Abstract
Three marketing varieties of almonds; Carmel, Mission, and Nonpareil; were analyzed for proximate composition and protein nutritive quality. Moisture, lipids, protein, ash, sugars, and tannins ranges were 3.05–4.33%, 43.37–47.50%, 20.68–23.30%, 3.74–4.56%, 5.35–7.45%, and 0.12–0.18%, respectively. No detectable hemagglutinating and trypsin inhibitory activities were present in Carmel, Mission, and Nonpareil almonds. Amino acid analyses indicated the sulfur amino acids (methionine + cysteine), lysine, and threonine to be the first, second, and third limiting amino acids in almonds when compared to the recommended amino acid pattern for children 2–5-year old. However, compared to the recommended amino acid pattern for adults, sulfur amino acids were the only limiting amino acids in almonds tested. True Protein Digestibility (% TPD) values for Carmel, Mission, and Nonpareil were 88.55 ± 1.26, 92.25 ± 1.05, and 82.62 ± 1.47, respectively. Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Scoring (PDCAAS) values suggested almond proteins to be of poor nutritional quality.
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Susan Ahrens and Mahesh Venkatachalam contributed equally in the conduct and analysis of research reported in this manuscript.
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Ahrens, S., Venkatachalam, M., Mistry, A.M. et al. Almond (Prunus dulcis L.) Protein Quality. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 60, 123–128 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-005-6840-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-005-6840-2