Date palm seed (Phoenix dactylifera) as a sustainable platform for precision nanomedicine and nanotheranostics: a review of phytochemical-derived nanomaterials and drug delivery applications

The increasing application of nanomaterials in drug delivery, diagnosis, imaging and therapy has created interest in renewable biological resources for their synthesis. Date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) seed is an underutilised agricultural biomass containing lignocellulosic components, phytochemicals, proteins, lipids and minerals that can support different nanomaterial development pathways. This review examines the conversion of date palm seed from raw biomass into carbonaceous materials, green-synthesised nanoparticles and potential nanotheranostic platforms. Particular attention is given to seed pretreatment, phytochemical extraction, chemical profiling, green nanoparticle formation, carbonisation, activation, drug loading and physicochemical characterisation. The review also evaluates reported antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytocompatibility, haemocompatibility, biosensing, imaging and drug-delivery applications. Evidence across the literature indicates that material properties are strongly affected by cultivar, geographical origin, pretreatment, extraction conditions, phytochemical composition and synthesis parameters, which limits direct comparison and reproducibility between studies. Although several biological activities have been reported, evidence for integrated precision nanomedicine and nanotheranostic applications remains comparatively limited. Major challenges include chemical variability, incomplete mechanistic understanding, batch-to-batch reproducibility, toxicity assessment, physiological stability, scale-up and regulatory requirements. Future research should focus on the chemical and biologolical standardisation, controlled synthesis, surface engineering and appropriate in vitro and in vivo validation. Date palm seed has potential as a sustainable feedstock for multifunctional nanomaterials, but translation into precision nanomedicine requires reproducible, well-characterised and biologically validated platforms.