Physicochemical and functional characterization of babassu flour: a flour rich in dietary fiber, resistant starch and phenolic compounds

Abstract

Babassu flour is a byproduct of babassu oil extraction. It is a nutritionally rich food, but it is still little used in human nutrition. There is little information about the characteristics of this flour, which would allow indications for its use as an ingredient in food formulations. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the physicochemical, functional, and pasting properties of babassu flour. Babassu flour was obtained from the mesocarp of babassu fruit dried at 60 °C for 6 hours, ground in an industrial blender, and sieved (0.6 mm) to standardize its particle size. The produced flour was characterized as a fine powder with a high content of resistant starch (98% RS). This flour did not present amylase inhibitors and showed a low content of phytic acid and trypsin inhibitors, which evidences the high nutritional quality of the babassu flour. The flour also showed interesting functional characteristics with pasting properties indicating heat, shear, and storage stability at low temperatures. Babassu flour also showed a very high content of phenolic compounds (8031.61 mg GAE/100 g) with good antioxidant activity (62.28%). Therefore, it is possible to suggest that babassu flour is a promising food ingredient that can used as a bioactive component for developing nutraceutical foodstuffs.