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A sweeter pill to swallow? Bitter almonds identified by new testing method 11 Scientists in Spain think they have identified a way of testing almonds to weed out bitter nuts from their sweeter counterparts – a potentially crucial weapon in fighting food fraud. The bitter taste often found when eating almonds has been identified by scientists in Spain. The culprit has a name: amygdalin, a diglucoside that, when in contact with enzymes present in saliva, breaks down into glucose, benzaldehyde (the cause of the bitter taste) and hydrogen cyanide. A research team from the University of Cordoba...

Credit: University of Córdoba Who hasn't at some point been chewing on an almond and tasted an unpleasant and unexpected aftertaste that has nothing to do with the taste we are used to from one of the most consumed nuts in the world? The culprit has a name: amygdalin, a diglucoside that, when in contact with enzymes present in saliva, breaks down into glucose, benzaldehyde (the cause of the bitter taste) and hydrogen cyanide. To reduce this unpleasant 'surprise', the Farming Systems Engineering (AGR-128) and Food Technology (AGR-193) research groups at the University of Cordoba's School of ...