Chemical Characterization of Oils and Fats from Amazonian Fruits by ¹H NMR

Abstract

Native plants from the Brazilian Amazon Biome are rich in nutrientes, oils and fats and, therefore, represent a very important regional food resource. Althoung there is a global interest in the nutritional potential of tropical fruits, the potential of Amazonian fruits as source of essential fatty acids is still under exploited, since their composition is still understudied. 1 H Magnetic Resonance Nuclear ( 1 H NMR) is a robust spectroscopic tool to profile fatty acids components in oils. The objectives of this work were to use 1 H NMR to determine the fatty acids profile and the physicochemical properties of crude oils and fats obtained from fruits of Brazilian Amazon: açaí, ata-brava, bacaba, buriti, buritirana, murici amarelo, murici vermelho, piaçaba braba, tucumanzinho, pupunha red and yellow varieties. Oils were obtained by Soxhlet extraction using hexane as a solvent. After solvent removal by rotoevaporation, the resulting oils and fats were analyzed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Unsaturated fatty acids oleic (ω9), linoleic (ω6) and linolenic (ω3) acids were quantified in the oils and their physicochemical properties were determined. It was observed that the oils have predominately ω9 fatty acids, followed by ω6 and ω3 representatives. The physicochemical properties confirmed edibility and good quality of oils and fats present in the aforementioned Amazonian fruits.

Propriedades e potencialidades de fontes amazônicas oleaginosas: tucumã e pracaxi

“…Em comparação com outras espécies de tucumã, Dos Santos et al, (2017) foram encontrados valores de 62% para ácido oleico, 11,80% para ácido linoleico e 0,50% de ácido α-linolênico (Dos Santos et al, 2022). Os valores para ácidos graxos oleico do tucumã (Astrocaryum vulgare Mart) estão próximos quando comparado com outras espécies.…”