Almond is a seed rich in lipid (54%), in particular in oleic and linoleic acid, an omega-6. It is also remarkably rich in protein (22%), although devoid of essential amino acids such as methionine and lisine.
The almond which, since Antiquity, an important lugar in the eastern and Mediterranean pastelería, has for two decades gained renewed interest in the world. Rising global demand is driven by the desire of many consumers to switch to plant-based foods, particularly for snacking, snacks and snacks, which are said to be good for your health.
In the botanical sense, the term almond has the general value of "seed contained in the nucleus of a drupe which contains an important food reserve allowing the embryo to develop" 1. In common language, the term almond can according to context context designate 1) the almond fruit as it appears on the tree 2) the shell once this fruit is stripped of its shells 3) the seed once it has come out of its shell (it is the almond in the botanical sense, in trade we speak of almond) 4) this seed stripped of its seed coat (or hulled almond).
Botanical description
Of ovoid shape, covered with a velvety skin to the touch, green and fluffy, the almond is a shell fruit resembling a small green peach, whose flesh remains thin, hard and dry and never becomes juicy.
From a botanical point of view, the fruit of the almond tree (Prunus dulcis) is a drupe whose external part (composed of the epicarp and endocarp) is initially a little fleshy and covered with a fluffy skin, almond green color (bluish gray green). The whole green fruit is edible. The flesh gradually becomes dry, the internal part of the epicarp, crunchy and of good flavor in green almonds becomes a hard and fibrous nucleus at maturity which detaches well from the flesh2.
When it reaches maturity, the pulp dries up and opens into two valves, releasing the nucleus. This woody, oblong, amber-yellow, crevassed part corresponds to the endocarp. It is very hard and requires an instrument (such as a nutcracker) to be opened. It then releases a seed or "almond" in the botanical sense (in the world of production, we speak of "almond" or "shelled almond"). The seed is surrounded by a brown, slightly hairy, fairly leathery seed coat. After removing this skin, we obtain a “hulled almond” which is easily shared between its two cotyledons and lets appear the gem and the radicle.
Almond is an oil seed with a pale, crunchy, sweet or bitter flesh (for wild almonds). Oblong and flattened, pointed at the end carrying the germ, the almond is naturally very toxic because it is very rich in cyanide. The sweet almond is the product of selection by human beings. It still contains a little cyanide, but in much less quantity than the wild seed (bitter almond).
Micronutrients
Almond is a food rich in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). It is particularly rich in vitamin E (consisting essentially of four tocopherols). The three tocopherols measured by Kodal et al.3 vary significantly with the variety and the year of production. Alpha-tocopherol is dominant (ranging from 313 mg.kg − 1 for the Spanish variety "Muel" in 2009, to 616 mg.kg − 1 for "Araguayo-2" in 2010). For this same year 2010, the variety “Araguayo-2” also had 1.97 mg.kg − 1 of δ-tocopherol and 28.01 mg.kg − 1 of γ-tocopherol. Or a very large total tocopherol of 646 mg.kg − 1 and of the same order of magnitude as for walnuts (“Chandler” variety). But the major difference with walnuts is that here α-tocopherol is dominant while for walnuts it is γ-tocopherol (which is a biologically less active form than α-tocopherol).
The almond is also relatively rich in vitamin B2 and B97.
It is rich in copper, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus (in descending order of the% of NRV). In addition, the sodium content of the almond is very low (1-2 mg / 100 g), the potassium / sodium ratio is between 360 and 900 which is exceptional for a natural food. This can be useful for low sodium diets.