3.1. FA composition, TAG profile, and nutritional quality indexes
Table 1 shows the FA composition of the fats and oils analyzed by gas
chromatography, as well as their atherogenicity and thrombogenicity
indexes. While pracaxi, patawa, and Brazil nut oils presented high
contents of monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty
acids, tucuma kernel oil, murumuru fat and bacuri fat presented a high
content of saturated fatty acids (SFA). Due to their high SFA contents,
these last three products are solid at room temperature, whereas
pracaxi, patawa, and Brazil nut oils are liquid.
The particular FA composition of Amazon oils opens up possibilities for
application in the food industry. For instance, the high concentration
of oleic acid found in patawa oil (74.18%) is in the same range as that
found in high oleic sunflower and buriti oil (Silva et al., 2009; Smith,
King, & Min, 2007). Furthermore, high concentrations of this fatty acid
have a beneficial effect on thermal stability, suggesting that patawa
oil could be useful to the food industry as a frying oil. In addition,
the high oleic and linoleic ratio (˃ 12:1) of patawa oil could increase
shelf life and nutritional value of foods.
While oleic acid is the primary FA in the composition of pracaxi oil and
Brazil nut oil, pracaxi oil also showed a high content of behenic acid
(17.88%) and Brazil nut oil had a high content of linoleic acid
(31.73%). Behenic acid has a neutral impact on serum lipid
concentration because of its low bioavailability and very long chain
length (Cater & Denke, 2001), suggesting that pracaxi oil can be useful
in the preparation of low-calorie products. Since Brazil nut oil has a
higher content of linoleic acid when compared to conventional edible nut
oils, such as almond or macadamia oils (Maguire, O’Sullivan, Galvin,
O’Connor, & O’Brien, 2004), it can be nutritionally beneficial as an
ingredient in food products.
Tucuma kernel oil, murumuru and bacuri fats were found to be rich in
SFA. Murumuru fat and tucuma kernel oil had a high content of lauric
acid, meanwhile bacuri fat had a high content of palmitic acid. Tucuma
kernel oil has a FA composition rather similar to coconut oil’s (Marina,
Che Man, Nazimah, & Amin, 2009). Therefore, like coconut oil, it can be
used in cooking and in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
Lastly, the high content of palmitic acid in bacuri fat makes it a
potential source of tripalmitin (PPP), a TAG used for formulating lipid
nanoparticles and alternative drug delivery systems (Reddy, Sharma,
Chuttani, Mishra, & Murthy, 2004). Furthermore, bacuri fat had a
relatively high content of palmitoleic acid, a beneficial FA which
improves insulin sensitivity (Yang, Miyahara, & Hatanaka, 2011).
Atherogenicity index (AI) and thrombogenicity index (TI) are health
lipid indexes, which take into account the effects of saturated and
unsaturated FA in the development of coronary heart diseases (Ulbricht
& Southgate, 1991). According to Table 1, nutritional quality
indicators AI and TI ranged from 0.1 to 14.6 and 0.18 to 6.69,
respectively. Tucuma kernel oil and murumuru fat presented the highest
values for both indicators due to their SFA contents. Thus, to improve
the nutritional quality of fatty products, these lipids could be blended
with healthier oils, such as patawa or pracaxi oils.