Chemical and Nutritional Characterization of Fruits from Geoffroea Decorticans Tree (Chanar) and their Parts, from Argentine Subtropical Forest
Orrabalis C. J.1,2, Mufari R. Y.1, Gorostegui H. A.1,2, Calandri E. L.1, Guzman C. A.1
Citation : Orrabalis C. J.,et.al, Chemical and Nutritional Characterization of Fruits from Geoffroea Decorticans Tree (Chanar) and their Parts, from Argentine Subtropical Forest International Journal of Advanced Research in Botany. 2015, 1(1) : 23-33
Geoffroea decorticans, chanar, is an abundant tree in the north of Argentina and limiting countries. Its fruits are rich in minerals, carbohydrate, protein and fibers. A novel approach was developed, where after coarse milling and sieving of the fruits, exocarp and mesocarp is separated from the stones (endocarp and seed). Subsequent fine grinding gave flours named A and B, respectively. But, in another original process, the stones can be coarse milled and two new fractions can be obtained, C and D. Flour A representing 61% of the fruit was low in crude fiber (CF, 5.13%) and fat (1.89%), but high in carbohydrate (81.95%) and protein (8.90%). Flour B was higher in fat and fibers (6.66% and 46.8%), but lower in protein (5.02%). The carbohydrate content was almost the same in both. Flour C had almost nothing of fat and minor quantities of protein but was rich in fibers (47.0%). Flour D contained most of the stone protein and the remaining oil in a 23 % concentration. The main minerals present in the different fractions were Ca, Mg, and Fe, while heavy metals were not significant. Samples showed all essential amino acids in free state except the sulfur ones, but the proteins presented all of them, with some fractions exceeding the chemical score of 100. These results enable to suggest some of these flour fractions as raw material for food or feed.