Almond (Prunus dulcis [Mill.] D. A. Webb.)

Ornamental almond shrub (Prunus spp.)

Ripening ornamental almond (Prunus spp.)

bot	Prunus amygdalus, Amygdalus communis
Afrikaans	Amandel
Albanian	Bajame, Bajamja
Amharic	አልሞንድ
	Almond
Arabic	لوز, لوزة
	لَوْز, لَوْزَة
	Lawz, Lawzah
Armenian	Նուշ
	Noosh, Nush
Azeri	Badam
	Бадам
Basque	Almendra, Amanda
Bulgarian	Бадем
	Badem
Catalan	Ametler
Chinese (Cantonese)	杏仁 [hàhng yàhn]
	Hahng yahn
Chinese (Mandarin)	扁桃 [biǎn táo], 杏仁 [xìng rén]
	Bian tao, Xing ren
Croatian	Badem, Mendula
Czech	Mandle, Mandloň obecná
Danish	Mandel
Dutch	Amandel
Esperanto	Migdalo
Estonian	Harilik mandlipuu
Farsi	بادام
	Badam
Finnish	Manteli
French	Amande
Frisian	Mangel
Gaelic	Cno ghreugach
Georgian	ნუში
	Nushi
German	Mandel
Greek	Αμυγδαλιά
	Amigdalia, Amygdalia
Gujarati	Badam
Hebrew	שקד
	Shaked, Shaqed
Hungarian	Mandula
Icelandic	Mandla
Italian	Mandorla
Japanese	アーモンド
	Amond
Kannada	ಬಾದಾಮಿ, ಬದಾಮು
	Badami, Badamu
Kazakh	Бадам, Бадамгүл, Итбадам
	Badam, Badamgül, Iytbadam
Korean	아몬드
	Amondu
Latvian	Mandele
Lithuanian	Migdolai
Maltese	Lewż
Marathi	बदाम
	Badam
Nepali	होडे बदाम
	Hode badam
Pahlawi	Vaadaam
Polish	Migdał zwyczajny
Portuguese	Amêndoa
Punjabi	ਬਦਾਮ
	Badam
Romanian	Migdală, Migdal (tree)
Russian	Миндаль
	Mindal
Slovak	Mandľa obyčajná
Slovenian	Mandelj
Spanish	Almendra
Swahili	Lozi
Swedish	Mandel
Tamil	பருப்பு, வாதுமை
	Paruppu, Vatumai
Telugu	బాదాము, బాదాముపప్పు
	Badamu, Badamupappu
Turkish	Badem
Ukrainian	Миґдаль
	Mygdal
Yiddish	Mandl

Amharic	ስቂት አልሞንድ
	Sekit Almond
Arabic	لوز حلو
	لَوزٌ حُلْو
	Lawz hulwa
Bengali	Bilati badam
Chinese (Cantonese)	甜杏仁 [tìhm hàhng yàhn]
	Tihm hahng yahn
Chinese (Mandarin)	甜杏仁 [tián xìng rén]
	Tian xing ren
Croatian	Slatki badem
Dutch	Zoete amandel
Farsi	بادام شیرین
	Badam shirin
Esperanto	Dolĉa migdalo
French	Amande douce
German	Süßmandel
Greek	Γλυκά αμύγδαλα
	Glika amigdala, Glyka amygdala
Hindi	Badam
Italian	Mandorla dulce
Malayalam	Badam
Oriya	Badamo
Polish	Migdał słodki
Portuguese	Amêndoa doce
Russian	Сладкий миндаль
	Sladkij mindal
Sanskrit	Badama, Vatada, Netropamaphala
Slovak	Mandľa sladká
Spanish	Almendra dulce
Swedish	Sötmandel
Turkish	Tatlı badem
Urdu	Badamshirin

Arabic	لوز مر
	لَوزٌ مُرّ
	Lawz murr
Azeri	Badam ağacı
	Бадам ағаҹы
Chinese (Mandarin)	苦杏仁 [kǔ xìng rén]
	Ku xing ren
Danish	Bittermandel
Dutch	Bittere amandel
German	Bittermandel
Greek	Πικρομύγδαλο
	Pikromigdalo, Pikromygdalo
Farsi	بادام تلخ
	Badam talakh
Finnish	Karvasmanteli
Esperanto	Amara migdalo
French	Amande amère
Hungarian	Keserű mandula
Italian	Mandorla amara
Korean	비터 아몬드
	Biteo amondu, Pito amondu
Polish	Migdał gorzki
Portuguese	Amêndoa amarga
Russian	Горький миндаль
	Gorkij mindal
Slovak	Mandľa horká
Slovenian	Grenki mandelj
Spanish	Almendra amara
Turkish	Acı badem, Badem ağad

Bitter almonds

Sweet almonds, hulled

The soft interior of the fruit stone (embryo).

Rosaceae (rose family), subfamily Prunoidae.

