Supercritical adsorption of buriti oil (Mauritia flexuosa Mart.) in γ-alumina: A methodology for the enriching of anti-oxidants

Production of Oil and Phenolic-Rich Extracts from Mauritia flexuosa L.f. Using Sequential Supercritical and Conventional Solvent Extraction: Experimental and Economic Evaluation

Mauritia flexuosa L.f. is a palm from the Amazon. Pulp and oil are extracted from its fruits, with a high content of bioactive compounds. This study presents the economic evaluation of two extraction processes: (a) Conventional solvent extraction (CSE) with 80% ethanol for the recovery of phenolic-rich extracts; and (b) Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) followed by CSE to obtain oil and phenolic-rich extracts. The objective of this study was to compare the feasibility of both extraction processes. The economic evaluation and the sensitivity study were evaluated using the SuperPro Designer 9.0® software at an extraction volume of 2000 L. Similar global extraction yields were obtained for both processes; however, 8.4 and 2.4 times more total polyphenol and flavonoid content were extracted, respectively, using SFE+CSE. Cost of manufacturing (COM) was higher in SFE+CSE compared to CSE, USD 193.38/kg and USD 126.47/kg, respectively; however, in the first process, two by-products were obtained. The sensitivity study showed that the cost of the raw material was the factor that had the highest impact on COM in both extraction processes. SFE+CSE was the most economically viable process for obtaining bioactive compounds on an industrial scale from M. flexuosa L.f.

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity, fatty acid profile, and bioactive compounds from buritirana (Mauritiella armata Mart.) oil: A little-explored native Brazilian fruit

Buritirana (Mauritiella armata Mart.) is a fruit species native to the Amazon and Cerrado region, belonging to the Arecaceae family. It has high nutritional and functional potential, yet little explored. In this study, we evaluated for the first time the overall yield, behavior of total carotenoids in the extraction kinetics, fatty acid profile, bioactive compounds, and the antioxidant capacity of the oil from buritirana fractions obtained by supercritical CO₂. The highest extraction yield was found in the pulp and whole without seed at 60 °C (18.06 ± 0.40 and 14.55 ± 1.10 g 100 g^-1 of the freeze-dried sample (fdw), respectively), and in the peel at 40 °C (8.31 ± 0.73 g 100 g^-1 fdw). During the extraction kinetics, the pulp had the highest yields of oil (41.57%) and total carotenoids (8.34 mg g^-1) after 61 min at 40 °C. The antioxidant potential, fatty acid profile, and α-tocopherol content were dependent on both fraction and temperature, with oleic acid being the main fatty acid. The oil from the whole fraction without seed had the largest number (20) of identified phenolic compounds. The extraction at 60 °C reduced the relative intensity of most compounds in the whole without seed and pulp. Moreover, it increased the intensity of the compounds in the peel. These results suggest that buritirana is a good oil source with great bioactive potential to produce new products with functional claims.

Physicochemical characterization, fatty acid profile, antioxidant activity and antibacterial potential of cacay oil, coconut oil and cacay butter

The Amazon region is rich in genetic resources such as oilseeds which have potentially important local commercial exploitation. Despite its high concentration of bioactive compounds, cacay (Caryodendron orinocense Karst.) oil is poorly investigated and explored. Thus, this study focuses on the physicochemical characterization (moisture, density, and saponification, iodine, and acidity values), fatty acid composition as determined by gas chromatograph mass spectrometry (GC/MS), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assay) of cacay oil, coconut oil and a coconut/cacay oil blend, also known as cacay butter. The antibacterial activity of cacay oil was additionally evaluated. Our study demonstrated that cacay oil presents a high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (58.3%) with an emphasis on linoleic acid and a lower acidity value (2.67 ± 0.01 cg I₂/g) than butter and coconut oil, indicating a low concentration of free fatty acids. In contrast, cacay butter and coconut oil presented higher saturated fatty acid percentages (69.1% and 78.4%, respectively) and higher saponification values (242.78 and 252.22 mg KOH/g, respectively). The samples showed low moisture and relative density between 912 and 916 kg/m³. The hydrophilic fraction of cacay oil was highlighted in the quantification of TPC (326.27 ± 6.79 mg GAE/kg) and antioxidant capacity in vitro by DPPH radical scavenging assay (156.57 ± 2.25 μmol TE/g). Cacay oil inhibited the growth of Bacillus cereus (44.99 ± 7.68%), Enterococcus faecalis (27.76 ± 0.00%), and Staphylococcus aureus (11.81 ± 3.75%). At long last, this is the first study reporting the physicochemical characterization and bioactive properties of cacay butter. Coconut oil and cacay butter showed great oxidative stability potential due to higher contents of saturated fatty acids. Moreover, cacay oil presents as an alternative source of raw materials for cosmetic and biotechnology industries due to its high concentration of PUFA and for being a rich source of phenolic compounds.

Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction of Buriti (Mauritia Flexuosa) Oil: Yield and Antioxidant Compounds

Introduction:

Enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction is considered an emerging green technique that has been applied to different oilseeds.

Objective:

This study aimed to study the enzymatic aqueous extraction process of buriti oil using a central composite rotatable design (CCRD) combined with the response surface methodology aiming to obtain higher yield and antioxidant compounds in the oil.

Methods:

The study was carried out in two steps. The first assessed the efficiency of different enzymes (cellulase, pectinase, and protease) and the variables of greater influence in the extraction process, being conducted for each enzyme a CCRD design. The second step was carried out with the enzyme that showed the best performance on the extraction yield, changing the experimental bands of the variables that had greater significance in the first step, with the goal of broadening the spectrum of study. Were also evaluated in this step, total carotenoids, total phenolic compounds, and the antioxidant capacity of the oils extracted.

Results:

In the first experiment, cellulase gave the highest yield, while the most significant variables were temperature and time. For the second design, performed with cellulase, were defined as optimal operating conditions at 55 °C temperature, 2% enzyme concentration and 6 hours extraction. For these conditions, the yield obtained was 76.5%, with total carotenoid concentration of 3,119.5 µg β-carotene.g-1. Analysis of variance was performed and showed the significance of the regression and non-significance of the lack-of-fit (p<0.05). The coefficients of determination of the yield and carotenoid content were 95.6% and 94.5%, respectively. The highest value of total phenolic compounds determined for buriti oil in this study was 254 ± 5 µg GAE.g-1 oil, while for the antioxidant capacity was 218.0 ± 0.3 µmol Trolox.g-1 oil.

Conclusion:

The enzymatic aqueous extraction process is viable for buriti oil and produced oils with high concentrations of antioxidant compounds.

High-Quality Biodiesel Production from Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) Oil Soapstock

The buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) is a palm tree widely distributed throughout tropical South America. The oil extracted from the fruits of this palm tree is rich in natural antioxidants. The by-products obtained from the buriti palm have social and economic importance as well, hence the interest in adding value to the residue left from refining this oil to obtain biofuel. The process of methyl esters production from the buriti oil soapstock was optimized considering acidulation and esterification. The effect of the molar ratio of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) to soapstock in the range from 0.6 to 1.0 and the reaction time (30–90 min) were analyzed. The best conditions for acidulation were molar ratio 0.8 and reaction time of 60 min. Next, the esterification of the fatty acids obtained was performed using methanol and H₂SO₄ as catalyst. The effects of the molar ratio (9:1–27:1), percentage of catalyst (2–6%) and reaction time (1–14 h) were investigated. The best reaction conditions were: 18:1 molar ratio, 4% catalyst and 14 h reaction time, which resulted in a yield of 92% and a conversion of 99.9%. All the key biodiesel physicochemical characterizations were within the parameters established by the Brazilian standard. The biodiesel obtained presented high ester content (96.6%) and oxidative stability (16.1 h).