Almonds

Almond trees produce three distinct products. Besides the nutritious almond kernels, two coproducts—hulls and shells—account for about 70% of almond nut weight. California produces > 80% of the global almonds annually. Presently, in California, almond hulls are solely used as a supplementary diet for dairy cows while almond shells are used as bedding materials for dairy ranches. Other potential applications of almond hulls and shells of different production origins have been widely studied but very few processing technologies have been commercialized. With increasing production and decreasing demand from the dairy industry, the California almond industry is actively searching for more outlets and value-added solutions close to commercialization reality to put all products to optimal use. This chapter provides information on: (1) California almond biomass estimation and the basics behind the estimation; (2) characterization of California almond biomass; and (3) high potential processing technologies and solutions for almond biomass, including a literature review on the latest publications and the potential applications that the Almond Board of California (ABC) is funding via research projects.