Abstract
The Brazil nut, Bertholletia excelsa, is a globose fruit (urchin) that has chestnuts or almonds in its interior, these being rich in Selenium and other minerals essential for the proper functioning of the human body, as well as linolenic (?3), linoleic (?6) and oleic (?9). Its oil presents nutraceutical, functional and therapeutic properties of biotechnological interest. The objective of this work was to evaluate the physico-chemical properties and chemical composition of two samples of the Bertholletia excelsa oil, from chemo-types of the State of Roraima, Brazilian Amazon, by Gas Chromatography with a Flame-Ionization Detection-GC-FID, Atomic Emission Spectroscopy by Microwave Plasma-MP-AES and Medium Infrared Region Absorption Spectroscopy-MIR. The physico-chemical characteristics of the two samples are within the limits and parameters allowed by the norms of Brazilian legislation and comply with international recommendations. The most commonly found fatty acid was the oleic, 37.8% for the two samples. The concentration of the minerals in order of decreasing quantity in mg / 100g were Ca (22.3), Mg (5.4), K (3.0), Se (0.5), Mn (0.2), Cu (0.1) and Co (0.05). Thus, the quality of the oil from these evaluated chemical races is evidenced, being considered suitable for human consumption and indicated for systematic investigations of bioactivity for different biotechnological purposes, mainly food, pharmacological and therapeutic.
Keywords: Oleic Acid, GC-FID, Essential Minerals, Gas Chromatography.
