Characterization of Sweet Almond Oil Content of Four European Cultivars (Ferragnes, Ferraduel, Fournat, and Marcona) Recently Introduced in Morocco

Reda Melhaoui; Souhayla Kodad; Nadia Houmy; Kamal Belhaj; Farid Mansouri; Malika Abid; Mohamed Addi; Aatika Mihamou; Marianne Sindic; Hana Serghini-Caid; Ahmed Elamrani

doi:10.1155/2021/9141695

Characterization of Sweet Almond Oil Content of Four European Cultivars (Ferragnes, Ferraduel, Fournat, and Marcona) Recently Introduced in Morocco

Scientifica (Cairo). 2021 Aug 30:2021:9141695. doi: 10.1155/2021/9141695. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Agricultural Productions Improvement, Biotechnology and Environment (LAPABE), Faculty of Sciences, University Mohammed First, BP-717, 60000 Oujda, Morocco.
² Analysis Quality and Risk Unit, Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety (QSPA), Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium.

Abstract

This study concerns the characterization of oil content and quality indices for almond cultivars (Marcona (Mr), Fournat (Fn), Ferragnes (Fg), and Ferraduel (Fd)) recently introduced into marginal agricultural areas in eastern Morocco. These verities are known for their rusticity and late flowering stage. The analyzed almond oils showed low acidity and peroxide values ranging, respectively, from 0.32 to 0.36% and 1.88 to 3.18 meq O₂/kg. Fatty acid (FA) profile revealed a predominance of the unsaturated FA represented essentially by the oleic (56.64-64.03%) and linoleic FA (24.57-29.80%). Triacylglycerol (TAG) analysis allowed the determination of eleven species with a remarkable dominance of trioleylglycerol (OOO: 30%) and dioleyllinoleoylglcerol (OOL: 27.25%). Regarding the minor compounds, the results showed that the total phenol content ranges between 85.33 and 141.66 mg/kg. Concerning the tocopherol content, the studied oils showed richness in these secondary metabolites (408.99-491.77 mg/kg) with a dominance of α-tocopherol. In comparison to their homologues in the Mediterranean area, the evaluated almond oils demonstrated a slight superiority in terms of quality, in particular, to those produced in Spain.