CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND QUALITY EVALUATION OF BABASSU (Orbignya phalerata L.) FAT AND PRACAXI (Pentaclethra filamentosa) OIL

Babassu (Orbignya phalerata L.) and pracaxi (Pentaclethra filamentosa) are Brazilian fruits from the Amazon. Both are of great importance to regional economy, due to their high lipid content. Despite this fact, there is little information on the physicochemical characteristics of these lipid materials. Thus, the aim of this work was to determine their fatty acids and acyglycerols compositions and their chlorophyll, carotenoids and tocopherols contents. The quality of the samples was also evaluated by determination of free fatty acids and peroxide values. Babassu fat was rich in lauric acid (44%), followed by myristic acid (15%). Pracaxi oil had high contents of oleic acid (49%), followed by behenic acid (16%). Babassu fat showed lower contents of diacylglycerols and monoacylglycerols in comparison to pracaxi oil, due to the higher content of saturated fatty acids in babassu fat (84%) than in pracaxi oil (34%), which are less susceptible to oxidation. Babassu fat had less free fatty acids and lower peroxide values than pracaxi oil. Both babassu fat and pracaxi oil presented low carotenoid content, 0.02 and 0.03 mg.kg-1, respectively. Similar results were observed for chlorophyll content: this compound was absent in babassu fat and pracaxi oil showed 0.03 mg.kg-1 for total chlorophyll. Tocopherols were not found in babassu fat, while pracaxi oil was richer in -tocopherol (44.10 mg/100g), chemical analog with the highest vitamin E activity. These results are important to better understand these lipid sources and to expand their use in different applications.