Cryogenic freezing of fresh date fruits for quality preservation during frozen storage

Fresh date fruits, especially Barhi cultivar, are favored and widely consumed at the Khalal maturity stage (first color edible stage). These fruits are seasonal and perishable and there is a need for extending their shelf life. This study evaluates two different freezing methods, namely cryogenic freezing using liquid nitrogen and conventional deep freezing on preserving the quality and stability of date fruits (cv. Barhi) at Khalal maturity stage. Fresh date fruits (cv. Barhi) at Khalal stage were frozen utilizing the two methods. The produced frozen dates were stored under frozen storage conditions for nine months (at −20 °C and −40 °C for the conventional and cryogenic freezing, respectively). Color values, textural properties (hardness, elasticity, chewiness and resilience), and nutrition attributes (enzymes and sugars) for fresh dates before freezing and for the frozen dates were measured every three months during the frozen storage. Color values of the frozen dates were affected by the freezing method and the frozen storage period. There are substantial differences in the quality of the frozen fruits in favor of cryogenic freezing compared to the conventional slow freezing. The results revealed a large disparity between the times of freezing of the two methods. The freezing time accounted to 10 min in the cryogenic freezing method, whereas it was 1800 min for the conventional slow freezing system.