EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FATTY ACIDS IN CARNAÚBA SEED OIL

• Autor(a) principal: Guimarães, Wellinson Gadêlha
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Cavalcante, José Fernando Mourão, Queiroz, Zilvanir Fernandes de, Castro, Rondinelle Ribeiro, Nascimento, Ronaldo Ferreira do
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Caatinga
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufersa.edu.br/caatinga/article/view/3908
• topic: Copernicia prunifera. Vegetable oil. Fatty acids. Gas Chromatography.

This paper describes the composition of fatty acids in oil extracted from seeds of carnaúba (Copernicia prunifera (Miller) H. E. Moore), an important palm species native to Northeastern Brazil. After extracting the crude oil, the physico-chemical characteristics (density, refraction index, pH, acidity and saponification index) were registered and the chemical composition of the fatty acids was determined by gas chromatography (GC-FID). The predominance of saturated fatty acids does not make carnaúba seed oil a promising alternative for the food industry, and the small yield obtained (approx. 5%) may constitute a limiting factor for commercial exploitation, but carnauba seed oil could potentially be used in the production of biofuels, cosmetics and detergents.