Tucuma (Astrocaryum vulgare, roh?, bio?)

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Astrocaryum aculeatum, popularly known as tucuma, belongs to Arecaceae family and is also called tucuma-do-amazonas, tucumanzeiro, tucuma-grande, or tucuma-acçu. This palm tree is native to the Amazon, occurring in northern Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil being found mainly in the state of Amazonas. It is a large palm tree, with an upright stipe of 10–30 m, being covered in its upper half by black or brown thorns arranged in rings. The leaves have a feather shape and have thorns on its entire length, measuring 4–5 m long. The productivity of the palm tree is around 12–50 kg/year, which starts slowly and late, when the tree reaches 7 years at least with height between 6 and 9 m. The fruit weighs 20–100 grams and is yellowish-green, with a length of 4.5–6.0 and 3.5 cm–4.5 cm in diameter. The pulp has a coloration ranging from yellow to orange and has 9% protein, 55% oil, and represents 22% of the fruit weight. A number of substances have been identified: carotenoids (62.6 mg/g of fresh pulp), being 21 isoforms, with a predominance of 75% of all-trans beta-carotene; flavonoids like catechin and quercetin and ascorbic acid (58 mg/100 g). 

table 1. table 2

APPLICATIONS Tucuma has been used since the times of the Amerindians. It is currently consumed by the Amazon population, with the use of nearly all the plants. The stipe is applied to the construction of houses and furniture. The meristem is used in food. The flesh of the fruit, which is the edible part, is widely used for the production of tucuma wine, icecream, popsicles, soap, as well as animal feed. The core is used for the production of handicrafts, such as rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Furthermore, the core has been widely used to extract an oil to be used in the cosmetic and food industry, and in the production of biodiesel (Costa et al., 2005). The leaves have been used in the production of baskets, hats and tucum (a high-quality fiber for the production of hammocks and bags) is extracted from them. In Manaus, the production of tucuma pulp and its derivatives is a significant and growing economic activity at a regional level. The pulp is appreciated and consumed by the population in natura or as a filling for sandwiches, tapioquinha, creams, and icecreams (FAO, 1987). Both from the pulp and the seed, it is possible to extract various types of edible oils, cosmetics and other products suitable for the manufacturing of biodiesel, the grain also serves as a food supplement for pets. Currently, “X-caboquinho,” a typical sandwich, is popular in the local cuisine, being an important product of regional cafes, street markets, bus terminals and other points of Manaus. In this way, the tucuma pulp is an ingredient of local “fast food” (Costa et al., 2005), the fruit has a growing importance in the state of Amazonas, as well as potential for new markets outside the region (Lopes et al., 2009).

This fact led to the increase in demand of this fruit by small farmers of the region to draw from this small trade their livelihoods, as well as the interest of producers for the plant crop to be commercialized (Ramos et al., 2011). However, this increasing demand is coming up on the fact that although the tucuma is undemanding as to soil fertility and does not present phytosanitary problems, it has the same deadpan cultivation in the Amazon region itself. This can be explained by difficulties, among other factors, on seed germination, as tucuma has a germination period that can vary from 2 to 3 years (Sa´, 1984). The “rain” of these seeds is responsible for the primary species dispersion, which usually occurs in a projection distance of 3.5 m from the cup. While, the secondary dispersion is made from other animals by agoutis (Dasyprocta sp.), that spread the seeds around the palm trees, at distances less than 15 m, being this rodent primarily responsible for the spread of the palm tree, since it buries seeds a few centimeters deep to search for them later (Shanley and Medina, 2005). Commercial plantations are still rare and are usually found on farms, ranches, and gardens, by natural dispersion, involuntary anthropic dispersion, and the maintenance of young and adult plants in pastures

