Major tropical crops and their pest spectra

A native of eastern Mediterranean region; occurs as two distinct varieties, var. dulcis is the Sweet Almond, and var. amara is the Bitter Almond. The tree is small and closely resembles the near-relative peach. The trees are often cultivated as ornamentals for their convenient size and delicate blossoms. The nuts are very popular, and this is probably the nut sold in largest quantities in the world. The seed is eaten green, though most frequently roasted or salted, and also made into paste for cake making. There are many cultivars with quite different shell thicknesses and seed flavour. The bitter almond contains a bitter glucoside (amygdalin) which readily breaks down into cyanic acid and so prevents its use as food. However, it is grown in southern Europe as a source of the oil of bitter almond, which is used after the cyanic acid is extracted, for flavouring. The bitter almond trees are also used as stock for grafting sweet almonds on to. Sweet almonds are grown throughout southern Europe, S. Africa, Australia and California.