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...

Abstract Almond shell hardness is an economically important quality trait that protects the integrity of kernel. It directly related with shelling or crack-out percent. In U.S. and Australian markets, soft to semi-hard shells varieties have been used in industry, while European market, hard are dominantly sold distributed. The origin a from wild almond species. Soft USA Australia selected for h...

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...

Almond is characterized by its high nutritional value; although information reported so far mainly concerns edible kernel. Even though the nutritional and commercial relevance of the almond is restricted to almond meat; to date; increasing attention has been paid to other parts of this fruit (skin; shell; and hull); considered by-products that are scarcely characterized and exploited regarding ...