ISHS Acta Horticulturae 726: IV International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds
KERNEL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALMOND CULTIVARS UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS |
| Authors: | M. Ayadi, M. Ghrab, K. Gargouri, O. Elloumi, F. Zribi, M. Ben Mimoun, CH. Boulares, W. Guedri |
| Keywords: | almond, cultivars, yield, nut quality |
| Abstract:
This study was carried out in order to determine kernel characteristics of some local and foreign almond cultivars. The trees are planted at 10x12m spacing in a rainfed orchard in the Center of Tunisia (Sfax region). For this reason, important agronomic and commercial traits were analyzed as productivity and nut features (weight, shelling percentage and size), mineral composition (P, K, Ca, Mg) and lipid characteristics (oil and fat acid contents). Differences between cultivars for all the characteristics analyzed were observed. Nuts yield varied from 1.2 to 6.6 kg/tree. Foreign varieties presented the best performances. However, the cultivars with highest nut production presented the lowest shelling percentage. Mineral analysis of kernel shown a significant difference between cultivars for phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium contents. Lipid characteristics revealed that kernels collected from different cultivars had high oil content (56.1 to 59.8%). Chromatographic analysis shown that almond oil was rich in oleic acid (64-79%), linoleic acid (12-19%) and palmitic acid (6-11%). | |
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