Almonds are rich in bioactive constituents, mainly in phenolics and tocopherols. Τhe beneficial health effects are mainly owed to their favorable phytochemical composition. From these studies accrues the conclusion that almonds can be an effective diet tool in the process of trying to decrease an individual’s cholesterol levels, hence reducing his risk of coming across any type of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, studies suggest that apart from reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, almonds exhibit anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic effects. The study also demonstrated that almond intake reduced abdominal fat which is of very high significance, considering the fact that high amounts of abdominal fat are a major factor in metabolic syndrome. In a randomized, controlled crossover study that took place over a time period of six weeks, individuals that consumed 45 g of almonds per day showed reduced LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels and, at the same time, maintained their HDL-C levels. suggests that eating almonds leads to a significant reduction in total cholesterol, LDL-C, and triglycerides levels, whilst the impact on HDL-C levels is minor. Additionally, a systematic review conducted by Kalita et al. A meta-analysis observed a significant reduction in LDL-C levels with almond consumption. Numerous studies have shown that various pharmacological activities can be attributed to regular consumption of almonds. Thus, they are now considered as an important component of a healthy and highly nutritious diet. Apart from their unique taste and texture, they have been proven to possess a wide variety of beneficial health properties deriving from their unique molecular composition. Almonds are one of the most popular and widely harvested culinary nuts in the world. dulcis), walnuts ( Juglans regia L.), hazelnuts ( Corylus avellane L.), and pistachios ( Pistachia vera L.), among others. Popular tree nuts comprise almonds ( Prunus amygdalus Batsch or P. Nuts are a highly nutritious food with unique taste and beneficial health properties deriving from their unique molecular composition.
The current trend in nutrition is following the Mediterranean diet, as it is considered one of the healthiest dietary patterns. A decision tree (DT) was developed for the prediction of the geographical origin of almonds proposing a characteristic marker with a concentration threshold, proving to be a promising and reliable tool for the guarantee of the authenticity of the almonds. The analytes were further quantified, and the results were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA), and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) to investigate potential differences between the bioactive content of almonds and the geographical origin.
The analytical methodologies were validated and presented excellent linearity (r 2 > 0.99), high recoveries over the range between 83.1 (syringic acid) to 95.5% (ferulic acid) for within-day assay ( n = 6), and between 90.2 (diosmin) to 103.4% (rosmarinic acid) for between-day assay ( n = 3 × 3), for phenolic compounds, and between 95.1 and 100.4% for within-day assay ( n = 6), and between 93.2–96.2% for between-day assay ( n = 3 × 3) for tocopherols. Nineteen samples of Texas almonds originating from USA and Greece were analyzed and 7 phenolic acids, 7 flavonoids, and tocopherols (−α, −β + γ) were determined. Reversed phase-high-pressure liquid chromatographic methodologies equipped with UV detector (RP-HPLC-UV) were developed for the determination of phenolic compounds and tocopherols in almonds.
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