Buriti (<i>Mauritia flexuosa </i>L. f.) is an endemic palm in Amazon. The pulp is the main part of the buriti fruit that is consumed; as a result, other parts such as the shell are not used and are considered as a residue. Current investigations have found that conjugated and, overall, insoluble-bound phenolic compounds in dietary fiber in fruits have prebiotic effects and other benefits for the human health. In this context, research in our group was focused in the analysis of free (FP), esterified (EP), glycosilated (GP) and insoluble-bound phenolics (IBP) in shells of three buriti fruit morphotypes from Peruvian Amazon. The crude extract was obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction with an initial cleanup by solid-phase extraction (SPE RP-18). In this step, degreased, bleached and freeze-dried shells were used. The FP fraction was directly extracted by liquid-liquid extraction, EP and IBP fractions were released after alkali hydrolysis, and the GP fraction was obtained by acid hydrolysis. These phenolics were analyzed using HPLC-DAD and GC-MS with 16 standards (phenolic acids and flavonoids). In addition, the separation of analytes was studied by means of normal phase TLC. Antioxidant capacity (ORAC method) and total phenolic content (Folin-Ciocalteu method) was estimated in each fraction. Furthermore, the total dietary fiber was measured by an enzymatic-gravimetric method. The results revealed that buriti fruit shells have an important conjugated and insoluble-bound phenolic component with a high antioxidant capacity. Nine phenolics were identified and quantified by reverse phase HPLC-DAD. GC-MS analysis using the trimethylsilyl derivatives corroborates these findings and it allows us to suggest the presence of other phenolics. Moreover, it was found that the shells are constituted mainly by insoluble fiber. These outcomes help provide a better understanding of the functionality of the buriti fruit shell as a potential healthy dietary fiber source for food supplementation.

Analysis of free, conjugated and insoluble-bound phenolics in buriti fruit shells as a potential source of functional dietary fiber

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