Characterization of Oil Extracted from Buriti Fruit (Mauritia flexuosa) Grown in the Brazilian Amazon Region

Abstract

Five samples of buriti oil from industrial and artisanal suppliers were characterized in terms of nutritional quality parameters (nutraceutical levels) and acidity. As a first screening, each sample was analyzed by titration, spectrophotometry and an HPLC method, and the results were compared. As expected, artisanal samples showed lower acidity and higher levels of carotenes and tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols). A blend of industrial and artisanal samples in suitable proportions was completely characterized in terms of analytical and physico-chemical properties, i.e., fatty acid composition, iodine value, partial and total acylglycerol contents, refractive index (40°C), saponification value, unsaponifiable matter, acidity (expressed as % of oleic acid), peroxide value, phosphorus content, oil stability index, tocol and carotene concentrations. The results of the present study showed that buriti oil is a valuable source of monounsaturated fatty acids, and vitamins A and E. No previous work in the literature has analyzed buriti oil to this extent. The chromatographic method using HPLC was effective in qualifying and quantifying tocopherols, tocotrienols and carotenes.

Amazonian Buriti oil: chemical characterization and antioxidant potential

“…The same difference was observed in the study of Pardauil et al (2011). Amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids similar to ours were obtained in the study of Silva et al (2009). Their methods of determination based on mass spectrometry (MS) also confirm that oleic (71%) and palmitic acids (20%) are the major fatty acids in Buriti oil, and stearic acid, as well as in our study, was also detected (Bataglion et al, 2015).…”

“…Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa Mart) mesocarp oil is an example of an Amazonian palm oil of economic importance. This oil is used by the local population as healing, sunscreen, for the treatment of burns, for the prevention of skin aging, and acts as anti-inflammatory and antibiotic (Hernández et al, 2009;Silva et al, 2009;Rodrigues et al, 2010). The Buriti oil has some features similar to palm oil such as its reddish-yellow color and its flavor (Pesce et al, 2009).…”

“…However, while this oil presents a great potential for application either alone or in combination with other oils, most studies only present data on the fatty acid composition, oxidative stability and minor components such as carotenes and tocols (Pardauil et al, 2011;Silva et al, 2011;Silva et al, 2009;Albuquerque et al, 2005;Santos et al, 2013a). The specialized literature does not present a more detailed assessment of its physical and chemical characteristics, and parameters such as regiospecific distribution are not reported.…”

Minor components in oils obtained from Amazonian palm fruits

“…tocopherols and tocotrienols for the five samples. Previous results reported concentrations of a similar order for buriti oil (Silva et al, 2009;Costa et al, 2010) and pupunha (Bereau et al 2003), lower concentrations for buriti, inajá and tucumã oils (Rodrigues et al, 2010) and higher concentrations for bacaba oil (Montúfar et al, 2010). Table 5 shows the percentages of phytosterol species and the total concentrations in the oils.…”

Mauritia flexuosa palm swamp communities: natural or human-made? A palynological study of the Gran Sabana region (northern South America) within a neotropical context

“…In general, the M. flexuosa fruits are an important source of calories, proteins and vitamins for indigenous cultures (Meerow, 2008). The detailed chemical composition of the M. flexuosa fruit can be found in Silva et al (2009). The stony seed is called "plant ivory" and is used in handycrafts (González & Rial, 2011;Trujillo et al, 2011), and also to help women during childbirth, once roasted and converted to powder (Martins et al, 2012).…”