A large number of date cultivars and varieties emerged through history of its cultivation, but the exact number is difficult to assess. Hussain and El-Zeid[1] (1975) have reported 400 varieties, while Nixon[2] (1954) named around 250. Most of those are limited to a particular region, and only a few dozen have attained broader commercial importance. The most renowned cultivars worldwide include Deglet Noor, originally of Algeria; Zahidi and Hallawi of Iraq; Medjool of Morocco; Mazafati of Iran.[3]
Most of the information in the following list is from Date Palm Genetic Resources and Utilization by Al-Khayri et al. (2015).[4][5]
- ^ Hussain, Fazal; El-Zeid, A (1975). "Studies on physical and chemical characteristics of date varieties of Saudi Arabia". Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Saudi Arabia.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Nixon, R.W. (1954). "Date culture in Saudi Arabia". Ann. Date Growers' Instit. (31): 15–20.
- ^ Sidhu, Jiwan S. (28 February 2008). "22. Date Fruits Production and Processing". In Hui, Y. H.; Barta, József; Cano, M. Pilar (eds.). Handbook of Fruits and Fruit Processing. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 391–396. ISBN 978-0-470-27648-8.
- ^ Al-Khayri, Jameel M.; Jain, Shri Mohan; Johnson, Dennis V., eds. (2015). Date Palm Genetic Resources and Utilization. Vol. 1. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9694-1. ISBN 978-94-017-9693-4. S2CID 40086887.
- ^ Al-Khayri, Jameel M.; Jain, Shri Mohan; Johnson, Dennis V., eds. (2015). Date Palm Genetic Resources and Utilization. Vol. 2. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9707-8. ISBN 978-94-017-9706-1. S2CID 41024508.