Background:

The thousand peso palm tree (Oenocarpus bataua) is a promising species, both for its oil-rich fruits of excellent properties and for its unique adaptation to poor soils.

Objective:

Analyze the fatty acid profile and physicochemical properties of oil from the thousand peso palm tree.

Materials and Methods:

The physicochemical properties and the percentage of saturation ere found using AOAC techniques, and the fatty acid profile was analyzed by liquid gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID).

Results:

The oil analyzed had a fatty acid profile similar to olive oil, with the following percentage distribution of fatty acids: palmitic (11.9±1.1), oleic (76.1±1), linoleic (3±0.4), α-linolenic (1.9±0.3), with a predominance of monounsaturated fats (77.0±1.0%), moderate contribution of saturated (18.1±1.2%) and low polyunsaturated (4.9±0.6%). Only the polyunsaturated profile would constitute a limitation for use as a sole source of fat for food preparation, otherwise thousand peso palm oil complies with the Colombian standard for high oleic palm oil in terms of the fatty acid profile and its physicochemical characteristics.

Conclusions:

The oil studied is potentially marketable for human consumption and has cardiovascular health benefits for consumers.

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