Abstract

BALANITES AEGYPTIACA (DESERT DATE) – A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Abdullatif Azab*

Abstract

Balanites aegyptiaca is an edible fruit bearing tree of arid and semiarid regions. It has been used by humans since ancient times as a source of food and for other ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal purposes. Many review articles were published about this tree, and we will present the most important of them, to explain why this review article is the most important. The number of the medicinal activities of Balanites aegyptiaca is relatively large and these include antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiparasitic, hepatoprotective, wound healing and nutritional. The chemical composition of this tree was extensively studied and published and the publications will be summarized in this article. In the discussion section, various factors that affect the quality of the tree products will be presented, in addition to its economic value and its use in the preparation of nanoparticles that have notable medicinal activities. In the last part, conclusions will be drawn and suggestions future research and uses will be proposed.

Keywords: Balanites aegyptiaca, ethnobotany, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, chemical composition, hepatoprotective, nutrition, wound healing.