Extraction and characterization of caiman oil for used as a food supplement

GONZÁLEZ, M.; VERA CANDIOTI, L.; VALLI, F.; LEIVA, P.; CONTINI, MC; SIMONCINI, M. S.

Encuentro; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2021

Sociedad de Biociencias

In Argentina, the Proyecto Yacaré aims to conserve the Caiman latirostris (CL) through its sustainable use as a renewable resource. Its leather is appreciated in the fashion industry and meat is valued as a source of high quality animal protein because it contains essential fatty acids (FA) important for human nutrition. Fat is generally discarded because it has no commercial value, increasing environmental pollution and eliminating a potential source of valuable natural oils. The objective was to extract oil from the fat of CL and perform the chemical and microbiological characterization for its use as a dietary supplement. In addition, the acceptability of the oil was carried out in a group of 100 consumers and it was expressed on a hedonic scale from 1 -9, with 9 being the most accepted. Atherogenicity index (AI), thrombogenicity index (TI) and the presence of aerobic mesophilic and coliforms bacteria, Escherichia coli and Salmonella were determined. Four methods of oil extraction based on solvent extraction and melting were evaluated and data analysis was performed by using ANOVA. The selected extraction method (melting at 80ºC) presented an excellent yield (89% w/w) and by means of gas chromatography it was determined that the FA content does not change after heating. The oil obtained contains FA of high nutritional quality such as oleic acid (34%), linoleic acid (30%) and α-linolenic acid (2%). The AI was 0.29 and TI was 0.47. The oil contained no organic solvents and no microbial load. Due to its excellent oxidative stability, it can be produced and stored at 25⁰C for 4 months maintaining its physicochemical properties and nutritional quality. This may be related to the presence of reducing substances and free radical scavengers that increase its antioxidant capacity. The acceptability was 8,1 ± 1,3, which indicates that it was highly accepted by consumers. Due to its excellent nutritional quality, the oil obtained from caiman fat could be used for nutrition.