Impact of genotype on fatty acid profile, oil content and nutritional value of the sweet fruits of Acrocomia aculeata

Abstract

Macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) has mainly been evaluated as an oil source focused on biodiesel production. Furthermore, the fruit mesocarp and kernel are edible, and candies, jelly, sweet alcoholic liquor and ice cream are also produced from the mesocarp. Despite its consumption, there is still a lack of information on the nutritional composition of macauba. Selected macauba genotypes producing fruits with a sweet mesocarp were evaluated regarding the fruit characteristics, proximate composition, oil content and fatty acid profile. The mesocarp total sugar (fructose and glucose) content ranged from 4.5 to 9.6 g/100 g, total dietary fiber varied from 6.8 to 9.3 g/100 g, while protein content was up to 2.2 g/100 g (wet basis). There was a significant difference among genotypes for fruit characteristics, pulp oil content (7-29 g/100 g wet basis), and fatty acids from the mesocarp such as C18:1 (36-63%), C18:2 (7-35%) and C18:3 (0.8-7%)(p<0.05), and one of the evaluated genotypes may contribute to daily intake of linoleic and linolenic acids. The carotenes in the mesocarp oil ranged from 30-240 mg/kg. Lauric acid was the main fatty acid in the kernel oil. The differences observed depended on the genetic diversity and point out the nutritional value and different applications for macauba mesocarps.

Integrative review on the content of fatty acids, carotenoids and flavonoids of the Arecaceae of the Cerrado

“…Considered a natural antioxidant, β-carotene is the precursor to vitamin A and therefore buriti could be used to prevent vitamin A deficiency (ANTONIASSI et al, 2020). This vitamin is essential for all tissues in the body because it fights free radicals, boosts the immune system and helps keep the antibody level high (CRUZ et al, 2020).…”

Nutritional evaluation of Syagrus coronata kernels and development of cookies prepared with cassava flour and licuri kernels

“…Other kernel oils of Arecaceae family also presented similar profile such as Astrocaryum vulgare (Bora et al, 2001) and Astrocaryum aculeatum (Didonet et al, 2020), Acrocomia lasiospatha, Bactris gasipaes, Elaeis oleifera, Maximiliana maripa (Bereau et al, 2003), and Acrocomia aculeata (Antoniassi et al, 2020). These oil sources from Brazilian biodiversity are poorly exploited while there is small scale production of licuri kernel oil (Bauer et al, 2013;Gomes et al, 2018).…”

Pré-melhoramento da palmeira macaúba: caracterização fenotípica e diversidade genética de acessos conservados em banco de germoplasma

“…avaliando o conteúdo de carotenoides em macaúba do Nordeste do Brasil encontraram 138 µg/g. Outras literaturas observaram valores abaixo dos encontrados pelo presente trabalho(ANTONIASSI et al, 2020;FONSECA et al, 2021;…”