PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL TRAITS OF ALMOND KERNELS OF THE LOCAL ALMOND POPULATIONS IN MOROCCO: COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL END-USES

Abstract

The physical and chemical traits of five local populations of almond seedlings from Morocco were studied in order to evaluate the possibilities of their commercial and industrial valorization. Nut weight ranged between 2.8 and 4.3 g, and kernel weight between 0.93 and 1.3 g, but with most accessions being characterized by broad kernel, pronounced wrinkles and double kernels. For the chemical traits, the ranges of variation for oil content (52.6-58.7%), oleic acid (66.7-73.8%), linoleic acid (16.8-22.7%), palmitic acid (6.2-7.1%) and stearic acid (1.92-2.12%), agreed with previous results in almond, but the protein content (21.4-27.7%) showed that some populations had higher values than previously recorded in almond. For tocopherol concentration, the range of variation for α-tocopherol (318.3-530.8 mg kg-1oil) and γ-tocopherol (14.5-31.7 mg kg-1oil) are slightly higher than those reported in the literature. The genotypes from mountain regions showed kernels with very high oil content and slightly low α-tocopherol concentration, establishing a possible differentiation according to their geographical origin. These differences may allow establishing a geographical denomination for almond products. Although the physical quality of the kernels of these populations was generally low, the chemical composition offers the possibility of some specialized uses which could improve their marketable value.