ABSTRACT
Cooked and uncooked samples from four pejibaye palm races were analyzed to determine the moisture content, ether extract and the content of six fatty acids (C16:0 to C18:3). There was an increase in moisture and a decrease in ether extract (p < 0.05) in the cooked samples in comparison with the uncooked ones. No significant differences were found in fatty acid content between cooked and uncooked samples, but there were differences (p < 0.05) among races concerning the content of four fatty acids. Pejibaye fat is mainly mono-unsaturated (45.6%) and has a low poly-unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio (0.5). The fatty acid profile of uncooked pejibaye samples was: oleic acid, 32.6 to 47.8%; palmitic acid, 30.5 to 40.3%; linoleic acid, 11.2 to 21.1%; palmitoleic acid, 5.7 to 7.1%; linoleic acid, 1.5 to 5.5%; and stearic acid, 1.7 to 2.4%.
