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Oenocarpus bataua Mart. (Arecaceae): Rediscovering a Source of High Oleic Vegetable Oil from Amazonia

  • Original Paper
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Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

The fatty acid (FA) composition of Oenocarpus bataua oil from 38 samples collected over a large geographical range (i.e. French Guiana and Peru) was analyzed. Fifteen fatty acids were obtained from the mesocarp of this palm species. Oleic (72.7%) and palmitic (18.1%) acids were the predominant FAs. Minor FAs were cis-vaccenic acid (2.3%), linoleic acid (1.9%), stearic acid (1.7%), palmitoleic (0.9%) and alpha-linolenic acid (0.8%). The mean lipid content of the dry mesocarp was 51.6%. The O. bataua oil samples analyzed were remarkably rich in α-tocopherol. By contrast, the other fractions of the unsaponifiable matter (sterols, carotenoids) did not show any noteworthy specificity in comparison with common vegetable oils. However, the particularly high percentage in Δ5-avenasterol of O. bataua oil could serve as a marker for its authentication. Results are discussed in terms of the potential nutritional value of O. bataua oil.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Betty Millán of Universidad Nacional Mayor San Marcos (UNMSM, Peru), Jean-Jacques de Granville of Herbier de Guyane (France) and Jean-Louis Pham (IRD) for their support during this project. We also wish to acknowledge the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana (IIAP), and particularly the staff of the Jenaro Herrera Research Station (JHRS), and the staff of the Herbier de Guyane for providing logistical support and working facilities. R. Montúfar is grateful to Italo Melendez, Victor Hugo Vargas and Domingo for field assistance. Fieldwork in Peru was carried out under an international agreement between IRD (France) and UNMSM (Peru).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab. Genética Molecular (113), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Av. 12 de Octubre y Av. Patria, Quito, Ecuador

    Rommel Montúfar

  2. IRD, UMR DIAPC, 911 Avenue Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Andréina Laffargue, Jean-Christophe Pintaud, Serge Hamon & Stéphane Dussert

  3. IRD, UMR Nalis, 911 Avenue Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Sylvie Avallone

  4. Montpellier SupAgro, Institut des régions chaudes, 1101 Avenue Agropolis, CS 24501, 34093, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Sylvie Avallone

Authors
  1. Rommel Montúfar
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  2. Andréina Laffargue
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  3. Jean-Christophe Pintaud
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  4. Serge Hamon
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  5. Sylvie Avallone
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  6. Stéphane Dussert
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Correspondence to Stéphane Dussert.

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Montúfar, R., Laffargue, A., Pintaud, JC. et al. Oenocarpus bataua Mart. (Arecaceae): Rediscovering a Source of High Oleic Vegetable Oil from Amazonia. J Am Oil Chem Soc 87, 167–172 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-009-1490-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-009-1490-4

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