Almonds belong to the Rosaceae family. The almond is a stone fruit that can be smooth, perforated or reticulate-furrowed, with a hard or fragile shell.
Useful properties of almonds
Almonds contain fatty oils, sugars, proteins, vitamins and minerals. Its calorie content is 645 kcal.
It is useful to use almonds for digestive disorders, kidney problems. It has anti-inflammatory and tonic properties.
Sweet almonds are used to make marzipan; they are sprinkled with cakes, pastries, and added to ice cream. Bitter almonds are eaten only in fried form. It is added to some meat dishes, used to make liqueurs.
Bitter almonds should be eaten in small quantities - 2-3 pieces per day. So it contains a small amount of hydrocyanic acid.
By pressing bitter and sweet almonds, a yellowish oil is obtained, odorless and with a pleasant taste. Almond oil is rich in vitamin E, phytosterol, linolenic acid glyceride.
Sweet almonds are especially useful for people engaged in mental work, it quickly recovers strength and has a positive effect on the brain.
In cooking, almond oil is used to prepare various salad dressings, flavoring baked goods and wines.
It is used in cosmetology, for hair, nail, eyelash and skin care. It is used for making applications for problematic dry skin. It is well absorbed by the skin and has a softening, regenerating and nourishing effect. Almond oil is added to masks and hair conditioners, after applying them, the hair becomes shiny and soft.
Almond oil is treated for skin injuries, burns, sprains, bedsores, herpes, and is used as a laxative. The benefits of the oil can be felt in hearing impairment by instilling seven drops in the ears for 2-3 days. After hearing improvement, the ears are rinsed with warm water.
How to grow almonds
Almonds are propagated vegetatively and by seeds. Seeds are sown in autumn or spring. Before that, they are subjected to stratification at a temperature of + 2-5 degrees for 90 days. When the seedlings grow up to 30 centimeters, they are transplanted to a permanent place.
In a vegetative way, almonds are propagated by layering, offspring, root and green cuttings. To do this, cut green cuttings from the tops of the shoots and treat them with a growth stimulant. Then the cuttings are rooted in sand and peat soil for three weeks. Then they are put in a permanent place.
