Date palm

The 'bread tree' of the desert — a 2,000-year-old seed sprouted

Dates are the main food of desert people. One palm gives 100 kg of sweet dates a year and lives 100 years. Dates are so nourishing that travellers crossed the Sahara for weeks on nothing but dates and water. Most amazing: scientists found a 2,000-year-old date seed and planted it — and it sprouted! They named it 'Methuselah'.

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the oldest fruit trees, domesticated 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf; it is often mentioned in the Quran and the Bible. Up to 25 m, living 150 years; male and female trees are separate — pollinated by hand since ancient times (the first 'agrotechnology'). The fruit is 70% sugar with potassium and fibre — the energy source of desert caravans. In 2005 a 2,000-year-old seed from the Masada fortress in Israel sprouted ('Methuselah') — the oldest seed ever germinated; 6 more followed, bearing fruit in 2020. 9 million tonnes a year: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran. Leaves make baskets, trunks make building material — the 'tree of life'. It doesn't grow in Uzbekistan (too cold), but dates are an essential part of the Ramadan table.

Fun facts

• A 2,000-year-old date seed sprouted and bore fruit in 2020!
• A date is 70% sugar — a natural 'energy battery'.
• People have hand-pollinated date palms for 6,000 years.