Effect of the Addition of Defatted Date Seeds on Wheat Dough Performance and Bread Quality

Defatted palm date seeds (date seed fiber concentrate: DSFC) of two varieties, Allig and Deglet Nour, were milled into two fractions: fine (particle size ≤ 280 µm) and coarse (280 µm < particle size ≤ 600 µm). DSFC was used to replace wheat flour in bread at 1 and 3% replacement levels. Dough and bread evaluation revealed that the addition of DSFC with fine size caused the decrease of bread volume, the change of crumb color and slightly increase bread crumb firmness. On the other hand, the addition of DSFC with a coarse size affected the mixing characteristics, decreased significantly the specific volume exceptionally at 3% and the bread crumb firmness (P < 0.05). An enrichment of bread with DSFC at 1 or 3% increased the dietary fiber contents in bread with lightly adverse effects on bread quality. PARACTICAL APPLICATION Tunisia is considered to be one of the dates‐producing countries. The mean annual yield of date fruits is about 125,000 tons. From this, around 12,500 tons of date seeds could be collected. This by‐product of date processing industries could be regarded as an excellent source of dietary fiber with interesting technological functionality and many beneficial effects on human health. Then, date seeds could present a value addition by extraction and use of date seed fiber concentrate in bread formulation.