Almond kernels contain phytochemicals and nutrients that potentially have positive health benefits in relation to heart disease, diabetes and obesity. One important mechanism associated with these benefits is an imposed limit on bioaccessibility (release) of nutrients, such as lipids, from almond tissue during mastication and digestion. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of food st...

BACKGROUND Almond processing has been shown to differentially impact metabolizable energy; however, the effect of food form on the gastrointestinal microbiota is under-investigated. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the interrelationship of almond consumption and processing on the gastrointestinal microbiota. DESIGN A controlled-feeding, randomized, five-period, crossover study with washouts bet...

In the present study, chemical composition and in situ rumen dry matter degradability (DMD) of some tree species (cherry, apricot and almond tree leaves) were determined. Crude protein (CP) concentration varied from 6.76% for almond tree to 2.76% for cherry tree, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), from 29.2, 20.8% for apricot tree to 20.8 and 15.8% for almond tree lea...

An improved colorimetric method for determination of cyanide content in bitter almond oil was developed. The optimal determination parameters were as follows: volume ratio of hydrochloric acid to bitter almond oil (v/v), 1.5:1; holding time for hydrolysis, 120 min; and volume ratio of distillation solution to bitter almond oil (v/v), 8:1. Analytical results showed that the relative standard dev...

A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) procedure to isolate phenolic compounds from almond skin byproducts was optimized. A three-level, three-factor Box-Behnken design was used to evaluate the effect of almond skin weight, microwave power, and irradiation time on total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (DPPH). Almond skin weight was the most important parameter in the studied resp...

Kernels of Nonpareil almond and advanced breeding selections 23.5–16 and 23–122 were evaluated for similarities and differences in commercially important kernel characteristics. These three almond types did not differ in kernel mass, kernel length and width, nor in kernel color coordinates, luminosity and hue. Nonpareil kernels were observed to be significantly (p 6 0.05) thicker than kernels o...

Previous studies have provided evidence that the physical encapsulation of intracellular nutrients by cell walls of plant foods (i.e. dietary fibre) plays a predominant role in influencing macronutrient bioaccessibility (release) from plant foods during human digestion. One unexplored aspect of this is the extent to which digestive enzymes can pass through the cell-wall barrier and hydrolyse th...

Researchers are currently developing new value-added uses for almond shells, an abundant agricultural by-product. Almond varieties are distinguished by processors as being either hard or soft shelled, but these two broad classes of almond also exhibit varietal diversity in shell morphology and physical characters. By defining more precisely the physical and chemical characteristics of almond sh...

Nine Duroc and thirteen crossbred (Hampshire x Yorkshire) growingfinishing barrows were fed two different diets: a typical cornhoybean basal diet and a diet consisting 85% of the basal diet plus 15% of almond hulls. Body composition was obtained by measuring total body electrical conductivity before and after the feeding trial. The upshot: Pigs fed the almond hulls ended up with 16% less body f...

Although pollen tube growth has been an important criterion for self-compatibility evaluation in almond, there is not a clear-cut separation between positive and negative growth of pollen tubes in the different genotypes. The examination of pollen tube growth after selfing almond seedlings has allowed establishing different levels of compatibility, but not a clear-cut separation between self-co...