Buriti oil: Nutritional quality index and antioxidant and antidiabetic effect

Abstract

Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) is a palm tree native to Brazil and the oil extracted from its fruit is used as a food and for medicinal purposes by the local population. The aim of this study was to analyze the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of buriti oil from fruits collected in the Cerrado of Maranhao. The physicochemical parameters were analyzed according to American Oil Chemists' Society standard methods. The lipid profile and the nutritional quality indexes were determined based on the fatty acid composition obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The levels of bioactive compounds were determined by electronic spectroscopy, and the effects of free antiradicals and antidiabetics were evaluated in vitro using the superoxide radicals and enzymatic methods with α-amylase, respectively. The buriti oil showed good physicochemical and nutritional qualities; a high content of unsaturated fatty acids and total carotenoids; and antioxidant and antidiabetic effects at low oil concentrations. These biological results and the nutritional quality indexes are unpublished data for buriti oil. Therefore, this oil potentially can be identified and used as a food ingredient and for the development of new products.