Amazonian Nuts, Seed Oils may be Suitable for Developing New Fatty Products for the Food Industry - Study

Scientists studied the fatty acid and solid fat profile, among other parameters, of six different nuts and seeds native to the Amazon: Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), murumuru (Astrocaryum murumuru), tucuma (Astrocaryum vulgare), bacuri (Platonia insignis), pracaxi (Pentaclethra macroloba) and patawa (Oenocarpus bataua). The researchers from the University of Campinas’ school of food engineering said their research was prompted by the rise in demand for new fats and oils, and the scarce amount of research on the physical properties of Amazonian oils.  
Using gas chromatography to determine the fatty acid composition, the researchers found that tucuma kernel fat, murumuru and bacuri fats are rich in saturated fatty acids while patawa, pracaxi, and Brazil oil had high levels of healthy mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acid. Murumuru and tacuma kernel fat had a high content of lauric acid while bacuri fat was high in palmitic acid. “Tucuma kernel fat has a fatty acid composition rather similar to coconut oil’s,” they wrote.   The researchers used oils provided by B2B supplier Amazon Oil. The company supplies cold-pressed and dry-extracted oils that are kept below 60°C and are free from preservatives, additives or other chemicals, harvested in sustainable way, it said.
Bacuri had a solid fat content at 35°C, comparable to those required for dairy analog shortenings used in industrial cakes or cookies, suggesting it might substitute partially hydrogenated oil, known for their high trans fat content.  Murumuru had a solid fat content and profile “rather similar” to cocoa butter which means it could be used as cocoa butter equivalent, the researchers said. They suggested the Amazonian oils could be blended with other fats for products such as margarine.