Assessment of fatty acids profile, oil yield and tocopherol content of four Almond cultivars grown in Eastern Morocco

The most cultivated varieties of almond in eastern Morocco: (Beldi (B), a local ecotype, Marcona (M) from Spain, Ferragnes-Ferraduel (F-F) and Fournat de Breznaud (FNB) from France), were studied during three consecutive crop years in order to evaluate variations in kernel oil yield, Fatty acid (FA) profile and physicochemical properties. For this purpose, extraction of almond oils was carried out by mechanical press. The yield of varieties B, M, (F-F) and FNB ranged between 50.68%- 54.33%, 41.46%- 52.59%, 47.70%-52.39% and 51.66%-56.10%, respectively. Oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids are the major fatty acids (FA) ranging between 57.54%- 72.90%, 17.80%- 29.81% and 6.50%-8.48%, respectively. Results showed a noticeable effect (P<0.001) of variety on Total phenolic content (TPC), oxidative stability and alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocopherol isomers; however, acidity and peroxide index, were affected with a lower manner by "variety" factor. In addition, all the analyzed parameters were highly (P<0.001) affected by climatic conditions of the crop year. In addition, the highest variations for the analyzed almond oils were recorded for their contents on alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, oleic and linoleic acids. According to the observed results, the couple Ferragnes-Ferraduel seems to produce stable and high quality almond oil compared to the other varieties.