Bacuri (Platonia insignis Mart.): Nutritional values, volatile compounds, rheological properties, health benefits, and potential products

Abstract

The bacuri is one of the main Amazonian fruits, which is greatly appreciated by local inhabitants due to its characteristic flavor. It offers numerous potential applications in products such as juices, sweets, jams, and yogurts. This review discusses the nutritional values, physicochemical composition, volatile compounds, rheological properties, health benefits, and potential food products obtained from the pulp of bacuri, which contains considerable amounts of bioactive compounds, dietary fibers, minerals, amino acids, among other nutrients, as well as a potential for hypoglycemic compounds. The bacuri has an essentially floral aroma with fruity notes and an attractive exotic flavor. Its major aromatic compounds are linalool, cis-linalool, trans-linalool oxide, and hotrienol. Bacuri pulp presents itself as a non-Newtonian fluid of the pseudoplastic type. The bacuri fruit has not yet attained economic importance due to the lack of studies aimed at expanding the possibilities of post-harvest processing and commercialization.

Keywords: Bacuri; Nutritional properties; Physicochemical; Platonia insignis; Rheology.