Effect of the Harvest Date on the Chemical Composition of Patauá (Oenocarpus batauaMart.) Fruits from a Forest Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon

Raimundo Silva De Souza,Jerusa Souza Andrade,Suely De Souza Costa

doi:10.1155/2012/524075

Raimundo Silva De Souza, Jerusa Souza Andrade + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/524075

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Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the effect of harvest date on the chemical composition of patauá (Oenocarpus batauaMart.). Fruits were harvested monthly during the harvest season (June–December, 2009) from native plants in the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve located in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The patauá was assessed for pulp yield and chemical composition. Variations in the bunch size, quantity of fruits, chemical constituents and calories occur throughout the season. The pulp yield showed two plateaus, the first from June to September and the second from October to December. The pulp yield was highest in the last three months, the amount of added water equilibrates the total solids and the lipids stood out as the major chemical constituent. At the end of harvest, the patauá became dry and oily and less fibrous. Despite the significant differences, considering that the pulp yield and solids content can be standardized by added water, the entire period of the season may be indicated for the patauá can be periodically collected and considered as a high-energy food for the people of Amazon.

Highlights

The Amazon has a great diversity of fruit species, and many of them are domesticated and present importance in the primary sector and commerce [1, 2]
The fruits of pataua (Oenocarpus bataua Mart.) were harvested from native plants of the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve. This reserve belongs to the National Institute for Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA)) and it is located in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Despite the significant differences, considering that the pulp yield and total solids content can be standardized by added water, the entire period of the season may be indicated for the patauacan be collected

Summary

Introduction

The Amazon has a great diversity of fruit species, and many of them are domesticated and present importance in the primary sector and commerce [1, 2]. Various palms native to Amazonia and other tropical regions of Latin America have been the subject of research and development and require sustainable extractivism [3] This activity allows the exploitation of products from the forest and of biodiversity valorization [4, 5]. In the pulper occurs the scraping/pressing of the fruit (the edible portion is released and fragmented) followed by sieving (retention of the seeds and fragments non-crushed) and getting the pulp completely homogenized. This highly dense juice is popularly known as pulp or “wine” and consumed, added or not, of the manioc flour, “tapioca” flour, salt, or sugar [4, 5]

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