Citation: ˇ Coli´ c, S.; Basi´ c, Z.; Zec, G.; Baki´ c, I.; Rahovi´ c, D.; Akši´ c, M.F.; Mickovski Stefanovi´ c, V. The Effect of Changing Climatic Conditions on the Morphological Traits and Chemical Composition of Almond Kernels. Horticulturae 2022, 8, 487. https://doi.org/10.3390/ horticulturae8060487 Academic Editors: Athanasios Tsafouros, Nikoleta Kleio Denaxa and Costas Delis Received: 29 March 2022 Accepted: 28 May 2022 Published: 31 May 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). horticulturae Article The Effect of Changing Climatic Conditions on the Morphological Traits and Chemical Composition of Almond Kernels Slavica ˇ Coli´ c 1, *, Zorica Basi´ c 2 , Gordan Zec 3 , Ivana Baki´ c 1 , Dragan Rahovi´ c 1 , Milica Fotiri´ c Akši´ c 3 and Violeta Mickovski Stefanovi´ c 4 1 Institute for Science Application in Agriculture, Blvd. Despota Stefana 68b, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; ibakic@ipn.bg.ac.rs (I.B.); drahovic@ipn.bg.ac.rs (D.R.) 2 Institute of Hygiene, Military Medical Academy, Crnotravska 17, 11000 Beograd, Serbia; basiczorica@yahoo.com 3 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Nemanjina 6, Zemun, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia; zec@agrif.bg.ac.rs (G.Z.); fotiric@agrif.bg.ac.rs (M.F.A.) 4 Institute ‘Tamiš’, Novoseljanski Put 33, 26000 Panˇ cevo, Serbia; vikivms15@gmail.com * Correspondence: slavicacol@yahoo.com Abstract: This study evaluates the effect of two contrasting years, in terms of climatic parameters, on kernel morphology and content and on the composition of oil, tocopherols and the 11 macro- and micro-elements in almonds. Low precipitation and high temperatures increased the content of toco- pherols, Cu and Zn but decreased the kernel ratio, the oil content, and the levels of macro-elements and of Cr, Fe, Mn and Mo. The obtained data indicate some statistically significant correlations among the kernel quality parameters and climate. A small variation in oil concentration with the highest value in ‘Texas’ (60.07%) was observed. The main tocopherol homologue was α-tocopherol (39.4 to 404.4 mg/100 g DW), representing more than 90% of the total tocopherols. Potassium was predomi- nant (882.0 to 1104.5 mg/100 g), followed by phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and sodium. The most abundant micro-elements were iron (3.095 to 3.708 mg/100 g) and zinc (2.641 to 4.765 mg/100 g), followed by manganese, copper, molybdenum and chromium. The genotype 15/03 has the highest level of health-promoting compounds (α-tocopherol, potassium and zinc), so that, together with genotype 25/03 which showed the best response to changing climatic conditions, this genotype could be of interest for breeding programs. Keywords: Prunus amygdalus; temperature; precipitation; nutrients; health-promoting compounds 1. Introduction As a food crop with a high nutritional and medicinal value, almonds have been a significant part of the human diet from the pre agricultural era to the present day. Due to their good flavor and taste, they may be consumed either as snacks or as a part of a meal, providing macronutrients, micronutrients, and various bioactive components [1,2]. Almonds naturally contain high levels of oil, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, protein and dietary fiber, as well as a variety of essential nutrients, including vitamin E and several trace elements. It is considered a ‘nutrient-dense’ nut, meaning that it provides a variety of nutrients in high amounts per serving. Demand for almonds has been promoted by the ongoing studies demonstrating a broad range of health benefits from regular almond consumption, including possible protection from cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart diseases [3,4]. Even as almond oil has been broadly and predominately used in the manufacture of food and cosmetic products in recent years, the need for its high quality and the high-quantity production of almond oil for human consumption has also increased [5]. Horticulturae 2022, 8, 487. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8060487 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae