NCJ Number
242060
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 57 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2012 Pages: 1313-1317
Date Published
September 2012
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This report investigates consumer complains of bitter almonds in imported raw almonds.
Abstract
Consumer complaints received by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2010 about raw organic almonds tasting "bitter" opened an investigation into the presence of bitter almonds in the imported product. Bitter almonds (Prunus amygdalus) contain the cyanogenic glucoside amygdalin, which hydrolyzes to produce cyanide. Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry was used to detect and quantitate cyanide, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilized to detect amygdalin in the submitted samples. Control bitter almonds were found to contain 1.4 mg cyanide/g and an estimated level of 20-25 mg amygdalin/g. The questioned samples contained between 14 and 42 ìg cyanide/g and were positive for the presence of amygdalin. Sweet almonds were found to be negative for both compounds, at levels of detection of 4 ug cyanide/g and 200 ug amygdalin/g. Abstract published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.