Valorization strategy of peach-palm fruit (Bactris gasipaes) from Guaviare through extraction and characterization of carotenoid-rich and starch-rich fractions

Peach-palm, known locally as chontaduro, is a key crop within the agricultural sector of Guaviare, valued for its high nutritional and functional properties. In 2023, Colombia produced a total of 71,917.85 tons of peach-palm, of which Guaviare contributed 13.35% (9,603.50 tons) cultivated over 2,281 hectares. This crop represents 6.81% of the department’s net agricultural production, ranking fifth after plantain, sugarcane, cassava, and pineapple. Its cultivation has gained importance as a sustainable economic alternative following the eradication of illicit crops, offering viable livelihood options to families previously dependent on coca farming. Traditional uses of the fruit include boiling the fruit for direct consumption or processing it into flour for animal feed and artisanal human consumption in baked goods, beverages, desserts, and ice cream. Peach-palm has been highly valued as a nutrient-dense food due to its rich content of health-promoting components, including unsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, certain essential amino acids, and especially its high levels of carotenoids. These attributes have motivated interest in obtaining carotenoid-rich extracts as value-added compounds, highlighting the importance of environmentally responsible extraction methods. Conventional solvents may compromise both safety and extract quality, particularly given the sensitivity of carotenoids to light, oxygen, and heat—factors that remain key challenges in developing stable functional ingredients from this fruit. Among alternative extraction techniques, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) has been widely applied for the recovery of carotenoids from natural sources such as tomato peel, mango, and even peach-palm. This method relies on acoustic cavitation, where ultrasonic waves induce cell wall disruption, enhancing the release of intracellular compounds. The combination of UAE with GRAS solvents—including edible oils, ethanol, and ethyl acetate—improves extraction efficiency while minimizing environmental and health risks. Additionally, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using CO₂ at supercritical conditions (above 73.8 bar and 31.4 °C) has proven effective for extracting lipophilic compounds. SFE ensures high selectivity and compound stability, leaves no solvent residues, and reduces waste generation. Furthermore, given that peach-palm is a notable source of starch, a circular and zero-waste processing approach allows the valorization of the residual biomass remaining after carotenoid extraction. This byproduct contains a significant amount of starch—a natural polymer that can be extracted, modified, and utilized as a food additive offering an alternative to conventional commercial starches. Additionally, peach-palm starch can be thermoplasticized using environmentally friendly formulations to produce biodegradable films, with promising applications in sustainable food packaging. The circularity approach, previously mentioned in relation to the valorization of residual starch after peach-palm carotenoids extraction, aligns with the broader framework of biorefineries—integrated systems that apply clean and efficient technologies to fractionate biomass into multiple high-value products. Within this model, product-driven biorefineries prioritize the generation of bio-based food ingredients, biomaterials, and bioactive compounds over energy production. This perspective is especially relevant for the economic diversification in Guaviare, where peach-palm represents a promising yet underutilized crop. Thus, the objective of this research was to develop a product-oriented biorefinery strategy for peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) cultivated in the Guaviare region, focusing on the recovery and valorization of high-value fractions, specifically carotenoids and starch, within the framework of circular bioeconomy principles.

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