Researchers from Portugal and Spain evaluated the potential of partially delipified almond flour (PDAF) to be a substitute for whole almond flour. They reported their findings in an article published in the journal Food Science and Human Wellness.

• Food security is a global problem and presents a great challenge for the scientific community.
• Agro-industrial byproducts, such as those from the processing of specialty oils like almond oil, can be used as potential ingredients of innovative food products and contribute to solving the problem of food insecurity.
• For their experiment, the researchers used PDAF from almond oil extraction as an alternative ingredient in a highly appreciated almond-based cookie (almendrados).
• They compared four different almendrados formulations (i.e., one industrial, two with PDAF and one with whole almond flour) in terms of nutrient composition, vitamin E and fatty acid profiles.
• They also asked 74 consumers to assess the cookie’s sensory properties (i.e., appearance, taste, sweetness, crunchiness, hardness and overall quality) using adequate hedonic scales.
• The researchers found that out of the four products, the industrial almendrados had the highest fat content and the lowest protein and carbohydrate content.
• Meanwhile, almendrados made with PDAF had similar tocopherol and fatty acid levels to the traditional and more expensive formulation that includes whole almond flour.
• The PDAF almendrados also received the highest scores for appearance, sweetness, hardness, overall quality and sellability.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that PDAF is a nutritious alternative to expensive almond flour and can be used to develop products that could solve current food security challenges.