A series of physical and chemical changes occur as oil palm fruits ripen in the bunch. We evaluated changes in lipid content in the mesocarp and fruits, and the chemical composition of fatty acids (FA), triacylglycerol (TAG), tocols, and carotenes of the lipids extracted from fruits of three commercial tenera cultivars, namely, Deli×La Mé, Deli×Ekona, and Deli×Avros, planted in two different geographical regions in Colombia, during the ripening process 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 weeks after anthesis (WAA). It was found that 12 WAA the mesocarp contained less than 6% of total lipids. Oil content increased rapidly after 16 WAA, reaching the maximum oil content of 55% in fresh mesocarp and 47% in fresh fruits at 22 WAA, which was found the optimal time for harvesting. Changes in FA and TAG showed that total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and triunsaturated triacylglycerols (TUTAG) decreased, while total saturated fatty acids (SFA) and disaturated triacylglycerols (DSTAG) increased, over the ripening period. Changes in FA were mainly observed in palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids, and in POP, POO, POL, and OLL for the TAGs evaluated. Levels of tocols changed depending on whether they were tocopherols or tocotrienols. In the earliest stages tocopherols were predominant but decreased rapidly from 6600 mg kg(-1) of oil at 14 WAA to 93 mg kg(-1) of oil at 22 WAA. Tocotrienols appeared at the same time as oil synthesis started, and became the main source of total tocols, equivalent to 87% in total lipids extracted.
