Refining of buriti oil (Mauritia flexuosa) originated from the Brazilian Cerrado: physicochemical, thermal-oxidative and nutritional implications

• Autor(a) principal: Aquino,Jailane de Souza
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Pessoa,Débora C. N. de Pontes, Araújo,Kassandra de Lourdes G. V., Epaminondas,Poliana S., Schuler,Alexandre Ricardo P., Souza,Antônio G. de, Stamford,Tânia Lúcia M.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-50532012000200004
• topic: antioxidants; buriti oil; carotenes; fatty acids; oxidative stability; refined oil

The objective of this study was to compare the physicochemical, thermo-oxidative and nutritional characteristics of crude and refined buriti oil. Crude and refined oil samples were evaluated for viscosity, relative density, refraction, acidity, free fatty acids, peroxide and iodine, lipid oxidation degree by UV-Vis, thermogravimetry, calorimetry, in vitro antioxidant capacity, vitamin A content and fatty acids profile. The refining process decreased the free fatty acids percentage and acidity, peroxide and iodine indexes, with greater thermal-oxidative stability, which is critical for its use in cooking food. However, its antioxidant capacity, vitamin A and unsaturated fatty acids contents were reduced compared to crude oil. Therefore, it is suggested to optimize the refining process to minimize nutritional losses in buriti oil, which due to its characteristics, can be considered a functional food.