almond
ingredient / ingredient-almond
アーモンド / Prunus dulcis
Almond is a nut eaten as a dried seed. Roasting temperature and time alter aroma compounds, taste qualities (including bitterness, astringency, and burnt flavor), and palatability.
On this page (5 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Almonds show different degrees of bitterness by cultivar even under the same processing. In a trial in which a trained panel of 12 rated 6 cultivars harvested in Portugal in 2019 on a 1-5 point scale, raw samples showed cultivar differences in both bitterness and bitter-almond flavor, and these were strongest in Molar and Pegarinhos. Samples of unpeeled kernels roasted at 138°C for 33 minutes also showed cultivar differences in both attributes, and these were strongest in Pegarinhos and Refêgo.
In another treatment from the same study, kernels were dipped in boiling water for 30 seconds, the skin was removed by hand, and after air-drying at room temperature they were roasted at 138°C for 33 minutes. Comparing the 6 cultivars, the only sensory attributes showing a cultivar difference were the hardness of the first bite and the force needed to crush the kernel. This is not a direct comparison showing that bitterness fell relative to before processing; it only shows that, within this blanched-and-roasted sample, bitterness did not distinguish the cultivars.
There is also a trial comparing irrigation regimes during cultivation. A trained panel of 10 rated the 'Vairo' cultivar, harvested in 2017 from a single orchard in Spain, 3 times each on a 0-10 point scale. Across the 4 irrigation conditions, bitterness ranged from 0.5 to 0.6 and astringency from 0.5 to 0.7, with no significant difference in either. This is a single-cultivar, single-year result, and it cannot be generalized to say that irrigation has no effect on almond bitterness.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Supports the result that, across 6 cultivars, in raw samples, a trained panel of 12 rated on a 1-5 point scale, bitterness and bitter-almond flavor were strongest in Molar and Pegarinhos / Supports the result that, for the same 6 cultivars roasted unpeeled at 138°C for 33 minutes, bitterness and bitter-almond flavor were strongest in Pegarinhos and Refêgo / Supports, for 30 seconds in boiling water, skin removal, room-temperature drying, and roasting at 138°C for 33 minutes, the result that within-group cultivar differences were limited to the 2 hardness attributes, and the limitation that this is not a between-treatment comparison
Sensory Profile and Acceptability of HydroSOStainable Almonds
Checked for this overview: Supports, for a single orchard, a single year, and the 'Vairo' cultivar, with a trained panel of 10 rating each sample 3 times on a 0-10 point scale, bitterness of 0.5-0.6 and astringency of 0.5-0.7 with no significant difference, and the limitation that this cannot be generalized
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (5)
Scope: Layer: food. Spanish 'Vairo' almonds grown under regulated deficit irrigation, roasted in a convection oven. 35 volatile compounds (GC analysis), a descriptive sensory profile, and a consumer preference test.
Note: Based on an abstract quotation via a search engine and Europe PMC (the full text was not confirmed on either Wiley or PubMed, both blocked with a 403). Roasting at 190°C is described as giving a deep color and burnt notes, 150°C as under-roasted, and 170°C for 10 minutes was concluded to be the optimum condition. Consumers' overall liking is reported to have shown a positive correlation with certain volatile compounds and with roasted/nutty sensory attributes, while showing a negative correlation with pyrazines, bitterness, astringency, woodiness, and burnt flavor. Statistical values (correlation coefficients, p-values) were not confirmed. An example of a roast-degree series for a nut (almond) other than coffee.
Show data
ingredient-almond —has_perceived_bitterness_affected_by→ "Roasting temperature (150-190°C)"Scope: 6 cultivars harvested in Portugal in 2019. A trained panel of 12 rated raw samples on a 1-5 point intensity scale
Note: This is a comparison among cultivars, not a bitterness ranking for edible almonds in general. The authors' speculation that this is due to benzaldehyde is not adopted here.
Show data
ingredient-almond —has_sensory_response→ "Among 6 cultivars of raw almonds, bitterness and bitter-almond flavor differed by cultivar, and were strongest in Molar and Pegarinhos"Scope: Unpeeled kernels of the same 6 cultivars were roasted at 138°C for 33 minutes, and a trained panel of 12 rated them on a 1-5 point scale in a session separate from the raw samples
Note: This is a cultivar comparison within a single treatment, not a result directly comparing bitterness between raw and roasted samples. The causal component is not established.
Show data
ingredient-almond —has_sensory_response→ "Among 6 cultivars of almonds roasted at 138°C for 33 minutes, bitterness and bitter-almond flavor also differed by cultivar, and were strongest in Pegarinhos and Refêgo"Scope: 30 seconds in boiling water, skin removed by hand, room-temperature drying, roasting at 138°C for 33 minutes. A trained panel of 12 rated the samples on a 1-5 point scale
Note: This is a result showing that, within this treatment group, bitterness did not distinguish the cultivars. It is not a result directly testing whether bitterness fell relative to raw or unpeeled-roasted samples.
Show data
ingredient-almond —has_sensory_response→ "Among 6 cultivars that were blanched for 30 seconds to remove the skin and then roasted at 138°C for 33 minutes, the only sensory attributes showing a cultivar difference were the 2 hardness-related attributes"Scope: A single orchard in Spain, harvested in 2017. A trained panel of 10 rated each sample 3 times on a 0-10 point scale
Note: This is a single-cultivar, single-year, single-orchard result, and it is not generalized to say that irrigation has no effect on almond bitterness. Whether the ± on irrigation volume denotes standard deviation or standard error is not specified in the text, so it is not included here.
Show data
ingredient-almond —has_sensory_response→ "In raw almonds of the 'Vairo' cultivar, there was no significant difference in bitterness intensity (0.5-0.6) or astringency intensity (0.5-0.7) across the 4 irrigation conditions"