PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL COMPOSITION OF PEACH PALM FLOUR

The peach palm is a fruit found in the northern region of the country and has several nutritional compounds and vitamins, and can be used in food products to add nutritional value. This work aimed to characterize the peach palm flour in terms of its physical-chemical and functional properties. The peach palm flour was obtained from healthy fruits that were sanitized, peeled, the mesocarp separated from the almond was dehydrated (50 °C for 12 h), ground and sieved. The most abundant component of peach palm flour was total carbohydrates (71.32%) followed by lipid content (18.66%). The moisture content (5.26%) was adequate for product conservation. The peach palm flour had smaller amounts of ash (1.24%) and protein (4.70%). The pH and titratable acidity of the peach palm flour were 6.34 and 3.12 mL/100 g, respectively. The peach palm flour was able to absorb up to three times its weight in water and had approximately 5% of its weight solubilized in water at room temperature. The granulometry revealed that 62% of the flour particles had a size between 0.250 and 1.190 mm and 32% a size smaller than 0.250 mm.