## 3 Results and Discussion
### Chemical Compositions  
The change in chemical composition of palm dates after SDBD plasma treatment is presented in Figure 3. Most ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables contain high levels of free water, which, when exposed to non-thermal plasma, can cause undesirable quality changes. However, because non-thermal plasma cannot penetrate the product, these changes occur only on the surface and do not affect the fresh produce's intrinsic composition or nutritional properties [51]. As seen in Figure 3A, the total carbohydrate content of untreated palm date types varied from 51 \(\pm\) 2 to 90 \(\pm\) 5, while the values for those treated with SDBD plasma for 3 min ranged from 47 \(\pm\) 2 to 85 \(\pm\) 2. The total carbohydrate levels in _Rshodya_ plasma increased from 68 \(\pm\) 3 to 74 \(\pm\) 3, in _Swkari_ plasma from 80 \(\pm\) 2 to 84 \(\pm\) 1, and in _Khadari_ plasma from 65 \(\pm\) 2 to 68 \(\pm\) 3. Conversely, the overall carbohydrate content of the other palm date types has decreased. There were no significant changes (\(p>0.05\)) in the total carbohydrates of treated and untreated palm dates. Figure 3B demonstrates the influence of SDBD plasma on the total sugar content of palm date samples. The plasma-treated palm dates decreased in total sugar content for all date varieties except the _Ajwa_ cultivar, where the total sugar content increased from 24 \(\pm\) 2 to 25 \(\pm\) 3. The range of total sugars in untreated samples is between 24 \(\pm\) 2 and 45 \(\pm\) 1, while the range for treated samples is between 25 \(\pm\) 3 and 43 \(\pm\) 1. Despite this, there are no significant changes (\(p>0.05\)) in the total sugar values of treated and untreated samples. In a recent article, demonstrated that, no significant change in total sugar content between untreated and non-thermal plasma-treated bananas [72]. In addition, it observed that non-thermal plasma treatment had little effect on the composition and concentration of reducing sugar in radial paocai [73]. However, following non-thermal plasma treatment, the sugar content of blueberry fruits increased [74] and was reduced [55] in pitaya. The impact of SDBD plasma on total protein is depicted in Figure 3C. The range of total protein concentration in untreated samples was 1.51 \(\pm\) 0.08 to 2.45 \(\pm\) 0.05, while the range for treated samples was 1.56 \(\pm\) 0.12 to 2.59 \(\pm\) 0.02. After plasma treatment, the total protein content of two types, _Roshody_ (1.72 \(\pm\) 0.06) and _Maghol_ (2.45 \(\pm\) 0.05), reduced to 1.56 \(\pm\) 0.16 and 2.45 \(\pm\) 0.07, respectively. Other treated palm date cultivars have increased in total protein content. Still, there were no statistically significant differences (\(p>\) 0.05) between the values of total protein in samples that were treated and those that were not. As indicated in Figure 3D, the total fat values increased for _Rshodya_ from 0.48 \(\pm\) 0.02 to 0.54 \(\pm\) 0.02, for _Nablet Ali_ from 0.40 \(\pm\) 0.02 to 0.50 \(\pm\) 0.02, and for _Kladari_ from 0.45 \(\pm\) 0.02 to 0.52 \(\pm\) 0.02. Total fat content of the other palm date cultivars was decreased. The total fat content of untreated samples varied from 0.34 \(\pm\) 0.03 to 0.56 \(\pm\) 0.02, whereas treated samples had values between 0.27 \(\pm\) 0.03 to 0.54 \(\pm\) 0.02. However, there were no significant changes (\(p>\) 0.05) between the treated and control samples in terms of total fat content. Figure 3E demonstrates that the SDBD treatment decreased the ash values of _Ajwa_ and _Maghol_ from 3.96 \(\pm\) 0.19 to 3.27 \(\pm\) 0.14 and from 1.74 \(\pm\) 0.25 to 1.27 \(\pm\) 0.25, respectively. In  
Figure 3: The effect of SDBD plasma on composition of palm dates; (**A**) total carbohydrates, \(p\) value = 0.75, (**B**) total sugars \(p\) value = 0.34, (**C**) total protein \(p\) value = 0.06, (**D**) total fat \(p\) value = 0.48, and (**E**) ash \(p\) value = 0.25, lowercase letters a-g in the same column represent significance analysis; the different letters mean significant difference among various treatments at \(p<\) 0.05 level.