Search Results (6)

The growing interest in sustainable raw materials has led to a significant rise in demand for Amazonian vegetable oils, such as pracaxi (Pentaclethra macroloba (Willd.) Kuntze) and patauá (Oenocarpus bataua). This study examines the patterns of their usage in scientific publications between 2010 and 2023, emphasizing their potential in three key areas: food, cosmetics, and mineral processing. The methodology employed is the Systematic Literature Network Analysis (SLNA), which integrates Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with Bibliographic Network Analysis. We identified sixty-one scientific articles from the Scopus database, with 32 meeting the criteria for Bibliometric Analysis. Using the VOSviewer program (version 1.6.20), we performed a keyword co-occurrence analysis to create bibliometric maps. These maps provided a clear depiction of the main research areas and how they have evolved over time in relation to these oilseeds. To complement the descriptive analyses, the Bibliometrix R package (version 4.4.1) was used to extract bibliographic information. This methodology effectively identifies emerging research sectors and provides a solid foundation for future studies on the Amazon bioeconomy. Full article

Organogels have importance for topical applications because they can be used to deliver drugs in a controlled and prolonged fashion. These are materials consisting of a three-dimensional network of organic molecules dispersed in a solvent. Recent studies have demonstrated that the solvent could be replaced by oils from non-conventional biologic sources. There is a diversity of not-explored species in the Amazon that are promising sources of vegetable oils with a promising composition. This study developed an organogel with buriti (Mauritia flexuosa L.f) and cacay (Caryodendron orinocense Karst.) oils, using cetostearyl alcohol as an organogelator due to its compatibility, stability, security, affordability, and it is readily available. The oils were characterized, and the organogels were synthesized by studying their crystal evolution and oil-binding capacity. The microstructure was evaluated with polarized light microscopy, fractal dimension, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and thermal and rheological analyses. It was found that the critical gelation concentration was higher for cacay oil as it possessed a higher amount of polyunsaturated triacylglycerols. The crystals of the buriti organogel had a smaller lamellar shape, a greater surface area, and physical and thermal stability; although, it presented a slower crystal evolution due to the low number of minor compounds and a greater number of saturated triacylglycerols. The polar fraction of the organogelators as well as triacylglycerol and minor polar compounds are important in forming crystallization nuclei. The study showed that Amazonian oils in crystallization processes form microstructures with differentiating physicochemical properties. Full article

The Amazonian region of Ecuador has an extremely rich vegetal biodiversity, and its inhabitants have proven to have a millennial ancestral knowledge of the therapeutic and medicinal use of these resources. This work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and biological activity of the essential oil obtained from the medicinal plant Clinopodium brownei (Sw.) Kuntze, which is widely spread in tropical and subtropical America. This species is traditionally used for treating respiratory and digestive diseases and is also known for its analgesic properties. Most of the molecules detected on a non-polar column were ethyl cinnamate 21.4%, pulegone 20.76%, methyl cinnamate 16.68%, caryophyllene 8.17%, β-selinene 7.92% and menthone 7.51%, while those detected on a polar column were: pulegone 29.90%, ethyl cinnamate 18.75%, methyl cinnamate 13.82%, caryophyllene 10.0% and menthone 8.04%. The antioxidant activity by the assays, DPPH (2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2.2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), shows the following values of 50% inhibition of oxidation, IC50 DPPH 1.77 mg/mL, IC50 ABTS 0.06 mg/mL, which, compared to the essential oil of Thymus vulgaris (natural positive control), turn out to be less active. Bioautography indicates that the molecules responsible for the antioxidant activity are derived from cinnamic acid: ethyl cinnamate and methyl cinnamate, and caryophyllene. The antimicrobial activity on the nine microorganisms evaluated shows bacterial growth inhibitory concentrations ranging from 13.6 mg/mL for Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 14990 to 3.1 mg/mL for Candida albicans ATCC 10231; the results are lower than those of the positive control. Bioautography assigns antimicrobial activity to caryophyllene. The results indicate a very interesting activity of the essential oil and several of its molecules, validating the traditional use and the importance of this medicinal plant from Ecuador. Full article

The present study aimed to evaluate the growth performance, batch uniformity, and survival rate of the Amazonian ornamental fish Heros severus and Pterophyllum scalare during the post-larvae growing stage, fed with diets containing levels of Euterpe oleraceae essential oil (EOO) during 30 days. In the first experiment, 160 H. severus post-larvae were distributed in 16 aquariums (1 L), and in the second, 200 P. scalare post-larvae were randomly distributed in 20 aquariums (1 L). The experiments were carried out in a completely randomized design, with four treatments for H. severus (0.0%, 0.50%, 1.00%, and 2.00% of dietary EOO) and five treatments for P. scalare (0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0%, and 4.0% of dietary EOO), both with four replications and dietary EOO being included in replacing soybean oil. A quadratic effect (p < 0.01) was observed for the final length, length gain, specific growth rate for length, final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate for weight, and batch uniformity for weight for both fish species. As for ornamental fish larviculture, survival rate and batch uniformity are the most important parameters to be considered. For P. scalare and H. severus post-larvae, the inclusion of dietary EOO was beneficial in up to 2.48% and 0.88%, respectively. Full article

New strategies for the delivery of bioactives in the deeper layers of the skin have been studied in recent years, using mainly natural ingredients. Among the strategies are organogels as a promising tool to load bioactives with different physicochemical characteristics, using vegetable oils. Studies have shown satisfactory skin permeation, good physicochemical stability mainly due to its three-dimensional structure, and controlled release using vegetable oils and low-molecular-weight organogelators. Within the universe of natural ingredients, vegetable oils, especially those from the Amazon, have a series of benefits and characteristics that make them unique compared to conventional oils. Several studies have shown that the use of Amazonian oils brings a series of benefits to the skin, among which are an emollient, moisturizing, and nourishing effect. This work shows a compilation of the main Amazonian oils and their nutraceutical and physicochemical characteristics together with the minority polar components, related to health benefits, and their possible effects on the synthesis of organogels for cosmetic purposes. Full article

Palm oil is one of the most consumed oils, one of whose refining steps is the removal of pigments and other substances using bleaching clay as adsorbent. Worldwide production of this oil was 70 million tons in 2017, requiring 1 t of clay to produce 1000 t of refined oil. The residual bleaching clay, having an oil fraction (12.70%) rich in phenolics, carotenoids and tocopherols, was extracted in this study with ethanol to obtain an antioxidant-rich palm oil bleaching extract (POBE), with the aim of using it as a natural antioxidant source. The POBE antioxidant capacity determined by the DPPH method corresponded to a 20.29% inhibition of radical formation. The POBE was also tested for its potential to enhance oxidative stability of passion fruit, pracaxi and Brazil nut oils used as reference oils, and compared to common synthetic antioxidants (tert-butylhydroquinone and propyl gallate), either separately as controls or in mixtures with them. Besides the increased oxidative stability of these oils induced by the POBE, a positive synergistic effect between it and the synthetic antioxidants was observed. These results taken together suggest that the exploitation of the waste oil from bleaching clay as an additive to improve the oxidative stability of biofuels or lubricating oils is feasible. Full article