INTRODUCTION
Exotic fats are defined as a group of fats obtained from wild, uncultivated crops. Common exotic butters such as illipe (Shorea stenoptera ), sal (Shorea robusta ), shea (Butyrospermum parkii ), kokum (Garcinia indica ), and mango kernel (Magnifera indica ) have been used to manufacture CBE on an industrial scale. However, their supply on a large scale is limited since they are extracted from the seeds or kernels of wild fruit trees growing in tropical forests (Salas, Bootello, Martínez-Force, & Garcés, 2009). The main triacylglycerols in these fats are either 1,3-stearoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol (SOS) or a combination of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-stearoyl-glycerol (POS) and SOS, and these natural butters lack one of the main structural triacylglycerols (TAGs) of cocoa butter, 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol (POP). The main source of POP for the formulation of commercial CBEs is palm-mid fraction (PMF) that is obtained by the multi-step dry fractionation of palm oil. Currently, the main concern about using palm oil and its derivatives in food is the lack of sustainability of these products as a result of rainforest destruction (Austin, Mosnier, Pirker, McCallum, Fritz, & Kasibhatla, 2017). Although sustainable palm oil production has been started in some countries, these attempts are limited compared to total world palm oil production (Carlson, Heilmayr, Gibbs, Noojipady, Burns, Morton, Walker, Paoli, & Kremen, 2018).
Pequi is a yellow to orange, strong-flavored oleaginous fruit of pequi tree (Caryocar brasiliense ), mainly native of the Amazon, Caatinga, Cerrado, and the rainforest regions of Brazil. However, pequi trees can also be found in Central and South America (Guedes, Antoniassi & Faria-Machado, 2017; Vieira & Martins, 2000). Pequi fruit has a green spherical shape containing four internal yellowish mesocarps rich in oil (35-66% dry base) covering four pequi kernels containing pequi kernel oil. Pequi kernel oil has non-edible applications in the oleochemical industry (Faria-Machado, Tres, van Ruth, Antoniassi, Junqueira, Lopes, & Bizzo, 2015). Previous studies showed the primary fatty acids in pulp pequi oil were palmitic acid (36%), palmitoleic acid (1%), stearic acid (2%), oleic acid (57%), linoleic acid (2%), and linolenic acid (<0.5%). In comparison, the main TAGs in pequi oil were 1-palmitoyl-2 3-dioleoyl-glycerol (POO) (39%) and POP (34%) (Guedes, Antoniassi, Galdeano, Grimaldi, de Carvalho, Wilhelm & Marangoni, 2017).
Kpangnan (Pentadesma butyracea ) butter is also known as Kanga, Kanya, Painya, and Akpoto is obtained from the kernels of the berries that grow on the Kpangnan tree is known as tallow tree, predominantly in Ghana and some parts of West Africa such as Democratic Republic of Congo (Ayegnon, Kayodé, Tchobo, Azokpota, Soumanou & Hounhouigan, 2015). Kpangnan butter has non-edible applications in African societies, and it is mainly used as a massage oil for skin and hair care and in the manufacturing of soap (Dencausse, Ntsourankoua, Artaud & CLAMOU, 1995). The fatty acid composition of Kpangnan butter is quite similar to shea butter and mainly contains palmitic acid (3-4%), stearic acid (43-47%), oleic acid (49-53%), and linoleic acid (<1%). The main identified TAGs in Kpangnan butter are POS (1-2%), triolein (OOO) (1.5-3%), 1-stearoyl-2, 3-dioleoyl-glycerol (SOO) (35-49%) and SOS (37-61%). (Adomako, 1977; Tchobo, Natta, Barea, Barouh, Piombo, Pina, et al. & Sohounhloue, 2007).
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical properties of various mixtures of dry fractionated pequi oil as a source of POP and solvent fractionated Kpangnan butter as a source of SOS to produce more sustainable CBEs.