her states such as Para, Roraima, Rondonia, Acre, and Mato Grosso also have the plant (Cavalcante, 1991). The Tucuma is present in upland forest, secondary vegetation (roosts), savannahs, pastures, and clearings, being exceptionally tolerant to poor and degraded soils, and is considered as a pioneer plant of aggressive growth, fireresistant, and able to sprout after extensive fires (FAO, 1987). It invades deforested areas, where there is spontaneous occurrence, forming large and dense areas with various tucuma˜ trees. The spread of tucuma˜ is mainly made by animals (agoutis) that feed from the pulp and bury the seeds in the soil (Kahn and Milla´n, 1992). It is a large palm tree, with an upright stipe of 10
30 m, being covered in its upper half by black or brown thorns arranged in rings. The leaves have a feather shape and have thorns on its entire length, measuring 4
5 m long (Cavalcante, 1991; Souza et al., 1996). It has straight inflorescence and edible fruit. They have a thin and smooth bark, a firm, fibrous, oleaginous, and yellow or orange thick pulp. The seeds are coated by the inside of the fruit, forming an extremely hard core with spherical or oval shape from brown to black.

DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-803138-4.00056-3

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The fruits possess considerable amounts of bioactive compounds, mainly carotenoids, dietary fibers, fatty acids, and polyphenols, which have shown beneficial effects on conditions or human diseases

In addition to being a source of carotenoids and phenolic compounds, a few studies demonstrated by gas chromatography the total phytosterol composition of the kernel (211–213.8 mg) and pulp oils (149–270 mg/100 g) of tucuma-do-Par ˜ ´ a, with β-sitosterol, campsterol, and fucosterol being the main constituent.

In parallel with popular plant oils, tucuma-do-Par ˜ a ´ appears to provide an interesting content of total phytosterols to camelia (142.64), palm (150.00), sunflower (253.28), grapeseed (273.80), and olive (288.02), but lower than sesame (637.60), corn (990.94), and rice bran (1891.82 mg/100 g) (Yang et al., 2019). The ingestion of phytosterols has been mostly associated with a decreased cholesterol incorporation into micelles leading to an improved lipid blood profile (Plat et al., 2019). The exploration of the phytosterol content of tucum˜ a-do-Para ´ appears to be promising as investigations continue hereafter.

Especially, the pulp oil of tucuma-do- ˜ Para ´ showed a high antioxidant capacity measured by ABTS (2990 μmol TE/g) however, more comparative studies with distinct tucuma ˜ species and fractions are needed to deepen the discussion.

Although the benefits of using technologies for fruit processing are known, the application for the processing of tucuma-do-Amazonas ˜ and tucum˜ a-doPara ´ pulp is still scarce, being applied until now on an industrial scale only for the production of ice cream.

some limiting factors such as seasonality, supply, logistics, and perishability need to be addressed (da Cruz et al., 2020). The tucuma ˜ fruits are consumed preferably in natura, served in the form of slices as a filling for tapioca and bread, and in the form of natural juice (Azevedo et al., 2017). Thinking about the maintenance of these and other forms of consumption of tucuma ˜ (such as ice cream, popsicles, puree, drinks) by people outside the northern region of Brazil, the first concern would be the conservation of the frui

However, considering the great acceptability and demand of tucum˜ a in the northern Brazilian state , its socioeconomic importance in the region, and nutritional and functional characteristics, A. aculeatum and A. vulgare are fruits that have the potential to extend their productive chains and commercialization to others regions of Brazil and the worl.

Both are palm trees with wide distribution in South America extending northwards and reaching Central America. Astrocaryum aculeatum is a palm abundant in Manaus, capital of the Amazonas which has a vegetation of well-drained so.

