Flowering, a Critical Phenological Stage as a Limiting Factor for Almond Native Ecotypes Cultivation in Eastern Morocco

This study concerns (i) Botanical characterization of local almond ecotype named "Beldi" based on flowering period and flowers color measurements (ii) Chemical characterization of almond oil such as acidity and peroxide index and specific UV absorbance values (K232 & K270). The color results of 100 flowers analyzed by chromameter shows two different color categories. The first is very light pink to whitish ($L^*=81.58$, $a^*=7.43$, $b^*=8.06$). The second is a dark pink ($L^*=71.64$, $a^*=18.34$, $b^*=4.97$) with a difference in color between the two categories ${\Delta}E=15.07$. Compared to Ferragnes/Ferraduel varieties, Beldi almond kernel has almost a comparable oil yield but different acidity and peroxide values which are 0.81%, $8.12meq/O_2/kg$ and 0.40%, $16.39meq/O_2/kg$ respectively.