Table 3 shows the effect of cellulase and incubation
time (min) on the soluble solids yield from date of Deglet
Nour variety at «tamr» stage.
The yield of soluble solids increased about 6% from 20 to
100 min in the non-enzyme-treated control that had been incubated
at 50 C and pH 4 for 20 min to 300 min. This could be
explained by the natural diffusion of sugar during extraction and
also by the possible presence of endogenous enzymes in date pulp
(polygalacturonase, pectinesterase and cellulase) (Barreveld, 1993).