Background\ud \ud - The fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the most abundant fruits in the world. Hundreds of varieties having different texture, color, and flavor are available for valorization and adoption in food processing operations. Such utilization should be based on the fruit valuable characteristics; mainly its richness in dietary fiber and phenolic antioxidants.\ud \ud Scope and approach\ud \ud - This review article complements these existing reviews by primarily addressing the chemistry and processing of date fruits pulp and seeds with particular emphasis on dietary fiber and antioxidants as linked to important fruit processing and utilization features.\ud \ud Key findings and conclusions\ud \ud - Date fruits contain 6.5–11.5% total dietary fibers (of which 84–94% insoluble and 6–16% soluble dietary fiber) and is very rich in phenolic antioxidants (1–2%) especially condensed tannin pigments based on (−)-epicatechin oligomers. Date seeds contain about 15% of fiber, characterized by a high level of water-insoluble mannan fibers. Date fruits are widely available in the global market, mainly at mature Tamr stage, but there is still room for improvement. It has been suggested that date fruits and seeds can be exploited in some food applications utilizing their high levels of fiber and antioxidants. The incorporation of date fruits and seeds as food ingredients is still growing with the aim to promote the presence of dates in the modern's consumer shopping basket

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective methodology for implementing lean manufacturing strategies and a leanness evaluation metric using continuous performance measurement (CPM).Design/methodology/approach: Based on five lean principles, a systematic lean implementation methodology for manufacturing organizations has been proposed. A simplified leanness evaluation metric consisting of both efficiency and effectiveness attributes of manufacturing performance has been developed for continuous evaluation of lean implementation. A case study to validate the proposed methodology has been conducted and proposed CPM metric has been used to assess the manufacturing leanness.Findings: Proposed methodology is able to systematically identify manufacturing wastes, select appropriate lean tools, identify relevant performance indicators, achieve significant performance improvement and establish lean culture in the organization. Continuous performance measurement matrices in terms of efficiency and effectiveness are proved to be appropriate methods for continuous evaluation of lean performance.Research limitations/implications: Effectiveness of the method developed has been demonstrated by applying it in a real life assembly process. However, more tests/applications will be necessary to generalize the findings.Practical implications: Results show that applying the methods developed, managers can successfully identify and remove manufacturing wastes from their production processes. By improving process efficiency, they can optimize their resource allocations. Manufacturers now have a validated step by step methodology for successfully implementing lean strategies.Originality/value: According to the authors' best knowledge, this is the first known study that proposed a systematic lean implementation methodology based on lean principles and continuous improvement techniques. Evaluation of performance improvement by lean strategies is a critical issue. This study develops a simplified leanness evaluation metric considering both efficiency and effectiveness attributes and integrates it with the lean implementation methodology.

The structural heterogeneities of fruits and vegetables intensify the complexity to comprehend the interrelated physicochemical changes that occur during drying. Shrinkage of food materials during drying is a common physical phenomenon which affects the textural quality and taste of the dried product. The shrinkage of food material depends on many factors including material characteristics, microstructure, mechanical properties, and process conditions. Understanding the effect of these influencing factors on deformation of fruits and vegetables during drying is crucial to obtain better‐quality product. The majority of the previous studies regarding shrinkage are either experimental or empirical; however, such studies cannot provide a realistic understanding of the physical phenomena behind the material shrinkage. In contrast, theoretical modeling can provide better insights into the shrinkage that accompanies simultaneous heat and mass transfer during drying. However, limited studies have been conducted on the theoretical modeling of shrinkage of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to critically review the existing theoretical shrinkage models and present a framework for a theoretical model for the shrinkage mechanism. This paper also describes the effect of different drying conditions on material shrinkage. Discussions on how the diverse characteristics of fruits and vegetables affect shrinkage propagation is presented. Moreover, a comprehensive review of formulation techniques of shrinking models and their results are also presented. Finally, the challenges in developing a physics‐based shrinkage model are discussed.