Zahidi dates mean "of a small quantity or nobility." This organic date fruit is a medium-sized, roundish date fruit, a golden color when ripe, and an excellent shipper and keeper. The reddish brown fruits ripen in mid-season.This date fruit is classified as a semi-dry date with a sweet and nutty flavor. These fresh dates are California grown!
The semi-dry ZAHIDI DATE was introduced from northern Iraq in 1913. Zahidi accounts for about 1% of total date fruit production. The Zahidi palm has a characteristic compact crown and is vigorous and hardy, yielding 91-136 kg of fruit per season; it is a prolific offshoot producer, 15-25.
It is most commonly grown in the Coachella Valley. The Zahidi was first introduced in 1902 from northern Iraq. As with other varieties from that region , most of the commercial plantings are traceable to the Popenoe importation of 1913. In 1946 there were 183 acres of Zahidi date fruit in California; all but 30 acres here in the Coachella Valley. Zahidi is the most common variety in northern Iraq and is more widely distributed than any other variety in that country. In most of the date-growing areas around Baghdad, Zahidi constitutes more than half the total palm population. In the Basra region, Zahidi date fruit is largely replaced by other varieties. However, even in Barsa, Zahidi constitutes about 3 percent of the palm population.
In Mandali, Iraq it is believed by natives versed in date lore that Zahidi and Kustawy were the original varieties from which all others are derived. Coachella Valley growers most familiar with the Zahidi insist that there are two strains. One strain producing small fruit and the other strain of Zahidi medium-sized, or if thinned, fairly large fruit.
This variety is now grown here at Oasis Date Gardens.
This date palm tree fruit variety is grown in the Coachella Valley, USA, certified organic, and has all the health benefits of dates:
Harvesting of entire bunches is done when fruits are about three-quarters ripe, finishing the less mature fruits in maturation chambers.
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