Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes H.B.K.), a new source of vegetable oil from the wet tropics

Abstract

Fruit bunches of Bactris gasipaes have been analysed in an attempt to select for high oil content. Bunches varied in weight from 1.4 to 19 kg, of which 86–96.8% was fruit. They held 8–420 fruit of 6.7–244.4 g. Fruit size varied from 1 to 9 cm in diameter, and contained 3.8–225.1 g of mesocarp. The latter, together with the thin exocarp, represented 73.4–98.4% of the fruit weight in seeded fruit. This pulp contained 17.8–74.8% dry matter which consisted of 3.1–14.7% protein, 2.2–61.7% oil, 14.5–84.8% starchy N‐free extract, and 5.2–13.8% fibre. Some mesocarps also had very high levels of carotene (0–70 mg 100g−1 fresh weight) and oxalate‐like crystals were frequently found, especially in and just under the exocarp. Oil contents increased with fruit maturity and also varied a little with bunch and season. The best introduction could produce 34.3% oil per bunch plus 21.3% of a dry meal containing 22.6% protein and 35.8% fibre, plus 4.3% dry kernels containing 21% oil. This very high oil content is well above previous results and suggests that the species might become a useful alternative oil source in the wet tropics, once the character is combined with high field yields. In addition, the oil residue could be used as animal feed or even for human consumption, especially after separating out large fibre particles.

Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) in tropical Latin America: implications for biodiversity conservation, natural resource management and human nutrition

“…Fruit bunches may weigh up to 12 kg, but this varies greatly, depending on tree origin and management. Though bunches with 420 fruits have been reported , peach palm typically produces 75-300 fruits per bunch (Almeyda and Martin 1980;Arkcoll and Aguiar 1984). Fruit diameter varies from 1 to 9 cm, and mean fruit weight normally ranges from 20 to 65 g, though fruits may weigh up to 225 g ( Fig.…”

“…Fruit diameter varies from 1 to 9 cm, and mean fruit weight normally ranges from 20 to 65 g, though fruits may weigh up to 225 g ( Fig. 3; Arkcoll and Aguiar 1984;Leterme et al 2005;Rivera 2009). …”

“…Oil content has been shown to increase as fruits mature, but with high variability between bunches and harvest seasons (Arkcoll and Aguiar 1984). Monounsaturated oleic acids predominated (except one outlier from French Guyana), and palmitic acid was found to be the most abundant saturated fatty acid.…”

“…Latin America has a wide variety of carotenogenic foods that are notable for their diversity and high levels of carotenoids, but chemical assays commonly underestimate the antioxidant activity of food carotenoids (Rodriguez-Amaya 1999. In this respect peach palm can be considered a promising food crop, as its mesocarp is generally rich in b-carotene, though the level varies greatly (Arkcoll and Aguiar 1984). Furtado et al (2004) studied carotenoid concentration in vegetables and fruits that are commonly consumed in Costa Rica, reporting values for peach palm of 4.2, 59.1, 93.2, 20.5 and 63.7 lg g -1 for acarotene, trans-b-carotene, cis-b-carotene, trans-lycopene and cis-lycopene, respectively.…”

Chemical composition of the fruit mesocarp of three peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) populations grown in Central Amazonia, Brazil

“…The fruits have good nutritional potential because of their carotenoid and energy contents (Aguiar et al, 1980;Arkcoll & Aguiar, 1984), with the carotenoids being highly bioavailable (Yuyama et al, 1991;Yuyama & Cozzolino, 1996). They also may have important amounts of minerals .…”