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Abstract
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Sixteen date palm cultivars were studied for their susceptibility to the date palm dust mite, Oligonychus
afrasiaticus, at Date Palm and Tropical Fruit Research Institute of Bushehr, Iran. Physicochemical
attributes of these cultivars were also measured at Kimri stage. The results revealed significant
differences among cultivars regarding susceptibility to O. afrasiaticus. The cultivars Haleli, Maktoub,
Barahi, and Deglet Noor were more resistant to the date palm dust mite than the other cultivars.
Significant differences were also observed among cultivars for physicochemical characteristics. Fruit
length ranged from 2.18 to 4.15 cm, fruit mid diameter from 1.52 to 2.70 cm, fruit cap diameter from
0.82 to 1.10 cm, pericarp thickness from 1.51 to 6.12 mm, exocarp thickness from 0.24 to 0.54 mm,
fruit weight from 4.21 to 17.24 g, kernel weight from 0.23 to 1.47 g, pericarp to kernel weight ratio
from 4.45 to 16.67, strand weight from 26.33 to 184.75 g, bunch weight from 1.45 to 10.80 kg, number
of strands from 26.33 to 91.33, fruit tissue firmness from 3.08 to 4.76 kg/cm2
. The percentage of
infestation to the mite had a significant positive correlation with the Kernel weight, fruit length, and
number of strands. Tannin content ranged from 0.97 to 8.13%, TSS from 10.00 to 70.00% Brix, and
titratable acidity from 0.70 to 1.50%. No significant correlation was observed between chemical
characteristics of date fruits and infestation to the mite. Such information can be used to screen cultivars
of date palm for date fruit processing industries and breeding programs.
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