Nutritional composition, fatty acid and tocopherol contents of buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) and patawa (Oenocarpus bataua) fruit pulp from the Amazon region

Buriti and patawa are two endemic palm trees from the Amazon region. Their pulps are traditionally consumed by the local population, but are underused and lesser known worldwide. Nutritional composition, fatty acid and tocopherol contents of the two palm pulps were determined by modern analytical methods: Gas Chromatography (CG) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), based on the standards of AOCS (AMERICAN ... , 2002) and AOAC (ASSOCIATION ... , 1997), respectively. Buriti and patawa fruit pulps are highly nutritive, with respectively, high fat content (38.4% and 29.1% of dry matter (DM)), protein content (7.6% and 7.4% of DM) and dietary fibers (46% and 44.7% of DM). Buriti pulp can be considered healthy food due its high content of vitamin E (1169 mu g.g(-1) DM). Patawa pulp is highly oleaginous and its fatty acid composition is very similar to the ones of healthy oils, such as olive oil.