Fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition and thermal behaviour of fats from seeds of Brazilian Amazonian Theobroma species

Raw materials for cocoa butter substitutes, replacements or equivalents depend mostly on the unsteady supply from wild stands of plants, while there is no current supply of Neotropical origin. Seed fats from Theobroma species (T cacao, T bicolor, T grandiflorum, T obovatum, T subincanum, T speciosum, T sylvestre and T microcarpum, plus the closely related species Herrania mariae) were analysed for fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition by gas and liquid chromatography respectively, for iodine value, for melting point by open capillary tube and for solid fat content (SFC) by nuclear magnetic resonance. All Theobroma species had significantly lower palmitate levels than T cacao, except for T sylvestre and T speciosum, T microcarpum presented highly unsaturated fat (C18:2), while H mariae had high levels of arachidate. Fats from T sylvestre and T speciosum had a similar iodine value to T cacao and a higher melting point. No fat from the other species presented a similar melting profile to cocoa butter. T sylvestre and T bicolor were the most similar to T cacao but had a higher SFC at human body temperature. T sylvestre and T speciosum seed fats had more POP than cocoa butter. Fats from seeds of T speciosum, T sylvestre and T bicolor could be recommended as cocoa butter substitutes, while fats from species of the section Glossopetalum could be employed in products requiring fats with a lower melting point. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry