Potential of native palms from the brazilian amazon for bioeconomy: A network analysis of scientific and technological production

Abstract

Natural resources from the palm trees Euterpe oleracea, Astrocaryum aculeatum, Mauritia flexuosa, Bactris gasipaes, Oenocarpus bacaba and Attalea maripa potentially favor the use of biodiversity and are economically formidable in the national market due to the total utilization of its products and sub-products. The objective of this research was to conduct a survey, based on the search for patents and scientific papers, in order to identify the potential for the bio-economy of native palm trees in the Brazilian Amazon region. For this, exploratory documentary research with a quantitative approach was carried out, and analyzed the patent documents filed with the databases of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil; Latin American Patent Bank; United States Patent and Trademark Office; European Patent Office and World Intellectual Property Organization. For scientific prospection, a bibliographic search was carried out regarding publications of scientific papers from Elsevier research platforms, including Scopus, Science Direct, Springer link, Scielo and Capes Journal databases. The results of the prospecting were compiled in data networks and graphs. From a scientific point of view, the species Euterpe oleracea and Astrocaryum aculeatum stand out as sources of potentially bio-economic biological resources, and present an extensive number of publications regarding the chemical activities of the fruits. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has the highest number of patent filings, for the species Euterpe oleracea. This indicates that Brazil leads as the main depositor country, due to the high wealth of these species. Among the patent filings surveyed, most were classified by the code IPC A61K, which related to obtaining tablets containing ethanolic extract (standardized) from the fruits and its application as an antioxidant. In the light of this analysis, this study made it possible to present an overview of the technological and scientific potential of the palm species, significantly revealing their potential to meet human needs in the areas of food and health, which can be explored by the industry with a perspective for generation of new technologies. © 2021, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. All rights reserved.