abstract
The chemical composition of the lipophilic extract of ripe pulp of banana fruit from several banana cultivars belonging to the Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana species (namely 'Chinese Cavendish', 'Giant Cavendish', 'Dwarf Red', 'Grand Nain', 'Eilon', 'Gruesa', 'Silver', 'Ricasa', 'Williams' and 'Zelig') was studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the first time. The banana cultivars showed similar amounts of lipophilic extractives (ca. 0.4% of dry material weight) as well as qualitative chemical compositions. The major groups of compounds identified in these fractions were fatty acids and sterols making up 68.6-84.3% and 11.1-28.0%, respectively, of the total amount of lipophilic components. Smaller amounts of long chain aliphatic alcohols and a-tocopherol were also identified. These results are a relevant contribution for the valorisation of these banana cultivars as sources of valuable phytochemicals (omega- and omega-6 fatty acids, and sterols) with well-established beneficial nutritional and health effects. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
keywords
PHYTOSTEROLS; EXTRACTIVES; STEROLS; HEALTH; CAVENDISH; ACUMINATA; DISEASE; FOODS; ACIDS; DIET
subject category
Chemistry; Food Science & Technology; Nutrition & Dietetics
authors
Vilela, C; Santos, SAO; Villaverde, JJ; Oliveira, L; Nunes, A; Cordeiro, N; Freire, CSR; Silvestre, AJD
our authors
Armando Jorge Domingues Silvestre
Full professor
Carla Vilela
Assistant Professor
Carmen Sofia da Rocha Freire Barros
Coordinating Researcher
Sónia Andreia Oliveira Santos
Assistant Researcheracknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Madeira Bananicultura Center for kindly providing the samples, FCT-Portugal (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) and POPH/FSE for the postdoctoral Grants to C. Vilela (SFRH/BPD/84168/2012) and S. A. O. Santos (SFRH/BPD/ 84226/2012); for C. Freire Research Contract under the Program