Template:Short description Template:Infobox cultivar The Medjool date (Template:Langx - tamar al-majhūl. Tamar means 'date' and majhūl means 'unknown', from جَهِلَ jahila, 'to not know')<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> also known as Medjoul, Mejhoul or Majhool, is a large, sweet cultivated variety of date (Phoenix dactylifera). It is an important commercial variety constituting some 25% of worldwide trade in dates.
LandraceEdit
The Medjool cultivar originates from the Tafilalt region of Morocco, where it is still grown.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Outside Morocco, it is grown in the United States,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Israel,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Palestine,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Jordan. The variety is planted both for its fruit and for landscaping.<ref name=NPRmedjool>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The medjool is a distinct landrace, described as producing "large soft fruit, with orange-yellowish flesh, and a mildly rich and pleasing flavor".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Being large, soft, and with a "caramel, honey" flavor, the variety has been called "the king of dates".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ConstituentsEdit
Medjool dates are high in oxalates (18–233 mg/100 g dry weight).<ref name="pmid34105667">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Out of the over 3000<ref name="EU market 2024"/> known cultivars, only two contain the disaccharide sugar sucrose: Deglet Nour and Medjool. All the rest contain the monosaccharides glucose and fructose in a mix known as invert sugar.<ref name="EU market 2024">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sucrose tastes sweeter than glucose but less sweet than fructose; the mix is less sweet than pure fructose, but still is somewhat sweeter than sucrose.<ref name="Helstad 2019">Template:Cite book</ref>
TradeEdit
In 2013, Israel held more than 60 percent of the global medjool market share.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2024, Medjool constituted 25% of the world export market for dates.<ref name="EU market 2024"/> Those supplied to France, the largest European importer of dates, are predominantly from Algeria and Tunisia. Retail brands in both France and Italy often label the cultivar, usually Medjool or Deglet Nour, on the packet.<ref name="EU market 2024"/> Especially large Medjool dates are sold as a luxury product, for example in the Netherlands.