Ht. Godoy et Db. Rodriguezamaya, BURITI (MAURITIA-VINIFERA MART), A VERY R ICH SOURCE OF PROVITAMIN-A, Arquivos de biologia e tecnologia, 38(1), 1995, pp. 109-120
The carotenoid composition and vitamin A value of ''buriti'' (Mauritia
vinifera Mart.), a popular palm fruit from Northern Brazil, were dete
rmined. Of the nine carotenoids identified, eight were carotenes (13-c
is-alpha-carotene, alpha-carotene, 13-cis-beta-carotene, beta-carotene
, 9-cis-beta-carotene, zeta-carotene, beta-Zeacarotene and gamma-carot
ene) and only one was a xanthophyll (zeaxanthin) The provitamins A bet
a-carotene, alpha-carotene and gamma-carotene were the main pigments,
representing 70, 16 and 7% of the total carotenoid content (513 +/- 30
mu g/g). With mean vitamin A values of 6,992 and 6,489 RE/100 g, calc
ulated with and without isomer separation, respectively, ''buriti'' pr
oved to be one the richest sources of provitamin A.