Contents I. Introduction
Date palm play a very important role culturally, socio-economically and ecologically. Currently, around the world, more than 2000 different varieties or cultivars exist, but only a limited number are valued for the quality of their fruits [1]. By-products of date palm leaves, trunk, stones, Pedicels have a various use in Saharan regions. The valorization of date palm pits, in particular, is a promising project in Tunisia, where the total production of dates reached 288 thousand tons during the 2021 campaign against 190 thousand tons for the 2012 campaign, thus recording an increase of 30% [2]. the production of dates generates a large amount of pits that are currently considered a low-value waste. Date pits have been found to contain a variety of beneficial biochemical and mineral substances, including dietary fiber, protein, ash, sugars, phenolic compounds, and fat [3]. Date pits oil is a rich source of fatty acids such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, lauric acid, and myristic acid. Additionally, it contains natural antioxidants like polyphenols, sterols, tocopherols, and carotenoids [4] . This large composition makes it possible to valorize the date pits in many applications such as a food product (coffee and baked goods…), cosmetics products, pharmaceutical Industry (the formulation of medicinal drugs) and in bioenergy through the production of biofuels like bioethanol, and biodiesel which considered as a renewable energy. Indeed, this dissertation will focus on study the potential valorization of date oil extracted from Deglet Nour of Tunisia to produce biodiesel for commercial use.
