Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferreira EL (2008) Palm trees of acre handbook, Brazil (in Portuguese). http://www.nybg.org/bsci/acre/www1/ manual_palmeiras.html. Accessed Aug 2008

  2. Albuquerque MLS, Guedes I, Alcantara JR P, Moreira SGC, Barbosa Neto NM, Correa DS, Zilio SC (2005) Characterization of buriti (Mauritia flexuosa L.) oil by absorption and emission spectroscopies. J Braz Chem Soc 16(111):3–1117

    Google Scholar 

  3. França LF, Reber G, Meireles MAA, Machado NT, Brunner G (1999) Supercritical extraction of carotenoids and lipids from buriti (Mauritia flexuosa), a fruit from the Amazon region. J Supercrit Fluids 14:247–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rodriguez-Amaya DB (1996) Assessment of the provitamin A contents of foods: the Brazilian experience. J Food Compost Anal 9:196–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Mariath JGR, Lima MCC, Santos LMP (1989) Vitamin A activity of buriti (Mauritia vinifera Mart) and its effectiveness in the treatment and prevention of xerophthalmia. Am J Clin Nutr 49:849–853

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ceriani R, Paiva FR, Gonçalves CB, Batista EAC, Meirelles AJA (2008) Densities and viscosities of vegetable oils of nutritional value. J Chem Eng Data 53:1846–1853

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. De Rosso VV, Mercadante AZ (2007) Identification and quantification of carotenoids, by HPLC-PDA-MS/MS, from Amazonian fruits. J Agric Food Chem 55:5062–5072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sen CK, Khanna S, Roy S (2006) Tocotrienols: Vitamin E beyond tocopherols. Life Sci 78:2088–2098

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kitts D (1996) Toxicity and Safety of Fats and Oils. In: Hui YH (ed) Bailey’s industrial oil & fat product, vol 1, 5th edn. Wiley, New York, pp 215–280

    Google Scholar 

  10. Klemm RDW, Labrique AB, Christian P, Rashid M, Shamim AA, Katz J, Sommer A, West KP (2008) Newborn Vitamin A supplementation reduces infant mortality in rural Bangladesh. Pediatrics 122:242–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. IUPAC (1979) Standard methods for the analysis of oils, fats and derivatives (Part 1, sections I and II). In: Paquot C (ed), 6th edn. Pergamon Press

  12. PORIM (1990) Test methods carotene content. PORIM, Malaysia

    Google Scholar 

  13. AOCS (1998) Official methods and recommended practices of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 3rd edn. Champaign, USA

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gomez AM, La Ossa EM (2000) Quality of wheat germ oil extracted by liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide. J Am Oil Chem Soc 77:969–974

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Basiron Y (2005) Palm Oil. In: Shahidi F (ed) Bailey’s industrial oil & fat products, vol 2, 6th edn. Wiley, New York, pp 333–430

    Google Scholar 

  16. O’Brien RD (2004) Fats and oils: formulating and processing for applications, 2nd edn. CRC Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  17. Tan YA, Kuntom A, Lee CK, Low KS (2004) Comparative evaluation of palm oil color measurement using a prototype palm oil colorimeter. J Am Oil Chem Soc 81:733–736

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hasenhuettl GL, Wan PJ (1992) Temperature effects on the determination of oxidative stability with the metrohm rancimat. J Am Oil Chem Soc 69:525–527

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Przybylski R, Zambiazi RC (2000) Predicting oxidative stability of vegetable oils using neural network system and endogenous oil components. J Am Oil Chem Soc 77:925–938

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Shahidi F (2005) Quality assurance of fats and oils. In: Shahidi F (ed) Bailey’s Industrial Oil & Fat Products, vol 1, 6th edn. Wiley, New York, pp 565–576

    Google Scholar 

  21. Codex Alimentarius (1981) Codex standard for edible fats and oils not covered by individual standards. CODEX STAN 19-1981 (Rev. 2–1999)

  22. Verleyen T, Van Dyck S, Adams CA (2005) Accelerated stability tests. In: Kamal-Eldin A, Pokorný J (eds) Analysis of lipid oxidation. Champaign, USA

    Google Scholar 

  23. Wong ML, Timms RE, Goh EM (1988) Colorimetric determination of total tocopherols in palm oil, olein and stearin. J Am Oil Chem Soc 65:258–261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge FAPESP (05/53095-2, 05/02079-7, 06/60053-7) and CNPq (303649/2004-6, 471880/2007-8) for the financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EXTRAE, Food Engineering Department, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-862, Brazil

    Simone M. Silva, Klicia A. Sampaio, Thiago Taham, Roberta Ceriani & Antonio J. A. Meirelles

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Silvana A. Rocco

  3. Faculty of Applied Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil

    Roberta Ceriani

Authors
  1. Simone M. Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Klicia A. Sampaio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thiago Taham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Silvana A. Rocco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Roberta Ceriani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Antonio J. A. Meirelles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio J. A. Meirelles.

About this article

Cite this article

Silva, S.M., Sampaio, K.A., Taham, T. et al. Characterization of Oil Extracted from Buriti Fruit (Mauritia flexuosa) Grown in the Brazilian Amazon Region. J Am Oil Chem Soc 86, 611–616 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-009-1400-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-009-1400-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation