Water-extracted Brazil nut co-products: nutritional value and estimation of nutrient losses during processing

Abstract

Although Brazil nut is a nutrient-dense nut known to be the dietary source with the highest concentration of selenium, there are few studies about the nutritional value of its co-products as well as the processing effects on them. The objective was to assess the nutritional values of Brazil nut water-soluble extract (BNWSE) and water-extracted Brazil nut flour (BNF) produced in a similar way as they are in the Brazilian Amazon basin, as well as to track nutrient losses during water extraction process. Both BNWSE and BNF exceed 100% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) values for selenium; and BNF exceeds 100% of the DRI for copper. BNWSE presents high concentration of copper, while BNF presents 50% of lipids, mainly linoleic and oleic acids, 25% of proteins, and high concentrations of zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese. Hence, water-extracted Brazil nut co-products are outstanding nutrient-dense food sources, and may be helpful alternative foods or food ingredients to tackle mineral deficiencies worldwide. Nevertheless, water extraction process leads to mineral losses, remarkably for selenium, which may add up to 73%, which converses with results reported in literature. Additionally, linoleic acid content tended to be compromised during BNWSE production; thereby process improvements should be considered.