Physicochemical evaluation of seed and sed oil of corozo ( Acrocomia aculeata Jacq.)

Abstract

In this research, physicochemical characteristics of the seed and seed oil of corozo ( Acrocomia aculeata Jacq.), a wild palm from Central and South America , were evaluated. Seeds obtained from mature fruits from “El Chaparro” town, Anzoategui state, Venezuela, harvested in March 2003, were decorticated; the endospermus was transformed to meal by means of grinding and then using a sieve (425 µm), and its oil was extracted with n-hexane. The whole seed showed an average weight of 9.67 ± 0.32 (P<0.05) and proportions of pericarp and endospermus of 75.39 % and 24.61 %, respectively. The meal presented important contents of fat (53.13 %), protein (13.75 %) and crude fiber (25.82 %). Crude oil showed low free fatty acidity (0.4 %) and high stability (Peroxide was not detected; stabitlity index OSI 100 h), with iodine index 29.87 cg I/g and saponification value 205 mg KOH/g. In the fatty acid composition a high level of saturated acids (79.6 %) was found, and the major fatty acid was lauric acid (50.9 %). The corozo seed is an oleaginous source that may be useful in the Venezuelan oil industry.