Abstract
Prunus amygdalus Batsch is the most popular medicinal plant that has been widely used in traditional medicine in Iran. Almond seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides that are toxic after consumption. This study aimed to determine the components of cyanogenic glycoside in the seeds of four native almond species in the Zagros Mountains. Amygdalin, prunasin and linamarin were detected as the most predominant cyanogen in wild almond seeds, respectively. The amygdalin content ranged from 176 to 3076 mg/100 g DW in different regions. Different amounts of 83–386 mg/100 g of prunasin were recorded in almond seeds. Linamarin was detected in the seeds of wild almond species not previously reported in Prunus species. Linamarin content varied from 25.1 to 90.1 mg/100 g in Prunus orientalis (Mill.) Koehne in the Paveh and Sonqor, respectively. Similarly, amygdalin, prunasin and limanarin contents were affected by species and environment. The results indicated the importance of taking wild almond seed consumption with caution by indigenous people.
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Abbreviations
- DW:
-
Dry weight
- ABS:
-
Absorbance
- HPLC:
-
High-performance liquid chromatography
- A.:
-
Amygdalus
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to thank Dr. Masoud Mashhadi Boujar from Kharazmi University, Tehran, because of the help in chemical analysis and Mr. Bakhshali Amjadiyan for their help in experimenting. We also thank the Islamic Azad University of Arak for all the financial and spiritual support.
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Omid-Ali Amjadian and Isa Arji were involved in the conceptualization; Omid-Ali Amjadian, Isa Arji, Mahdi Chnagizi, Shahab Khaghani and Hamid-Reza Salehi contributed to the methodology; Omid-Ali Amjadian, Isa Arji, Mahdi Chnagizi, Shahab Khaghani and Hamid-Reza Salehi were involved in the formal analysis and investigation; Omid-Ali Amjadian and Isa Arji were involved in the writing—original draft preparation; Mahdi Chnagizi, Shahab Khaghani and Hamid-Reza Salehi were involved in the writing—review and editing; Omid-Ali Amjadian acquired the funding; Omid-Ali Amjadian contributed to resources; Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Islamic Azad University of Arak, supervised.
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Amjadian, OA., Arji, I., Changizi, M. et al. Determination of cyanogenic glycosides in endemic species of wild almond seeds in the Zagros Mountains. Braz. J. Bot 43, 697–704 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-020-00668-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-020-00668-7