Fatty acid content of oils from whole fruits, seeds and pulps of the palm Syagrus romanzoffiana

Abstract

Palms have a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical regions, and are a promising source of substances for different uses. In Cuba they have been little studied and the Syagrus romanzoffiana palm is used as an ornamental plant for its beautiful leaves, as feathers and its rapid growth. In this work, the yields and the fatty acid content of the oils obtained from the whole fruits, seeds and pulps of the S. romanzoffiana palm were determined. The collected fruits were disinfected, dried and in half the seed was separated from the rest of the fruit (pulp). Whole fruits, seeds and pulps were ground separately to particle sizes <2.36 mm and the oils were obtained by extraction in Soxhlet with hexane. The oil with the highest yield (42%) and total fatty acid content (86% determined by Gas Chromatography) was obtained from the seeds. In all three oils there was a higher proportion of saturated fatty acids than unsaturated fatty acids. The highest percentages of saturated (70.5%) and unsaturated (41.3%) fatty acids in seed and pulp oils, respectively, were obtained. Lauric, oleic, myristic and palmitic acids were among the majority and arachidic, palmitoleic and linolenic acids were found among minorities. The present work allowed to know the extraction yields and the fatty acid contents of the oils obtained from the complete fruits, seeds and pulps of the S. romanzoffiana palm collected in Cuba.