Catolé palm (Syagrus oleracea Mart) fruits: fatty and amino acids composition

Abstract

Catolé Palm (Syagrus oleracea Mart) Fruits were analysed for their chemical composition. The pulp and kernel portions contained 0.7 and 40.0% lipids. Freshly extracted kernel oil showed a small concentration (0.4 meq/kg) of peroxides but did not contain free fatty acids. The iodine and saponification values were 27.4 and 226, respectively. A large qualitative as well as quantitative difference in the fatty acid composition between the catolé pulp and kernel oil was observed. Fifteen and 19 fatty acids were identified in the pulp and kernel oil, respectively. These oils contained 48.9 and 73.2 % saturated fatty acids. The principal saturated fatty acids of the pulp oil was palmitic (C₁₆) acid, while that of kernel oil was lauric (C₁₂) acid. Oleic acid was the main monounsaturated fatty acid in both oils. In pulp oil, linoleic (C_18:2) and linolenic (C_18:3) were present at 23.5 and 11,3% concentrations, while kernel oil contained only linoleic acid (3.59%). In relation to amino acid composition of proteins, pulp proteins presented better amino acid profile than kernel proteins. In pulp proteins, the essential amino acids were present at concentrations higher than recommended by FAO except for methionine and lysine, while kernel proteins were deficient in all essential amino acids except phenylalanine, isoleucine and threonine.