Lipophilic antioxidant content of almonds (Prunus dulcis): A regional and varietal study

This study investigated the fatty acid and tocopherol content of 24 almond samples (Prunus dulcis) mainly sourced from several regions in Australia, as well as Spain and the USA, to determine the influence of variety and region on linoleic acid and vitamin E content in particular. Considerable variation was observed not only in linoleic acid (15.7-29.9% of total lipids) and vitamin E (8.2-21.5 mg/100 g) content, but also in lipid (46.1-63.5 g/100 g), oleic acid (58.5-71.3% of total lipids), palmitic acid (5.9-7.5% of total lipids) and stearic acid (1.0-2.4% of total lipids) content. Tocol composition comprised α-tocopherol (8.0-20.9 mg/100 g), γ-tocopherol (0.08-0.59 mg/100 g), β-tocopherol (0.02-0.12 mg/100 g) and α-tocotrienol (0.01-0.30 mg/100 g). The influence of genotype and environment was evaluated and enabled identification of new selections, being No. 13 and 23, as almonds suited to growing conditions in Australian regions.