Research On Bitter Almond

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Bitter almonds are poisonous and unpalatable and, therefore, not eaten.

However, when you add almond extract to your baked treats, the process began

with

bitter almonds. Bitter almonds are cultivated to extract their highly valued

essential oils. The bitterness comes from prussic acid, which is destroyed by

heating the almonds, then extracting the oil, which is used for flavoring. The

processed bitter almond is also used in making Amaretto, an almond flavored

liqueur. Almond oil, an expensive culinary oil, also comes from the bitter

almond. During the industrial revolution in England, German born scientist

Fredrick

Accum wrote A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons in 1820.

In his book he revealed many dangerous practices sellers and food

manufacturers used to enhance foods, among them was the dubious practice of

adding bitter

almond to table wines to give them their nutty flavor. Angry businessmen ran

him out of the country, but eventually his revelations led to the formation of

the first British Food and Drug Act in 1872. ent times oils were highly

desirable for cooking, lighting, medicine, and for perfumes. Almond oil from

Anatolia, now Turkey, was a sought after commodity in Greece. In the U.S. almond

oil

has been used as a lubricant for fine watches

Botanically, the sweet almond, prunus amygdalus dulcis, is considered a stone

fruit, closely related to the cherry, plum, apricot, and peach. When you

break open the seed of the peach or apricot, the inside closely resembles a

shelled almond. The almond's botanical name comes from the Greeks who called

them

" amygdalon. " The bitter almond is prunus amygdalus amara.