The purpose of this study was to examine the potential for sustained almond consumption to reduce HbA1c concentrations among individuals with elevated values. A 16-week randomized, parallel-arm, controlled trial was conducted. Eighty-one adults with elevated HbA1c concentrations (>5.7%) were randomly assigned to incorporate 2 oz of raw almonds (A: n=39) or energy-matched snacks (C: n=42) into their daily diets. Body weight, body composition, plasma lipids, HbA1c, plasma vitamin E, glycemia (by meal tolerance test and continuous glucose monitoring), dietary intake, and hedonic responses to test foods were measured at stipulated time points. Participants consuming almonds ingested 253 kcal/d more than participants in the control group (P=0.02), but this did not result in a significant difference in body weight. No statistically significant differences were observed in HbA1c concentrations, blood chemistries, body composition, or glycemia over time or between groups. However, Healthy Eating Index scores improved within the almond group as compared to the control group (P<0.001). Additionally, the hedonic rating of almonds within the almond group did not decline as markedly as the control group’s reduced liking of the pretzel snack. Alpha-tocopherol increased significantly, and gamma tocopherol tended to decrease in the almond group, indicating compliance with the dietary intervention. Overall, daily ingestion of 2oz of raw almonds in a self-selected diet for 16 weeks did not alter short-term or longer-term glycemia or HbA1c concentrations in adults with elevated HbA1c concentrations, but they were well-tolerated hedonically and improved diet quality without promoting weight gain.

Tiafenacil is registered in the United States for use in annual crops such as corn and soybean, but not on orchard crops. Field studies were conducted to determine orchard crop safety and efficacy of tiafenacil on important California orchard weeds. To evaluate crop safety, tiafenacil was applied at 74, 148, and 222 g ai ha−1 alone and with 38 g ai ha−1 of tolpyralate three times per year at the base of almond, pistachio, prune, and walnut trees. The first treatment was applied 2 mo after the trees had been transplanted. In all four tree crop experiments, treatments were applied once in May 2020, then three times again during the winter of 2021 and 2022 at 21-d treatment intervals. There were no visual foliar injury symptoms or treatment-related effects on tree trunk diameter change even at the highest tested rate of tiafenacil applied seven times over three growing seasons. In a separate study of weed control, in most instances, tiafenacil applied at 12 g ai ha−1 performed similarly to that of tiafenacil plus glufosinate. Control of glyphosate-resistant hairy fleabane with tiafenacil applied alone at 25 g ai ha−1 was 65% by 14 d after treatment. Tiafenacil applied at 50 g ai ha−1 to hairy fleabane performed similarly to glufosinate plus glyphosate. In a greenhouse study, tiafenacil applied at 12 g ha−1 provided 95% to 100% control of barnyardgrass and junglerice, and there was no significant difference between tiafenacil applied alone or with glufosinate. Saflufenacil applied alone or in a mixture with glufosinate was not as effective as the tiafenacil treatments for grass weed control. Based on experiments conducted over three growing seasons in four tree fruit and tree nut crops, tiafenacil crop safety appeared to be acceptable even at up to 2- or 3-fold the expected use rate.

Glyphosate is an important component of herbicide programs in orchard crops in California. It can be applied alone or in tank-mix combinations under the crop rows or to the entire field and often is used multiple times each year. There has been speculation about the potential impacts of repeated use of glyphosate in perennial crop systems, because of uptake from shallow root systems or indirectly because of effects on nutrient availability in soil. To address these concerns, research was conducted from 2013 to 2020 on key orchard crops to evaluate tree response to glyphosate regimens. Almond, cherry, and prune were evaluated in separate experiments. In each crop, the experimental design was a factorial arrangement of two soil types, four glyphosate rates (0, 1.1, 2.2, and 4.4 kg ae ha−1, applied three times annually), and two post-glyphosate application irrigation treatments. In the first 2 yr of the study, there was no clear impact of the glyphosate regimens on shikimate accumulation or leaf chlorophyll content, which suggested no direct effect on the crop. In the seventh year of the study, after six consecutive years of glyphosate application to the orchard floors, there were no negative impacts of glyphosate application on leaf nutrient concentration or on cumulative trunk growth in any of the three orchard crops. Lack of a negative growth impact even at the highest treatment rate, which included 18 applications of glyphosate totaling nearly 80 kg ae ha−1 glyphosate over the course of the experiment suggest there is not likely a significant risk to tree health of judicious use of the herbicide in these production systems. Given the economic importance of orchard crops in California, and grower and industry concerns about pesticides generally and specifically about glyphosate, these findings are timely contributions to weed management concerns in perennial specialty crops.

Diet is a critical component of the mass-rearing of biological control agents, but the impacts of diet are not always immediately obvious and can take several generations to manifest, resulting in poor survival, reproduction, and ability to kill prey under natural conditions. Our present study aimed to investigate the performance of a commercially-reared phytoseiid mite, Amblyseius swirskii, after four (G4) and six (G6) consecutive generations on pollen grains of two plant species, as well as its ability to find and kill its natural prey, Tetranychus urticae, after long-term rearing on each diet. We found no significant difference between the two diets in intrinsic and finite rates in G4. However, both diet and generation exerted a significant influence on the fecundity of A. swirskii. By G6, females reared on almond pollen had greater net reproductive and intrinsic rate compared to those reared on maize pollen. Conversely, A. swirskii fed on maize pollen consumed fewer prey than those reared on other diets, especially at higher prey densities. The findings have important implications for developing the mass-rearing program of A. swirskii on non-prey diets. Further research must explore the suitability of almond pollen in the large-scale culture of A. swirskii.

In this study, 123 almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb) trees identified among traditional orchards in the Algarve region and 53 trees of the local field collection managed by the regional office of the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture (DRAALG) were assessed using isozyme, inter-single sequence repeat and simple sequence repeat or microsatellite techniques for the evaluation of genetic diversity and genetic relatedness and identification of new accessions for the field collection. The isozyme analysis allowed the distribution of the 176 plants into 13 different classes of enzyme similarity, while the use of DNA markers increased the distribution of the analysed trees among 140 discriminating DNA patterns. Multiple cases of homonymy and synonymy were identified in the local germplasm. Some traditional varieties, such as Lourencinha, appeared to be relatively homogeneous, while other local denominations, e.g. Galamba, included diverse genotypes. Of the 13 commercial varieties analysed in this study, 11 assembled in one major cluster clearly differentiated from the majority of the local genotypes. These results reinforced the perception that the Algarve traditional germplasm constitutes an important repository of genetic diversity, eventually carrying alleles of high agricultural interest such as the recently identified Phomopsis resistance in the traditional variety Barrinho Grado.

University of California (UC) scientists have established critical values (CVs) for almond production, but the nutritional information the CVs provide may be outdated and insufficient. In December 2006, researchers at UC Davis conducted focus group interviews with a sample of stakeholders in California's almond industry. The focus groups were designed to collect information relating to factors affecting growers' nutrition decisions, priorities in education and research relating to plant nutrition, and expected consequences of environmental regulation for the industry. Stakeholders identified problems with the CVs and voiced concern about the future of the almond industry in light of impending environmental regulations. Many stakeholders identified university research as a way to protect the industry by providing strong, recent scientific data on which nutritional limits and environmental regulations can be based. The focus groups served as a useful research method for obtaining detailed information about stakeholders' motivations and priorities and also for informing a quantitative follow-up survey that was subsequently mailed to a larger population of Californian almond growers.