Almonds

The almond fruit dries on the tree as it matures, the hull splitting open to expose the shell within. Harvest — mechanical shaking onto the orchard floor at scale, hand knocking in smaller operations — collects the whole dried fruit, which is then hulled to remove the outer layer and, if the market wants kernels, shelled to crack the shell away from the seed.

Hull

The outer fleshy-turned-leathery layer of the drupe, removed first. It is a bulk by-product with a well-established livestock feed market.

Shell

The hard endocarp enclosing the kernel. In-shell almonds are traded with it intact; shelling removes it, and the shell itself is used as fuel and bedding.

Kernel

The seed — the edible part and the primary product. Kernels are graded by size, variety, and integrity.

Moisture is the governing variable for almonds, exactly as it is for a cereal grain and unlike anything in the fresh-fruit trade. Drying begins on the tree and continues after harvest, and a lot that goes into storage above the moisture appropriate for its holding period will support moulds, lose quality, and risk mycotoxin formation. Almonds carry a documented aflatoxin risk, and moisture control at and after harvest is the principal management route.

The counterpart risk is over-drying, which makes kernels brittle and increases breakage during shelling and handling — and broken kernels are a downgrade. Almonds also carry substantial oil, which means the eventual quality limit is rancidity rather than spoilage: fat oxidation, accelerated by warmth, light, and oxygen, is what ends the useful life of a well-dried lot. This is why cold storage appears in the almond trade at all, as a quality-preservation measure for a commodity already stable enough not to need it.

Almond kernels are graded on variety and shape type, size (usually as count per unit weight), colour, and the incidence of defects — chips and scratches, doubles, splits, shrivelled kernels, and foreign material. In-shell almonds are additionally assessed on shell condition, the proportion of shells that are well sealed, and the completeness of hulling. Grade standards are jurisdictional and versioned, and the same lot can grade differently under different schemes.

• Insect damage — navel orangeworm and other pests damaging kernels in the orchard and in store
• Mould growth and associated mycotoxin risk in inadequately dried lots
• Chipped, scratched, and broken kernels from mechanical handling
• Doubles, split kernels, and shrivelled or gummy kernels
• Rancidity in lots held warm or long
• Foreign material — hull and shell fragments, and orchard-floor debris

Because almonds are harvested from the orchard floor at scale, food-safety controls sit alongside grading and are separately regulated. Meeting a grade is a commercial description of the lot, not a food-safety clearance.

Kernels are the point of the crop. They are sold whole as a snack and an ingredient, and processed into blanched, sliced, slivered, and diced forms, into paste and marzipan, into almond butter, and into plant-based drinks. Hulling produces almond hulls in bulk — a genuine by-product with an established ruminant feed market rather than a disposal problem — and shelling leaves shells that are used as fuel, bedding, and industrial abrasive.

• Food — kernels whole and processed, and as an ingredient in confectionery and bakery
• Beverage — almond-based drinks made from kernels
• Feed — hulls fed to livestock, the largest by-product outlet
• Energy and industrial — shells used as fuel, bedding, and abrasive material