123 Kernel Characteristics of the Almond Genotypes Selected in Northern Serbia S. Čolić, D. Rahović and I. Bakić Institute for Science Application in Agriculture Belgrade Serbia G. Zec Faculty of Agriculture University of Belgrade Serbia Z. Janković Institute PKB Agroekonomik, Belgrade Serbia Keywords: Prunus amygdalus, carpological traits, quality, oil, crude protein Abstract This study was initiated to determine morphological and pomological traits, together with chemical compounds of kernels from 19 almond genotypes selected in the spontaneous seedling population in northern Serbia. The lowest variation was obtained for dry matter (CV=0.5%) and the highest for kernel weight (CV=18.4%). The overall mean values of pomological traits, contents of crude protein and mineral matter, showed significant differences between the genotypes. Genotype 25/03 had the lowest (0.69 g), whilst 28/03 had the highest kernel weight (1.29 g). The kernel/nut ratio ranged from 12.4 to 33.5%. The percentage of oil varied from 45.82 to 56.14% and most genotypes showed a high level of crude protein that varied from 20.94 to 26.85%. The most interesting for further studies were genotypes with kernel over 1 g: ‘29/03’, ‘16/03’, ‘28/03’, ‘1/03’, ‘B/04’, then genotypes ‘10/03’, ‘11/03’, and ‘17/03’ with high kernel oil content (over 55%), as well as genotypes ‘18/03’, ‘19/03’, ‘22/03’, having crude protein content of more than 25%. INTRODUCTION The almond kernel is an edible part of the nut with a high nutritional value. Kernels contained high level of oil, rich in monosaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid (Vezvaei and Jackson, 1996) and tocopheroles (mainly  isomer), naturally mono- phenoles that have antioxidant activity (Kodad et al., 2006). Almonds also have a high content of protein and carbohydrates (Kester et al., 1991), such as phenoles and tanines that have antioxidant activity (Amarowitcz et al., 2005). Consumption of almonds can reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (Spiller et al., 1998; Kurladinsky and Stote, 2006; Chen et al., 2007) and coronary heart diseases (Jenkins et al., 2008). Yanagisawa et al. (2006) recommended daily consumption of 56 g almonds but kernel should be seed coated since the skin contains 650-850 ng polyphonies, which is ten times more than in kernel (Wijeratne et al., 2006). Eight out of nine phenol compounds isolated from almond skin have strong antioxidant activity (Sang et al., 2002b). According to Sang et al. (2002a) almond kernel contains sfingolipides that reduce the risk of ulcer. Study of Mandalari et al. (2008) showed that almonds also have some prebiotic effects. The almond Prunus amygdalus is widely spread in most countries of the world. It also grows well in northern Serbia where almost each household grows chance almond seedlings of unknown origin. The aim of this study was to determine morphological, pomological traits and chemical compounds of kernels from different selection found in this region and to evaluate their potential for increasing almond production using genotypes adapted to agro-ecological conditions in Serbia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Among more than 300 almond seedlings selected in the first phase, 19 genotypes (15-20 years old) have been chosen for further evaluation, based on regular crop and Proc. II nd Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing Eds.: M. Coman and E. Chitu Acta Hort. 981, ISHS 2013