Discrimination of pulp oil and kernel oil from pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) by fatty acid methyl esters fingerprinting, using GC-FID and multivariate analysis.

Pequi is an oleaginous fruit whose edible oil is composed mainly by saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. The biological and nutritional properties of pequi oil are dependent on its composition, which can change according to the oil source (pulp or kernel). There is little data in the scientific literature concerning the differences between the compositions of pequi kernel and pulp oils. Therefore, in this study, different pequi genotypes were evaluated to determine the fatty acid composition of pulp and kernel oils. PCA and PLS-DA were applied to develop a model to distinguish these oils. For all evaluated genotypes, the major fatty acids of both pulp and kernel oils were oleic and palmitic acids. Despite the apparent similarity between the analyzed samples, it was possible to discriminate pulp and kernel oils by means of their fatty acid composition using chemometrics, as well as the unique pequi genotype without endocarp spines (CPAC-PQ-SE-06).