Benders'dictionary of nutrition and food technology

146that can be reformed. Measuring the time taken to adapt to dimlight (the dark adaptation time) provides a sensitive index ofearly vitamin A deficiency. More severe vitamin A deficiencyresults in night blindness, and eventually complete blindness.dasheen See taro.date Fruit of date palm, Phoenix dactylifera. Three types: ‘soft’(about 80% of the dry matter is invert sugar, see sugar, invert);semi-dry (about 40% invert sugar, 40% sucrose); and dry(20–40% invert sugar, 40–60% is sucrose).Composition/100 g: (edible portion 90%) water 20.5 g, 1180 kJ(282 kcal), protein 2.5 g, fat 0.4 g, carbohydrate 75 g (63.3 g sugars),fibre 8 g, ash 1.6 g, Ca 39 mg, Fe 1 mg, Mg 43 mg, P 62 mg, K 656 mg,Na 2mg, Zn 0.3mg, Cu 0.2mg, Mn 0.3 mg, Se 3µg, 81 µgcarotenoids, vitamin E 0.1 mg, K 2.7 mg, B 1 0.05 mg, B 2 0.07 mg,niacin 1.3 mg, B 6 0.17 mg, folate 19 µg, pantothenate 0.6 mg.date, Chinese See jujube (2).DATEM Diacetyl tartaric esters of mono- and diglycerides usedas emulsifiers to strengthen bread dough and delay staling (E-472e).date marking ‘Best before’ is the date up until when the food willremain in optimum condition, i.e. will not be stale. Foods with ashelf-life up to 12 weeks are marked ‘best before day, month,year’; foods with a longer shelf-life are marked ‘best before endof month, year’.Perishable foods with a shelf-life of less than a month mayhave a ‘sell by’ date instead. ‘Use by’ date is given for foods thatare microbiologically highly perishable and could become adanger to health; it is the date up to and including which the foodmay safely be used if stored properly.Frozen foods and ice cream carry star markings that correspondto the star marking on freezers and frozen food compartmentsof refrigerators. One star (*) −4°C (25 °F) will keep forone week; two star (**) −11 °C (12 °F), 1 month; three star (***)−18 °C (0 °F), 3 months. Corresponding times for ice cream are 1day, 1 week, 1 month, after which they are fit to eat but thetexture changes.date plum See persimmon.dawadawa African; fermented dried seeds of the African locustbean Parkia biglobosa, usually pressed into balls; various bacteriaare involved in the 3–4 day fermentation.db/db mouse Genetically obese mouse that is also diabetic; thedefect is lack of leptin receptors.DBD process See dry–blanch–dry process.DCPIP See dichlorophenolindophenol.DCS Distributed control systems.