Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes H.B.K.), a new source of vegetable oil from the wet tropics

Abstract

Fruit bunches of Bactris gasipaes have been analysed in an attempt to select for high oil content. Bunches varied in weight from 1.4 to 19 kg, of which 86–96.8% was fruit. They held 8–420 fruit of 6.7–244.4 g. Fruit size varied from 1 to 9 cm in diameter, and contained 3.8–225.1 g of mesocarp. The latter, together with the thin exocarp, represented 73.4–98.4% of the fruit weight in seeded fruit. This pulp contained 17.8–74.8% dry matter which consisted of 3.1–14.7% protein, 2.2–61.7% oil, 14.5–84.8% starchy N‐free extract, and 5.2–13.8% fibre. Some mesocarps also had very high levels of carotene (0–70 mg 100g−1 fresh weight) and oxalate‐like crystals were frequently found, especially in and just under the exocarp. Oil contents increased with fruit maturity and also varied a little with bunch and season. The best introduction could produce 34.3% oil per bunch plus 21.3% of a dry meal containing 22.6% protein and 35.8% fibre, plus 4.3% dry kernels containing 21% oil. This very high oil content is well above previous results and suggests that the species might become a useful alternative oil source in the wet tropics, once the character is combined with high field yields. In addition, the oil residue could be used as animal feed or even for human consumption, especially after separating out large fibre particles. Copyright © 1984 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd