Characterization of piñon seed (Araucaria araucana (Mol) K. Koch) and the isolated starch from the seed

Abstract

Araucaria (Araucaria araucana) is a conifer tree, endemic of Chile. The seed of this tree, named pin˜on are composed principally of starch. In this work, pin˜on seeds and the starch isolated from them were evaluated. The pin˜on seeds are composed of starch (64%), dietary fibre (25%), total sugar (7%) and very low concentrations of phenolic compounds, lipids, proteins and crude fibre. The process performed to isolate the starch from pin˜on was simple and easy to realize at laboratory scale, with a yield of 36%. Starch represents a 77% of the isolated starch. The amylose content was 42%. Lipids, protein and crude fibre were very low. The starch hydration properties increased with the temperature. In the 6% suspension of starch, viscosity increases during the cooling period. The starch granules of pin˜on were small and round shaped. The aspects evaluated in this research, suggests that pin˜on seeds can be considered an interesting new starch source for the food industry.