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Comparative Study of Tocopherol Contents and Fatty Acids Composition in Twenty Almond Cultivars of Afghanistan

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

Afghanistan is the fourth largest producer of almonds in the world producing 78 native and 6 imported cultivars. However, till date, there have been no comprehensive data on nutrient profiles of the native cultivars. Thus, in the present investigation, tocopherol contents and fatty acid composition from the kernels of 20 selected native almond cultivars of Afghanistan were analyzed. The ranges of variability for the studied nutrients were similar to those already reported for almonds grown in other countries, such as 47.8–66.1% of total lipids (fresh weight basis), 62.54–81.57% of oleic acid in the total lipids, and 139.1–355.0 μg/g α-tocopherol in kernels. With respect to cultivars, significantly (p < 0.05) high content of total lipids were recorded in ‘Belabai’ and ‘Sattarbai’ (Afghan grade), oleic acid in ‘Khairodini’ and of α-tocopherol in ‘Khairodini-161 Samangan’ and ‘Belabai’ cultivars. Kernels from these cultivars can be used for nutrient dense food formulations. Daily consumption of 50 g almonds is sufficient to meet the RDA of α-tocopherol (15 mg/day), considering the average 300 μg/g of α-tocopherol in Afghan almonds. Also, these nutrient rich cultivars can be used in almond breeding programs globally, to focus on improving kernel oil composition and nutrient contents.

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Abbreviations

BHT:

Butylated hydroxytoluene

FAME:

Fatty acids methyl esters

FID:

Flame ionization detector

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

LOD:

Limits of detection

LOQ:

Limits of quantitation

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acids

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

SFA:

Saturated fatty acids

USDA:

United States department of agriculture

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Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by the KU research professor program of Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioresources and Food Science, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, Korea

    Ahmad Jawid Zamany, Doo Hwan Kim, Young-Soo Keum & Ramesh Kumar Saini

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Kabul University, Kabul, 1006, Afghanistan

    Ghulam Rasoul Samadi

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  1. Ahmad Jawid Zamany
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  2. Ghulam Rasoul Samadi
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Correspondence to Ramesh Kumar Saini.

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Zamany, A.J., Samadi, G.R., Kim, D.H. et al. Comparative Study of Tocopherol Contents and Fatty Acids Composition in Twenty Almond Cultivars of Afghanistan. J Am Oil Chem Soc 94, 805–817 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-017-2989-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-017-2989-8

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