Variability in almond oil chemical traits from traditional cultivars from eastern Morocco

Abstract

In Morocco, cultivation of almond tree (Prunus amygdalus L.) constitutes the second most important plantation of fruit trees after olive growing. It is mostly cultivated in two regions, « Taza, Al Houceima Taounate » in the north and « Souss Massa Draa » in the south. Almond genetic resources (Marcoma, Fournat, Ferragnes/Ferraduel and Beldi), cultivated in eastern Morocco were studied during two consecutive crop years in order to evaluate variations in kernel oil yield, fatty acid profiles, oleic /linoleic (O/L) ratio and almond oils oxydative stability (OSI,evaluated by rancimat tests) in comparison to monovarietal olive oils. Almond kernel total oil (AO), Oleic acid (C18:1), Linoleic acid (C18:2), O/L-ratio, and tocopherol contents range between: 48 - 62% for kernel total oil; 65- 77.5% for C18:1; 17- 25% for C18:2; 2.5-4 for O/L ratio and 370 - 675 μg/g oil for tocopherols, respectively. We conclude that the genotype is the main variability source for all these chemical traits of AOs. Results obtained from Ferragnes/Ferraduel may be of interest for almond breeding focused to improve kernel oil yield and fatty acid profile. Besides, tocopherols contents of AOs seem to be the most important contributor for their stability to oxidation, even though compared to monovarietal olive oils, stability of AOs were very low and OSI value range between 20-27 hours. This fragility of AOs is due to their high content of unsaturated fatty acid which not allows their use for cooking or storage for long period. However, almond oils could have many applications in the food industry as in cosmeti