Acrocomia aculeata fruits from three regions in Costa Rica: an assessment of biometric parameters, oil content and oil fatty acid composition to evaluate industrial potential

dc.contributor.authorAlfaro-Solís, Jose David
dc.contributor.authorMontoya-Arroyo, Alexander
dc.contributor.authorJiménez, Víctor M.
dc.contributor.authorArnáez-Serrano, Elizabeth
dc.contributor.authorPérez, Jason
dc.contributor.authorVetter, Walter
dc.contributor.authorFrank, Jan
dc.contributor.authorLewanowski, Iris
dc.date.accessioned2023-02-02T02:01:55Z
dc.date.available2023-02-02T02:01:55Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description© The Author(s) 2020. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Version of Scholarly Record of this Article is published in Agroforestry Systems, 2020, available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10457-020-00511-8 . Keywords: coyol palm; macauba palm; multip-purpose crop; fruit biometric marameters; vegetable oil; fatty acid composition.
dc.description.abstractDue to increased global demand for vegetable oils, diversification of the supply chain with sustainable sources is necessary. Acrocomia aculeata has recently gained attention as a multi-purpose, sustainable crop for oil production. However, the information necessary for effective selection of promising varieties for agricultural production is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess variability in fruit morphology and oil composition of individual Acrocomia aculeata plants growing wild in different climatic regions of Costa Rica. Fruits at the same ripening stage were collected at three locations, and biometric features, oil content, fatty acid composition of oils from kernels and pulp, as well as fiber composition of husks were determined. Biometric parameters showed high variability among the regions assessed. Moreover, oil content and relative proportions of unsaturated fatty acids were higher at the most tropical location, whereas lauric acid content was lowest under these conditions, indicating a potential environmental effect on oil composition. Pulp oil content correlated positively with annual precipitation and relative humidity, but no clear relation to temperature was observed. The oil chemical composition was similar to that reported for Elaeis guineensis, suggesting that Acrocomia aculeata from Costa Rica may be a suitable alternative for industrial applications currently based on African palm oil. Analysis of husks as a coproduct revealed the possibility of obtaining materials with high lignin and low water and ash contents that could be used as a solid bioenergy source. In conclusion, Acrocomia aculeata oil is a promising alternative for industrial applications currently based on African palm oil and byproducts of its oil production could find additional use as a renewable energy source.
dc.description.sponsorshipOpen Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL. Jose David Alfaro-Solís acknowledges a scholarship provided by the Clean Energy Program (PELTEC) and the Student Mobility Program from the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica). Alexander Montoya-Arroyo acknowledges a scholarship provided by the Food Security Center (FSC) of the University of Hohenheim, supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The research stay of Iris Lewandowski in Costa Rica was supported by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) under the program “Initiation of International Collaboration”. We thank the company Green Integrated Energies, Bagaces, Costa Rica, especially Anna Neubauer, for support with the logistics of the Acrocomia fruit collection. We also thank Katja Lehnert for her support in the laboratory and with data analysis. The manuscript was revised by Nicole Gaudet.
dc.identifier.citationAlfaro-Solís, J.D., Montoya-Arroyo, A., Jiménez, V.M., Arnáez-Serrano, E., Pérez, J., Vetter, W., Frank, J., & Lewanowski, I. (2020). Acrocomia aculeata fruits from three regions in Costa Rica: an assessment of biometric parameters, oil content and oil fatty acid composition to evaluate industrial potential. Agroforestry Systems, 94, 1913–1927. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00511-8
dc.identifier.otherhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00511-8
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14096/242
dc.language.isoen
dc.titleAcrocomia aculeata fruits from three regions in Costa Rica: an assessment of biometric parameters, oil content and oil fatty acid composition to evaluate industrial potential
dc.typeArticle

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