Not really except within the commercial industry as they can use irradiation, ozonation, etc. For the home food preserver, freezing or pickling are the only approved methods. In theory, one could can whole plain dates in a heavy vinegar or lemon juice solution, and some do, but the end result is an acquired taste and unacceptable to many.

The main problem is the negative effects exposure to heat has on the dates themselves. They can tolerate the lower temps used in pasteurization and dehydration with only marginal loss of structure, chemical breakdown, and nutrition but even those temps have negative effects on color and flavor by increasing the tannin levels. The higher temps required for canning increase the negative effects exponentially.

Dave

PS: if you want to read one study done the issue check out https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4375222/

Thanks dave. Im sad to hear that because i dont eat sugar at all and instead when i want to sweeten foods i will add dates into recipes to sub for sugar.

Admittedly i have pressure cooked dates for extended periods in the past and have found them to be

In theory do you think it could be done in a pressure canner without the addition of other acids like lemon juice and still be safe?

Can you describe the kind of dates you mean? Are these dates fresh off the tree? Or dried? The reference to using them as a sweetener seems to imply they're already dried and would have a long shelf life without further treatment. Even fresh dates will keep about two months.

Floral, theyre dried dates but i always have to rehydrate them prior to cooking.

However even when rehydrated, it still takes a while to cook them down to softness and easier distribution into a soup or sauce so it would be nice to have some on hand that have those steps skipped

We have dried dates in our food dehydrator. Maybe consider that instead of canning? It's easy to dry fruit. You can do it in the oven if you don't have a dehydrator.