In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the ocurrence of obesity and chronic or degenerative diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes mellitus, cancer) in Brazil. Therefore, studies on the nutritional composition of regional foodstuffs, especially those with low calorific content and high commercial value, are highly justified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the centesimal phytate and mineral micro or macroelement composition of in natura or cooked palm heart of peach palm (Pampa Hermosa race), collected in January 1995 (rainy season) in the fruit experimental station of the Coordenação de Pesquisas em Ciências Agronômicas (CPCA), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), in Manaus, Brazil. Chemical analyses were conducted on a total of 3.5 kg of plant heart samples, taken at random from 110 spineless progeny from Yurimáguas, Peru, which were grown on non-fertilized soil. Analyses were conducted in the Nutrition and Food Physico-Chemical laboratory of INPA and IPEN-CNEN. Each 100 g of the edible part of in natura or cooked palm heart provided low concentrations of lipids (0.3 and 0.2 g, respectively) and high concentrations of fibre (3.8 and 2.2, respectively). Both type of palm heart contained (in 100 g): 90% humidity and 1.5 g protein. The results for nutritionally important minerals were as follows (in 100 g of in natura or cooked palm heart, respectively): K (194.0 mg; 128.0 mg), Ca (42.4 mg; 42.9 mg), Mg (3.4 mg; 2.2 mg), Fe (237.7 µg; 265.2 µg), and Se (2.1 µg: 2.8 µg). The concentrations of non essential elements minerals in in natura and cooked palm heart were, respectively, as follows: bromine (830.4±5.8 µg%; 434.0±5.8 µg%) and rubidium (315.2±3.2 µg%; 433.5±34.0 µg%). The concentration of phytate in 100 g of palm heart, was as follows: 554.7 mg (in natura) 379.1 mg (cooked). Although palm heart can be considered a dietetic foodstuff, being rich in fibre and low in calories, it can be recommended as a good source of minerals for the Amazonian populations.
Bactris gasipaes; mineral; fiber; centesimal composition; phytate