Sweet almond have a faint, nutty fragrance and taste; bitter almonds taste strongly bitter and develop an intensive, characteristic aroma with moisture (e.g., by chewing).

Very young almond fruits

Almonds (bitter as well as sweet) contain about 50% of a fatty oil, which is, though, too expensive to be used for cooking. It is made up of glycerides (80% oleic acid, 15% linoleic acid, 5% palmitic acid).

Bitter almonds contain 3 to 5% amygdalin, a so-called cyanogenic glycoside composed of mandelic nitrile and gentobiose. Vegetative parts of the almond tree accumulate the analogous prunasin (with glucose as sugar component).

On enzymatic hydrolysis of these glycosides by β-glucosidases, the aglycon mandelic nitrile (2-hydroxy-3-phenylacetonitrile) is liberated. A second enzyme (mandelonitrile lyase) converts mandelic nitrile quickly to benzaldehyde (C6H5–CHO) and hydrocyanic acid (HCN, also known as prussic acid). By chance, both compounds are olfactorily similar, but hydrocyanic acid is highly toxic; bitter almonds' value as a spice is only due to the benzaldehyde.

Almond flower www.botanikus.de

Almond flowers

Hydrocyanic acid is a dangerous poison (about one twentieth of a gram is considered lethal for an adult), but it is also very volatile and susceptible to hydrolysis at higher temperatures. Therefore, significant amounts of hydrocyanic acid are highly unlikely to accumulate in any dish prepared with bitter almonds. On the other side, incorporation of whole raw bitter almonds is fairly dangerous because, in this case, all of its hydrocyanic acid is formed in one's stomach. Serious poisoning is quite rare with adults, but children may be killed by just a few bitter almonds. Very similar warnings hold for other plants of the genus Prunus, the kernels of which all contain amygdalin: Peach, apricot and, to a lesser extent, cherry and plum. One kernel of bitter almond yields about one milligram of hydrocyanic acid.

It should be noted that bitter almonds can only develop their aroma if both water and the necessary enzymes are present. The two enzymes (called together emulsin) are deactivated by heat; thus, bitter almonds must never be fried nor roasted, for they will not develop almond aroma afterwards.

Sweet almonds are, by centuries of cultivation and breeding, very low in amygdalin and, thus, harmless; however, even sweet almond trees sometimes yield single bitter almonds (up to 1% of total crop), and some sweet almond cultivars still contain traces of bitter almond aroma. This does not apply to Californian almonds, which can be regarded totally destitute of amygdalin.

Principally, sweet and bitter almonds are very different products and can never substitute each other.

The origin of almonds is variously given as West or Central Asia; almonds have been cultivated in the Mediterranean region since more than 2000 years, as can be proven from the numerous references to almonds in the Old Testament (see pomegranate). Further north, almond trees do not thrive anymore, although their cultivation has been tried in the Middle Ages due to the Capitulare de villis (see lovage).

Today, the most important producers for the European market are Spain and Italy. Californian almonds are of increasing importance.

Almonds' names in all European tongues essentially derive from Greek amygdale [ἀμυγδάλη] or amygdalos [ἀμύγδαλος] “almond”, whose origin is not known. The element al- got attached to the English and Spanish names by confusion with the prefix al- in many Arabic loan words found in Romance tongues; see also caper on this topic.

The botanic genus name, Prunus, is derived from the Latin name of the closely related plum, prunum, which in turn goes back to Greek proumnon [προῦμνον]. The species name, dulcis “sweet” is motivated by the kernel's taste; bitter almonds are considered a variety (var. amara), where Latin amarus means “bitter”.

Latin dulcis is the progenitor of most terms for “sweet” in Romance languages, e.g., French doux, Italian dolce, Portuguese doce and Catalan dolç; it evolved by dissimilation from a hypothetical gulcis. There are several cognates in other Indo-European languages, e.g., Greek glykys [γλυκύς] or glykeros [γλυκερός] and Sanskrit gulya [गुल्य] “sweet”. Related Sanskrit gula [गुल] “sugar, molasses” was borrowed by Indonesian as gula, which means “sugar” (particularly palm sugar) and “sweetmeat” in general. I suspect that Slavonic terms for “sweet” (exemplified by Russian sladki [сладкий] or Polish słodki) belong to the same kin, but was not able to verify this. See also licorice, whose name also falls into that group.

Nature One Health: Almonds Sorting Prunus names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Mandel (biozac.de) chemikalienlexikon.de: Benzaldehyde Transport Information Service: Almonds Cyanide Poisoning Almonds (purdue.edu) Cyanogenetic Glycosides, Glucosinolates and Miscellaneous Glycosids Recipe: Badaam Kheer (Almond Pudding) (www.cuisinecuisine.com) Recipe: Kheer (Rice Almond Pudding) (www.aavinmilk.com) Recipe: Sevai Kheer (Vermicelli Almond Pudding) (www.bawarchi.com)