Investigation on cyanide content in almond, apricot kernel and their products sold in Gansu Province

ObjectiveTo investigate the content of cyanide in apricot kernel, almond and their products in Gansu Province of China, and to provide reference for formulating relevant national standards and protect the public health.Methods323 samples of almond and its products were collected from 14 cities of Gansu Province of China. The content of cyanide in samples was determined by chromatographic headspace analysis.ResultsThe contents of cyanide in different products of apricot kernel and almond were various, the content of cyanide in were 0.098 0-720, 0.015 1-151, 0.015 1-7.15, 0.184-5.88, 0.083 2-5.11 and 0.702-17.3 mg/kg in dry fruit, solid beverage, liquid beverage, pastry, candy and pickled kind respectively. The contents of cyanide in different varieties of almond were different, the content of cyanide in bitter almond and its products was 0.015 1-720 mg/kg, 0.015 1-151 mg/kg in sweet almond and its products, and was 0.098 0-12.0 mg/kg in almond and its products. The content of cyanide was different in different kinds of almond, the content was 0.482-20.9 mg/kg in ripe (dried) sweet apricots, 1.05-151 mg/kg in raw (dried) sweet apricots, 2.32-184 mg/kg in fresh sweet apricots, 359-597 mg/kg in ripe (dried) bitter apricots, 359-720 mg/kg in raw (dried) bitter apricots and was 634-733 mg/kg in fresh bitter apricots.ConclusionCyanide is commonly found in apricot kernel, almond and their products, especially the contend of cyanide was high in fresh bitter almonds, dried bitter almonds and dried fruit almonds and their products which should be paid attention to.