Dates (Phoenixdactylifera(L.) are extensively produced and consumed in Middle East. Dates flesh is consumed as a food while pits are thrown as waste or used as animal feed. Date pits comprise of 10-15% of total fruit weight. Date pits are rich source of dietary fiber (52%). Pits can be used in different types of food products to improve their dietary fiber contents. Bread loaves were prepared with acceptable sensory and rheological dough properties when date pits powder was replaced with wheat flour up to 12% level. The pasting properties of flour blends were also affected in the presence of date pits. Date pits pudding was also prepared and compared with commercially available chocolate pudding. Acceptable sensory and rheological attributes were observed in high fiber date pits pudding samples. Hardness and spread factor of cookies also increased in the presence of date pits powder. It can be concluded that date pits can be used as a cheap source of dietary fiber in different products without promising their quality attributes. The presence of good quality oil in date seed powder can also enhance the nutritional value of these food products.

Biography:
Dr. Shahzad is holding a Ph.D degree in Food Science and Technology from National Institute of Food Science and technology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. He has started my career as a faculty on Jan 2009 from his parent institute and currently working ad Associate Professor in the department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr Shahzad has published more than 70 publications in the area of food science and nutrition and also presented his research at several international conferences. Currently, he is the part of 3 ongoing projects and teaching several courses related to safety, nutrition, composition, chemistry and analysis of foods. He is also managing the food rheology, baking, cereal, starch and thermal analysis labs from last 7 years.