Dried fruits contained higher amount of energy and nutrient density compared to the fresh ones. This study was conducted to determine and compare the content of nutrients and polyphenols in dried dates, raisin, apricot and fig. Dried fruit samples were bought from three different stores in Selangor and analyzed in triplicates. AOAC (1997) standard methods were used for proximate analyses. The total sugar and polyphenol contents were determined using Dubois and Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. Highest moisture content was found in dried apricots (35.26%) while the lowest one was in Mariami dates (21

The purpose of this study is to determine nutrient and antioxidant content, and consumer acceptance of mixed concentrated juice of three ingredients namely pomegranate, honey and date extracts. The nutrient content was analysed based on AOAC method. The antioxidant was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu, DPPH and FRAP assays. Sensory analysis was carried out on 30 untrained panels using hedonic scale. Each 100 g juice provided 380 kcal, contained 55.65 g sugar, 92.13% carbohydrate, 1.97% protein, 0.39% fat, 270.70 mg potassium, 58.43 mg sodium, and 31.58 mg magnesium. The juice contained total polyphenol of 1752.10 mg GAE/100 ml, and antioxidant content of 12.80 mM TE/ml (DPPH) and 51.681 mM TE/ml (FRAP). As for the sensory evaluation, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the mean score for the attributes of this newly developed mixed concentrated juice compared to the commercial ones. It can be concluded that the juice has a high nutrient and antioxidant content. The taste of the juice was acceptable among consumers. The combination of more than one type of food could increase the nutrient value of the foods but further studies are needed to see the synergistic effect provided by each food.

The aim of this study was to determine the polyphenol content and antioxidant activities in commercialized date and pomegranate concentrates that are available in local market. A total of seven samples comprised of two brands of date concentrates (D1 and D2) and five brands of pomegranate concentrates (P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5) have been analyzed for their polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. The Folin-Ciocalteu assay was used to determine the polyphenol content (TPC) of the samples while 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays were used to determine the antioxidant activity. The results showed the commercialized date concentrate D2 contained the highest TPC (1243.00 ± 67.00 mg GAE/100 ml) and antioxidant activity using FRAP assay (2.67 ± 0.01 mmol TE/100 ml). Date concentrate D1 showed the highest antioxidant activity using DPPH assay (0.39 ± 0.02 mmol TE/100 ml). The pomegranate concentrate P5 showed the highest reading for TPC (3260.10 ± 428.70 mg GAE/100 ml), DPPH (1.61 ± 0.05 mmol TE/100 ml) and FRAP assays (20.98 ± 0.42 mmol TE/100 ml). As a conclusion, the studied commercial date and pomegranate concentrates available in the local market contained high polyphenol and antioxidant contents although the content levels were different from one brand to another. Further study is needed to identify the causes of this distinction. The results of this study could help the consumers to make a better selection of commercialized date and pomegranate concentrates that are available in local market in term of polyphenol content and antioxidant activity.