Dry fractionation of cupuassu fat: chemical composition and polymorphic behavior

BORRONI, VIRGINIA; CANDAL, ROBERTO JORGE; HERRERA MARIA LIDIA

International News on Fats, Oils and Related Materials

American Oil Chemists' Society

Lugar: Urbana; Año: 2021 vol. 32 p. 26 - 29

0897-8026

Now a days, there is an increasing interest in tropical fats because they are from vegetable origin, semi-solid at ambient temperature and have great potential for many food applications. Besides, they contain high percentages of the triacylglycerol (TAG) SOS (being S stearic acid and O oleic acid), which is very important in confections and chocolate production. Cupuassu (Theobroma grandiflorum) is a tropical tree of the eastern Amazon region and central South America. It grows in Peru, Bolivia, in the north of Brazil and in the south of Venezuela. Although the cupuassu tree is botanically related to the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), the white aromatic fat extracted from its seeds has significant differences in TAGs composition with respect to the composition of cocoa butter, which gives cupuassu fat different polymorphic and crystallization behaviors. Despite these differences, cupuassu fat is fully compatible with cocoa butter as shown by nuclear magnetic resonance studies and cupuassu seeds can be processed similarly to cocoa beans to yield a chocolate-like product called ?cupulate?. However, as it has a lower solid fat content (SFC) at ambient temperature and is softer than cocoa butter its performance for applications may be limited. To increase its potential as trans-fat alternative and in chocolate production cupuassu fat may be modified by dry fractionation.