Castanhas da Amazônia: composição nutricional e benefícios para a saúde

Abstract

The Brazilian Amazon Region is characterized by a huge biodiversity of flora and fauna, with the production of fruits and oilseeds present in food in various ways. Originating from the Amazon Forest, Cutia nut (Couepia edulis) and Egg nut (Couepia longipendula) of the Chrysobalanaceae family, are little known species, but consumed regionally, in contrast, the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) of the family of Lecythidaceae already has national and international recognition, and has a great production, through the vegetal extraction and the Sapucaia nut (Lecythis pisonis), also of the same family, that besides having production in the Amazon biome is also found in the Cerrado and Atlantic forest biomes. With the objective of expanding the knowledge of little-known species of Amazonian nuts, the work sought to evaluate the physical chemical composition of the fruits in their entirety, almond and shell, and to show the differentials they present. The nuts were received by the Banco Germoplasma of Embrapa Manaus and by Flona - Mário Xavier National Forest, and underwent physico-chemical analyzes in order to determine their nutritional composition in carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, mineral composition and the presence of mycotoxins. The nuts samples (Cutia, Egg, Sapucaia and Brazil) were separated into almonds and bark for analysis. The nutritional composition, the caloric value of the almonds demonstrated that the cutia nut showed the highest value (675.7 kcal / 100 g), right after it has the sapucaia nut with (672.19 kcal / 100 g), followed by egg nut (627.87 kcal / 100 g) and finally, brazil nuts (620.23 kcal / 100 g) with the lowest index. Nuts present in their composition high levels of fats and proteins, in addition to a peculiar profile of micronutrients. As for the mineral content present in almonds, among the macrominerals the levels of potassium, phosphorus and magnesium were quite expressive and among the micro minerals the iron content stands out. Being the sapucaia nut the one that obtained the highest values for potassium, phosphorus, copper, manganese and iron. The selenium content evaluated in the almonds showed a high quantity in the composition of the brazil nut (147.79 ± 4.02 mg / Kg), in the other nuts an approximate amount was not verified, counting: sapucaia nut with (15.09 ± 0.50 mg / kg), cutia nut with (3.82 ± 0.58 mg / kg) and egg nut (3.80 ± 0.81 mg / kg). Still, its presence in almonds is positive, since selenium protects against oxidative damage and its consumption can reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. The levels of aflatoxins (AFG2, AFG1, AFB2 and AFB1) were not detected in the analyzed samples (<0.01 mg / kg). Analyzing the bark of nuts, the sapucaia nut was also the one that obtained the highest values for most of the minerals being: magnesium, calcium, manganese, zinc, copper, phosphorus, boron, rubidium and cobalt. And due to the constitution of the shells containing insoluble fibers in a great majority, the nutritional value is not very significant, being used more for industrial purposes. Therefore, this work made it possible to know in part the nutritional potential of these nuts in order to stimulate their valorization through the nutritional appeal and thus stimulate the production / domestication of these species that produce such unique fruits.