ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of almond. Almonds are cultivated for the nuts, used in candies, baked products, and confectioneries, and for the oils obtained from the kernels. Modern English Jews reportedly still carry branches of flowering almonds into the synagogue on spring festival days. Sweet almond oil is used for cosmetic creams and lotions, although in a crisis, it might conceivably be used as an energy source. Widely distributed in cultivation, the sweet almond is said to have wild types in Greece, North Africa, and West Asia. The almond tree has been successfully grown on a wide range of soils. It is a deep-rooted tree and draws heavily on the soil, which should be deep, fertile, and well drained. Only sweet almonds are grown commercially.
