Prunus dulcis

Almond

Useful reference: 502

A tree grown for its nut mainly in the mediterranean countries and California. The outer portion of the almond fruit is similar to the fleshy portion of the peach. Inside this is the nut, consisting of a shell and a kernel surrounded by a thin skin. Almonds are sometimes extracted for their oil, which is used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The bitter variety (amara) is richer in amygdalin than the sweet variety (dulcis).

TOXICITY. The kernels and the oilcake contain the glucoside amygdalin, which can yield prussic acid. Kernels and cakes must therefore be cooked thoroughly before being used as feed. The detoxified cake can be fed to all domestic animals, but it is usually sold to bakeries at a higher price.

USE. The only important by-product of almond processing is the hull. As the almond ripens on the tree, the hull usually splits open. After the almonds are harvested, the nuts are passed through a machine which removes the hulls. The hulls can be used in cattle and sheep rations. They have been mixed 1:1 with barley and fed together with alfalfa hay with excellent results. Varieties with soft hulls are superior to varieties with hard hulls. The total digestible nutrients (TDN) on a dry matter basis are about 80% in soft hulls and about 60% in hard hulls. The hulls can also be ensiled.

					As % of dry matter
				DM	CP	CF	Ash	EE	NFE	Ca	P	Ref
Kernels, USA				95.3	18.6	2.7	3.0	54.1	21.6	0.27	0.52	501
Skin, Cyprus				69.5	9.8	27.7	6.3	7.6	48.6		0.38	369
Oilcake with hulls,
mechanically extr-
acted, USA					10.5	23.5	6.5	5.5	54.0			269
Oilcake without
hulls, mechanically
extracted				89.3	47.9	4.2	6.4	4.3	37.2			347
Hulls, USA				80.0	4.4	16.9	6.9	3.1	68.7			502
Hulls, Cyprus				89.4	1.6	28.5	1.7	0.9	67.3			369