On the other hand, Astrocaryum vulgare is considered a secondary vegetation type. It is a slender multi-stemmed palm that is localized on the eastern side of Amazon, in the North (Amapa, ´ Par´ a, and Tocantins), Northeast (Maranhao ˜ and Piauí states), and Midwest (Goi´ as state) of Brazil (Vianna, 2020) (Fig. 1C). The vegetation is in an anthropic area at the Brasilian cerrado (Kahn, 2008). The A. vulgare is a cespitosa palm containing 20 m in height and 20 cm in diameter. The internodes are covered by black spines up to 22 cm long. The leaves are pinnate and the petioles measure up to 2 m in length being covered by flat black spines partially up to 10 cm in length. Inflorescences and infrutescences are erect. Bracts measure up to 2 m in length and are densely covered by black spines up to 5 cm in length. The fruits are globose, ellipsoid (3.5 to 5 cm long and 2.5 to 4 cm in diameter), and rostrate. The epicarp is smooth and presents orange or red colors. The mesocarp is orange, fleshy, fibrous, and sweet. The endocarp is resistant and black. The endosperm is homogeneous (Vianna, 2020). Orange tucum˜ a fruits appear in the rainy season (May) and during the dry season (June-December) (Smith, 2015). The Eastern part of Amazonas is considered as a center of genetic diversity for A. vulgare (Machado & De Almeida, 2019). In Fig. 2C and 2D the photographs of the tucuma ˜ palm (A. vulgare) and fruits are presented. Some popular synonyms of A. vulgare are tucuma, ˜ tucum˜ a-do-Par´ a, tucum-piranga, and tucum-bravo (Vianna, 2020). The fruit has been used in cooking as mash, ice cream, and beverages. It is sold by markets in Bel´em, the capital neighboring state of Amazonas. However, it is not as important economically as A. aculeatum, which is worth around 1 USD for fifty fruits at the local market (Moussa & Kahn, 1997). Possibly, it is related to the developmental time of growth of the palm (Oboh, 2009). The heart of the palm of A. vulgare is used in culinary, and its fruits are commercialized widely in the Amazonian region (Vianna, 2020) as shown in Fig. 3A and 3C. Beyond that, the palm stipe is used in rural buildings and the fibers of the leaves are a great material to make nets, ropes, and bags (Fig. 3B). As a biodegradable material, it can be used for countless applications such as engineering, civil construction, automotive, and ballistics industries (Oliveira et al., 2020). A. vulgare has also been considered as an option in the form of nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products in the industry

For tucuma-do-Par ˜ a´, the study of Dos Santos et al. (2015) appears to be the only evidence of the content of phenolic compounds in the fruit (Table 1). For this study, the authors performed the extraction of the fresh pulp in two solvent mixtures; first by methanol/water (50:50, v/v) and later with water/acetone (70:30, v/v), combining the extracts afterward. The authors found that the dark orange fresh pulp and peel combination of tucuma-do-Par ˜ a ´ represented a higher source of TPC, anthocyanins, and yellow flavonoids than the pulps of pupunha, inaja, ´ and buriti fruits.

Table 1. TUCUMA-DO-PAR ˜ A ´ (Astrocaryum vulgare) Fresh pulp

Due to the tropical climate of the Brazilian states, when the pulp of the different species of tucum˜ a is obtained, it must be consumed on the first day, at room temperature, or around five days, under refrigeration to avoid dryness and deterioration

wide range of benefits (e.g., anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-proliferative) have been associated with in in vitro, animal, and human studies. Until now, the quantification of phenolic compounds in the tucum˜ a fruits has been performed by up to 10 articles in the literature and mostly for tucuma- ˜ do-Amazonas

Carotenoids: In humans, besides their most known provitamin A role, carotenoids have also been shown to exert protection against oxidative stress, inflammation, and related modern diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. In general, the peel, pulp oil, and extracts of the tucuma ˜ species showed the most content in carotenoid

Several health benefits have been reported in folk medicine for the tucuma ˜ fruits. Astrocaryum aculeatum nuts have been reported as a potential anti-malarial plant by indigenous people on the upper Negro River in the Brazilian Amazon.
Astrocaryum vulgare fruits have been reported to have inhibitory properties against snake venoms, which the authors associate to its phospholipase A2 inhibitory activity (Bernard et al., 2001; Soares et al.,2005). Furthermore, the handmade oil obtained from insects’ larvae (Speciomerus ruficornis), which grows inside and feeds from A. vulgare seeds, has also been associated with several pharmacological uses, especially anti-inflammatory 

Tucuma-do-Par ˜ ´ a oil has demonstrated significant antibacterial effects in a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 800 μg/mL against Acinobacter baumanii, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Streptococcus agalactiae, in addition to inhibiting Enterococcus cecorum (MIC: 2.25 mg/mL), Candida perfringens (MIC 0.14–2.5 mg/mL), and Staphylococcus aureus (MIC: 0.56 mg/mL) (Hovorkov´ a et al., 2018; Rossato et al., 2019). ....Notwithstanding, antagonistic inhibitory effects were reported when Staphylococcus aureus was treated with A. vulgare oil and oxacillin, an usual antibiotic therap

A. aculeatum has been reported to a greater extent as an antigenotoxic agent. Contradictorily to De Souza Filho et al. (2013), recent research has reported that tucum˜ a-do-Amazonas extract has raised blood mononuclear cells viability and regulated its lipid peroxidation levels (Ongaratto et al., 2020). The cytoprotective effect has also been noticed in human lymphocytes exposed to hydrogen peroxide after A. aculeatum peel and pulp ethanolic extracts treatment (Sagrillo et al., 2015). Tucum˜ a treated lymphocytes presented higher cell viability (600 and 900 μg/mL). Pulp extract was able to completely revert DNA denaturation to control levels in all concentrations tested. Altogether, A. aculeatum genotoxicity/anti-genotoxicity duality is directly associated with its concentrations. This ambiguous effect could be explained by the occurrence of high concentrations of some chemical compounds (e.g., alkaloids) in tucuma ˜ which may reduce the positive effects of other compounds, such as antioxidants molecules, present in the extracts. Some of the bioactive compounds itself may revert to an oxidant potential when in higher concentrations, which could be another explanation.

Few in vitro studies have reported tucuma˜’s potential against cancer. A. aculeatum ethanolic extract has been investigated for its effects in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells (Copetti et al., 2019; Copetti et al., 2020), while A. vulgare oil effects have been demonstrated in breast cancer cells (Nascimento et al., 2021).

anti-tyrosinase activity; hypocholesterolemic effect in male Wistar rats; maintain body weight, glucose, and plasmatic insulin levels in diabetic animals.

fresh pulps of tucuma-do-Amazonas ˜ and tucuma-do-Par ˜ a ´ possess high contents of fatty acids (35–55 and 22–47%, respectively), mainly the monounsaturated oleic acid (60–70% of total lipids) (Aguiar et al., 1980; Ferreira et al., 2008; Flor et al., 2015; Linhares et al., 2017; Oboh & Oderinde, 1988; Rodrigues et al., 2010; Silva et al., 2018). Additionally, tucum˜ a-do-Par´ a pulp can be an interesting source of dietary fibers (6–19%, fresh basis) (Aguiar et al., 1980; Ferreira et al., 2008; Oboh & Oderinde, 1988). However, experimental studies mostly associate the consumption benefits of the tucum˜ a fruits with their content in minor bioactive compounds and related antioxidant capacity

The Amazon region is a source of plant diversity, especially native
ones poorly explored (M. de F. G. Dos Santos et al., 2015).

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110902

Study: weak evidence

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Laborstudie, Tiermodell (Ratten)

Then, we have evaluated whether awara pulp oil administration was effective to reduce acute inflammation in a murine endotoxic shock model, and chronic inflammation in a rat model of pulmonary inflammation

ese results showed that awara pulp oil improves both inflammatory cytokine production in endotoxic shock model and inflammatory cell influx in asthma model. As far as we know, this is the first time that anti-inflammatory properties of a palm oil have been showed in such in vivo models

DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2011.09.007

Study: weak evidence

Short Communication - In-vitro Zell-Studie

Antitumor efficacy assays in MCF-7 cells demonstrated that free oil and tucumã nanocapsules had IC50 of 130 and 50 μg/mL, respectively. Thus, previous studies of toxicity are relevant, as they generate future subsidies, aiming at the potential application of nanostructures and in addition, the promising effect of NCs of tucumã oil on the antiproliferative effect in breast adenocarcinoma cells was evidenced.

DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2019.1648460

Study: weak evidence

Narratives Review

The objective of this review, dedicated to four fruits of Amazonian palm trees still little explored by the industry, is to inspire new ideas of research and development of new food products.

Table 1. Proximate and nutritional composition of the Amazonian palm trees fruits: lipids, oleic acid, alpha-linoleic acid

The current literature has few studies on the toxicity of tucumã; however, De Souza Filho et al. [77] ...

Guex et al. [78] conducted acute and subacute oral toxicity studies of crude tucumã pulp extract in Wistar rats. Acute toxicity was performed in two groups...After administration of a single dose of 2000 mg/kg of crude tucumã pulp extract, no signs of toxicity or behavioral changes were observed. Repeated oral administration of crude tucumã pulp extract (200, 400, and 600 mg/kg) did not induce any sign of toxicity, and no mortality was recorded during the experiment. The authors did not observe signs of mortality or toxicity during the study. Thus, crude extract from tucumã pulp was classified as safe (category 5, OCDE guide) in which acute lethal toxicity exceeds 2000 mg/kg. Histopathological findings showed renal damage in male rats when higher doses (600 mg/kg) were administered, suggesting that low doses administered repeatedly in males are considered safer.

DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24054

Study: weak evidence

Laborstudie - an menschlicher Zellinie (in vitro)

The extracts of tucuma peel and pulp present strong antioxidant activity which illustrate an elevated concentration that causes cytotoxic effects in human peripheral blood mononuclear cell. The acute tucuma extract treatment showed genoprotective effects against DNA denaturation when compared with untreated PBMC cells. However, in the experiments with 24 and 72 h treatments to tucuma treatments, we observed low genotoxicity through a concentration of 100 μg/mL, some genotoxic effects related to intermediary concentrations (100–500 μg/mL), and more pronounced genotoxic effects on higher tucuma extract concentrations. 

DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2012.0287

Study: weak evidence

life cycle analysis (LCA)

Açaí is a fruit native to Brazil that is found in Colombia, and it is recognized for containing more than 90 compounds with anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and other biological activities. 

It was found that to produce 1 kg of açaí in a crop cycle, 1.17 kg of CO₂ eq is produced. The drying stage in Scenarios 1 and 2 generated 8.04 and 7.93 kg of CO₂ eq, respectively. 

DOI: 10.3390/pr11082290

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Ecology: in low forests on sandy soils; particularly abundant in the coastal savannahs of the Guianas. It provides a fat, mashed pulp which is used to prepare the very popular French Guianan "bouillon d'awarra", traditionally eaten at Easter. Palikur Amerindians prpare a decection of the roots which is said to have an effect against furunculosis, and use oil extracted fro the seed to cure boils and toothache.

DOI: -

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The fruiting starts between 4 and 8 years when the trees reach from 1.5 up to 5 meters in height. In general, a typical palm of tucumã produces 2 to 3 bunch per year, being able to reach more than 5. [35] Each bunch contains 200 to 400 or more fruits and weighs 10 to 30 kg. The tucumã palm flourishes between March and July and fruits between January and April; however, if handled correctly, the tucumã can fruit the whole year.

The exploitation of tucumã fruits is carried out in an extractive manner by the local
population organized in a cooperative system.
Therefore, the absence of an
established production chain makes the supply of tucumã oil and fat on a larger scale a challenge to
meet the demand of the national market. 
The tucumã pulp oil and kernel fat can be successfully extracted by pressing, solvent
extraction or supercritical fluids.[9, 31]
The oil extracted from the pulp of the tucumã is widely used in
cooking, cosmetics, and massage. The tucumã kernel fat is marketed under the name of tucumã
butter and is widely used in cosmetics.
Unlike oil from the pulp, tucumã kernel fat has a large amount of saturated fatty acids
(approximately 85%) which gives high oxidative stability, as well as palm kernel fat can be used for
cooking, soap making and cosmetics.
[42]
The major component of the tucumã kernel fat is lauric acid
(50%), a saturated fatty acid with antimicrobial activit

DOI: 10.1002/ejlt.202100231