The fact that dates are often referred to as the "bread of the desert" is due to their unusually high carbohydrate content of around 65%. But the comparison also expresses the important role they play for the desert population, especially in the countries of the Arab world, where dates have almost the status of a staple food in societies without refrigerators because of their availability, their energy richness, but also because of their shelf life. Dates are stored here for years in clay pots buried in the sand. On the journeys of the caravans, dried dates were the ideal way food and were extensively chewed soft during the long marches.