{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:30:07Z","timestamp":1760059807584,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]],"date-time":"2025-07-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752192000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research Council","award":["RC\/RG-AGR\/FOOD\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/19\/01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RC\/RG-AGR\/FOOD\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/19\/01"]}]},{"name":"His Majesty Trust Funds","award":["RC\/RG-AGR\/FOOD\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/19\/01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RC\/RG-AGR\/FOOD\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/19\/01"]}]},{"name":"Sultan Qaboos Univeristy","award":["RC\/RG-AGR\/FOOD\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/19\/01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RC\/RG-AGR\/FOOD\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/23\/01","SR\/AGR\/Food\/19\/01"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Date pits are considered waste, and micronized date pit powder could be developed for use in foods and bio-products. In this study, micronized date pit powders were extracted by alcoholic sedimentation after ultrasound treatment. The control was considered untreated, i.e., without sonication. Six micronized fractions (i.e., three from control and three from treated) were prepared by three stages of alcoholic sedimentation. In the case of untreated date pit powder, the average particle size of the fractionated date pit powder (i.e., residue) from three stages of alcoholic sedimentation varied from 89 to 164 \u00b5m, while ultrasonic treatment showed variation from 39 to 65 \u00b5m. The average particle size of the supernatant fractions of untreated date pit powder varied from 22 to 63 \u00b5m, while ultrasonic treatment showed variation from 18 to 44 \u00b5m. Ultrasound treatment produced smaller particles. In all cases, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) showed that supernatant fractions contained lumped particles compared to the residue fractions. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed the presence of nanoparticles in all extracted fractions. Two glass transitions were observed in all fractions except for the residue from the first sedimentation stage. In addition, higher levels of degradation in the fractionated date pits could be achieved by ultrasonic treatment, as is evident from the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26146644","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]],"date-time":"2025-07-11T12:46:33Z","timestamp":1752237993000},"page":"6644","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Structural Characterization of Micronized Lignocellulose Date Pits as Affected by Water Sonication Followed by Alcoholic Fractionations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Khalid","family":"Al-Harrasi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 34-123, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Oman"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7494-4085","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nasser","family":"Al-Habsi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 34-123, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Oman"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7392-2638","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed A.","family":"Al-Kindi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 35-123, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Oman"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Linghong","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2450-0830","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hafiz A. R.","family":"Suleria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8442-1499","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muthupandian","family":"Ashokkumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sonochemistry Group, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8110-2425","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammad Shafiur","family":"Rahman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 34-123, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Oman"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"958","DOI":"10.1002\/cche.10437","article-title":"Impact of ground Ajwa (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seeds fortification on physical and nutritional properties of functional cookies and chocolate sauce","volume":"98","author":"Abushal","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cereal Chem."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Al-Khalili, M., Al-Habsi, N., and Rahman, M.S. (2023). Applications of date pits in foods to enhance their functionality and quality: A review. Front. Sustain. 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