Author(s)

Alejandra Rengel¹, Elevina Pérez¹, George Piombo², Julien Ricci³, Adrien Servent³, María Soledad Tapia¹, Olivier Gibert³, Didier Montet³

¹Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
²Cirad, UMR Iate, Campus de la Gaillarde, 2 place Pierre Viala, Montpellier, France.
³Cirad, UMR 95 Qualisud, TA B-95/16, 73, rue Jean-Francois Breton, Montpellier, France.

Macadamia nuts (Macadamia integrifolia) grown in Venezuela have showed an average total fat content of 70%. Oleic acid (18:1) was the main monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) (51.3%), followed by palmitoleic acid (16:1, 22.6%). The content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), C18:2 and C18:3 represented 5.4%. Thus, MUFAs and PUFAs together constituted more than 80% of the total fatty acids present. Trans-vaccenic acid was also present (3%). As regards to other phytochemical compounds, tocopherols and tocotrienols were not found in the sample, but the presence of squalene was detected.The antioxidant activity (44.2%) of the extract was produced by the phytochemicals present.

Lipids, Antioxidant Activity, Fatty Acids, Macadamia Nut, Phytochemical Compounds

Rengel, A. , Pérez, E. , Piombo, G. , Ricci, J. , Servent, A. , Tapia, M. , Gibert, O. and Montet, D. (2015) Lipid Profile and Antioxidant Activity of Macadamia Nuts (Macadamia integrifolia) Cultivated in Venezuela. Natural Science, 7, 535-547. doi: 10.4236/ns.2015.712054.