Iranian Almond

It is one of Middle East and south Asia species fruits. Almond originally comes from genus Prunus, and the fruit of almond is considered as a drupe, which consists of, an outer hull and a hard shell that the seed is hidden inside the shell. Normally Buyers are interested in buying either shelled or unshelled almonds, obviously shelled almonds are more expensive as the shells have been taken off and it has become the final edible almond.

Almonds can be used in various forms, one of common ways of using almond is when the almonds get dipped in hot water in order to soften the seed coat and after removing the seed coat it will become to blanch almonds. Different countries use almonds in their own unique forms for instance in Iran, when the almonds are still raw and green, they dip then in sea salt and eat them as snacks, Iranians eat roasted almonds too.

The best climate for growing almond is warm, dry during summers and rainy winters, which are characteristics of Mediterranean climates. Almond is known as badam in Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. The world production almond in 2013 was 2.9 million tones and USA stands as the largest producer of almond with 1.8 million tones (FAO, 2015).

Although almonds are normally eaten on their own, it can be also be a very good component of different dishes, in various forms such as almond flavor, sliced, or silvered as well as whole almond nut. Like other dried fruits and nuts, almond can be used in confectioneries such as almond cake, almond cookies, almond ice cream, almond milkshake, almond butter and etc.

In terms of nutrition, almonds are very rich as they contain vitamin E, B vitamins, niacin, mineral calcium, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium as well as iron. Recent researches show that consumption of almonds are very nutritious for body as it can lower low density lipoproteins and on the other hand can increase blood level of high density lipoproteins.

Like Iranian pistachios and dried figs, almonds can be also contaminated with Aflatoxin and it can occur from soil, irrigation or harvesting. European union countries have very strict limits for Aflatoxin, and since 2007 they check and inspect all almond cargo prior to enter the union.

One of the producers of almond is Iran due to favorable climate state for growing almonds; different parts of Iran grow almonds such as Qom, Yazd, Kerman, Sirjan, Najaf abad and Mashhad. There are mainly two types of almonds, which grow in Iran first Normal almonds, which are similar to California almonds and Mamra almonds that 85% of this type grow in Iran. Iranian normal almonds are not as famous as its Mamra almond as Mamra almonds do not have bitter pieces and almost whole of this crop produce in Iran and very small volume produce in Afghanistan.

Although mamra almonds are the most expensive type of almond, Mamra almonds are rare, tastier and rich source of nutrition in comparison to American almonds. Mamra almonds have also high level of healthy oil compared to American almonds, as Americans pasteurize the almond through high heat.

Some of Mamra almonds health benefits can be identified as being good for brain and consummation of Mamra almonds can develop the brain. Second benefit of Mamra almonds, which is known by everyone, is skin care, many dermatologists suggest to skin patients to massage their skin with Almond oil. Prevention of cancer is another benefit of Almond. As almonds contain folic acid, it also reduces the incidence of birth problem for pregnant women and their newborn babies. Weight loss is very common advantage of Almond and majority of athletes and who do sports are recommended to consume almonds on a daily basis in order to boost their energies as well as balancing weights.