Pequi do Cerrado e pequi do Xingu: conteúdo de compostos bioativos na polpa e no óleo

Abstract

Pequi (Caryocar sp.) is a fruit native to Brazil, widely found in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes, representing great socioeconomic importance for these regions. The nutritional and bioactive composition of this fruit is related to several health benefits, in addition to providing industrial and economic advances. Knowing this, the objective of this work was to determine the content of bioactive compounds in the fresh pulp and oil of pequi from the Cerrado and pequi from the Amazon. The analyses carried out to quantify the content of bioactive compounds in the samples were total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids and total phenolic acids, while the antioxidant capacity was determined by the DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods. The fatty acid profile present in the oil samples was identified and quantified using gas chromatography (GC) and the carotenoid content of the samples using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), content of vitamin A was also determined. Based on the results, the pulp and oil of pequi from Cerrado and pequi from Xingu presented the compounds β-carotene, α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin, in which the majority compound was β-carotene; comparing the carotenoid profile of the two fruits, it was noted that the pulp and oil of Cerrado pequi had the highest β-carotene content and consequently total carotenoids. These results influenced the vitamin A content, where Cerrado pequi oil and pulp presented the highest levels; it was also possible to verify that the Cerrado pequi pulp has a higher oil yield, and that the main fatty acids found in the Cerrado pequi oil and the Xingu pequi oil were linoleic fatty acid (C18:2 – cis ( n6)), palmitoleic (C16:1), γ-linolenic (C18:3 (n6)), oleic (C18:1 – cis (n9)), tridecanoic (C13:0) and others in smaller quantities, being 98% unsaturated. Comparing the results of bioactive compounds, it can be observed that the hydrophilic extracts of the pulp and Cerrado pequi oil obtained the highest levels for the analyses of total phenolic compounds, ABTS, DPPH and FRAP, while the hydrophilic extract of pequi oil from Xingu showed higher results for total phenolic acids. In the lipophilic extracts, the lipophilic fraction of pequi from Cerrado oil was superior to pequi from Xingu for ABTS analysis, while the other results did not show significant differences. It was possible to verify that the hydrophilic extracts from the pulps achieved greater antioxidant capacity than the hydrophilic extracts from the oils, while in the lipophilic extracts the antioxidant capacity was greater for the oil, considering that the DPPH method proved to be the most efficient for all samples. Therefore, the pulp and oil of pequi from Cerrado and pequi from Xingu presented antioxidant potential attributed to the presence of bioactive and consequently therapeutic compounds, in which the oils demonstrate to be a good source of unsaturated fatty acids, with emphasis on pequi grown in the biome. closed for presenting the best results.