses in vitro anthelmintic properties which may be related to its high content of phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and tannins. Keywords: Capparis spinosa; free radical-scavenging ability; anthelmintic; Haemonchus contortusList of abbreviations ABTS = 2,2'-azinobis-[3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid]; DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide; DPPH = 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; HPLC/MS = chromatography/mass spectrometry; PBS = phosphate-buffered saline Parasite infestations of livestock species are especially prevalent in developing countries due to poor management practices and inadequate control measures (Dhar et al. 1982). The main control measures for parasitic diseases largely rely on the repeated use of anthelmintics. However, resistance to various groups of anthelmintics is constantly increasing in worm populations, especially those found in small ruminants (Waller 1997;Van Wyk et al. 1999). In addition, the increasing pressure from consumers to limit the use of chemical substances in livestock industry merits consideration. These two issues underpin the current search for alternatives or rather complementary solutions to chemotherapy to control gastrointestinal parasitism in sheep and goats. There is an increasing body of evidence that stockowners rely on ethno-veterinary medicine as an alternative and as a sustain-

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