Glycemic indices, glycemic load and glycemic response for seventeen varieties of dates grown in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Dates are consumed worldwide, and are an important fruit for many individuals in Saudi Arabia. Currently, limited information is available on the glycemic indices of different date varieties.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL) and glycemic response for 17 common date varieties in Saudi Arabia.

DESIGN: Prospective clinical trial on healthy subjects.

SETTING: College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The available carbohydrate content of Tamer stage dates was determined using standard laboratory methods. Healthy subjects (ten males and nine females) received 50 g of glucose (on three separate occasions) and 50 g equivalent of available carbohydrates from the seventeen varieties of date (each once). The GI and GL were then calculated.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): GI, GL, and glycemic response.

RESULTS: The mean (SEM) GI of the date samples was 55.2 (7.7) (range, 42.8-74.6). Sellaj and Maktoomi exhibited the highest GI (74.6 [10.1] and 71.0 [11.1]), respectively, whereas Shaqra, Sukkary, and Sag'ai had the lowest GI (42.8 [5.5], 43.4 [4.7] and 44.6 [6]), respectively. The GL of the date samples ranged from 8.5 to 24. Sellaj had a high GL (24), whereas Ajwah and Shaqra had a low GL (8.5 and 9.2). The analyses suggested no significant difference in GI between the date varieties. However, the GL values differed significantly between the 17 date varieties (P < .001).

CONCLUSION: The results provide reliable GI and GL values for 17 common date varieties in Saudi Arabia. The identification of date varieties with lower glycemic responses may help lower the GI of the diet of both healthy and diabetic Saudi individuals.

LIMITATIONS: We used dates at the Tamer stage, which may not be translatable to all types of dates.