Analysis of the Effect of Postharvest Treatments on Some Physical Properties and Moth Infestation of Date Palm Fruit (Phoenix Dactylifera)

Date palm fruit are nutritious healthy foods that are consumed fresh and or dried. They are sometimes exported to other states and countries where they are cultivated. This action requires it to be dried and if not properly handled is infected by moths causing postharvest losses and damages. Postharvest treatment such as blanching and drying reduces such losses. Two varieties of date palm fruit medjool and deglet Noor were pretreatment using blanching with plain water and blanching with Nacl at blanching temperature of 0,20,40, 60 and 80 oC at blanching time of 12 minutes. The samples were dried using direct sun and stored in a hessian bag for 3 months. Physical properties and moth infestation were determined before and after storage period. The results reveal that postharvest treatment has significant effect on the determined parameters. Infestation rate decreased with increase in blanching temperature and even lower for samples treated with blanching and Nacl.