The Tomato Processing Industry in Portugal

Portugal is a major producer of tomatoes for processing. Is export industry now ranks 4th worldwide; before the strongly protectionist European Common Market policy initiated in the early 1970s it ranked 3rd. The culture of tomatoes for processing in irrigated areas of Portugal is favored by the dry, warm summer that characterizes Mediterranean climates. In addition the summer in Portugal is not too hot for a good tomato set

Phenolic profile and bioactivity of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) inflorescence parts: Selecting the best genotype for food applications

This study was designed to characterize the phenolic profile and bioactivity of hydroalcoholic extracts from different cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) genotypes. The analytical work focussed on the inflorescence stigmas, owing to their application in cheese production. Nevertheless, other parts were concomitantly analysed aiming to define their possible use in related applications. Phenolic profiles obtained by LC-DAD-ESI/MSn showed significant differences among different cardoon genotypes, but apigenin and caffeoylquinic acid derivatives were generally the major molecules in all samples. Genotype influence has also been observed in relation to the antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Besides their strong antioxidant activity, the cardoon inflorescences showed satisfactory antibacterial activity, namely against Gram-positive strains, with particularly low MIC in Listeria monocytogenes. Overall, it was possible to identify the cardoon genotype (within the selected ones) providing the best standardized ingredient (stigma) with considerable added-value to be included in the process of cheese making.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Phenolic profiling of Veronica spp. grown in mountain, urban and sand soil environments

Veronica (Plantaginaceae) genus is widely distributed in different habitats. Phytochemistry studies are increasing because most metabolites with pharmacological interest are obtained from plants. The phenolic compounds of V. montana, V. polita and V. spuria were tentatively identified by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS. The phenolic profiles showed that flavones were the major compounds (V. montana: 7 phenolic acids, 5 flavones, 4 phenylethanoids and 1 isoflavone; V. polita: 10 flavones, 5 phenolic acids, 2 phenylethanoids, 1 flavonol and 1 isoflavone; V. spuria: 10 phenolic acids, 5 flavones, 2 flavonols, 2 phenylethanoids and 1 isoflavone), despite the overall predominance of flavones. V. spuria presented the highest contents in all groups of phenolic compounds, except flavones, which did not show differences among the assayed species. The detected differences proved to be significant, as confirmed by objects distribution obtained in PCA. Overall, these species might be considered good sources of phenolic compounds for industrial or pharmacological applications

Bioactivity of Methanolic and Aqueous Extracts of Laurus nobilis L. from Different Origins

Laurus nobilis L. (Laureaceae), commonly known as laurel, is a native plant from the Mediterranean region. Most widely used as culinary spice, it is also consumed as infusion to treat some gastrointestinal problems (Dall’Acqua et al., 2009) and has been reported as a rich source of bioactive compounds namely, essential oils and phenolic compounds (Dadalioğlu et al., 2004; Dias et al., 2013). In the present work, methanolic and aqueous extracts of wild and cultivated L. nobilis were studied for their in vitro antitumor (against five different human tumor cell lines) and antimicrobial (antibacterial and antifungal) activities. Furthermore, a two-dimensional principal component analysis (PCA) was used to understand how each extract act differentially towards specific bacterial and fungal species, and also selected human tumor cell lines. Both assayed factors, origin (wild or cultivated) and extract type (methanolic or aqueous) act in a differentiated manner; i.e., the same evaluated parameter gave sometimes statistically significant differences regarding laurel origin, but no effect at all from extract type, or vice versa. Nevertheless, the extract type induced the most marked changes in bioactivity of laurel samples. From the PCA biplot, it became clear that wild samples were more effective to inhibit tumor cell lines growth, especially HeLa, MCF7, NCI-H460 and HCT15. It was also observed that methanolic extracts tended to have higher antimicrobial activity, except for Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus. fumigatus and Penicillium verrucosum. The differences in bioactivity might be related to the higher phenolic compounds content (flavonols, flavones and even, total phenolic compounds) presented by methanolic extracts,. The most interesting finding in this work was the bioactive specificity of each laurel extract, considering its wild or cultivated origin. Moreover, from the PCA biplot obtained is possible to choose the combination extract type/origin with potentially highest effect against determined bacteria, fungi or tumor cell line, depending on the objective of the study.FCT for financial support, CIMO (strategic project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011), REQIMTE (PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2011), M.I. Dias (SFRH/BD/84485/2012), R.C. Calhelha (SFRH/BPD/68344/2010) and J.C.M. Barreira (BPD/72802/2010

The structure and dynamics of young star clusters: King 16, NGC 1931, NGC 637 and NGC 189

In this paper, using 2MASS photometry, we study the structural and dynamical properties of four young star clusters viz. King 16, NGC 1931, NGC 637 and NGC 189. For the clusters King 16, NGC 1931, NGC 637 and NGC 189, we obtain the limiting radii of 7', 12', 6' and 5' which correspond to linear radii of 3.6 pc, 8.85 pc, 3.96 pc and 2.8 pc respectively. The reddening values $E(B-V)$ obtained for the clusters are 0.85, 0.65--0.85, 0.6 and 0.53 and their true distances are 1786 pc, 3062 pc, 2270 pc and 912 pc respectively. Ages of the clusters are 6 Myr, 4 Myr, 4 Myr and 10 Myr respectively. We compare their structures, luminosity functions and mass functions ($\phi(M) = dN/dM \propto M^{-(1+\chi)}$) to the parameter $\tau = t_{age}/t_{relax}$ to study the star formation process and the dynamical evolution of these clusters. We find that, for our sample, mass seggregation is observed in clusters or their cores only when the ages of the clusters are comparable to their relaxation times ($\tau \geq 1$). These results suggest mass seggregation due to dynamical effects. The values of $\chi$, which characterise the overall mass functions for the clusters are 0.96 $\pm$ 0.11, 1.16 $\pm$ 0.18, 0.55 $\pm$ 0.14 and 0.66 $\pm$ 0.31 respectively. The change in $\chi$ as a function of radius is a good indicator of the dynamical state of clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Análise de vitamina 69 e minerais em plantas silvestres: estudos de Biodisponibilidade com milefólio, louro e dente-de-leão

As plantas silvestres usadas tradicionalmente têm suscitado um interesse cada vez maior, por serem consideradas uma fonte valiosa de compostos naturais com reconhecidos efeitos benéficos para a saúde do consumidor. Entre estes compostos estão as vitaminas e os elementos minerais, com um reconhecido papel na manutenção da saúde humana. A vitamina B9 (ácido fólico) é um importante cofactor de muitas reações que ocorrem nas células, enquanto que os macro e microelementos desempenham um papel fundamental na produção de energia e na manutenção da integridade estrutural da membrana celular. Os macroelementos funcionam também como modeladores do metabolismo e do equilíbrio ácido-base. Apesar destes componentes terem sido já estudados em diferentes espécies de plantas, a sua análise em espécies silvestres e, sobretudo, em aspetos relacionados com biodisponibitidade, é ainda escassa. No presente trabalho, foi realizado um processo de diálise por membrana com o objetivo de simular condições gastrointestinais para a avaliação da biodisponibilidade dos elementos minerais presentes em diferentes formulações (planta seca e infusão) de Achillea millefollium L. (milefólio), Laurus nobilis L. (louro) e Taraxacum sec. Ruderalia (dente-de-leão). A dinâmica de retenção/passagem foi avaliada utilizando uma membrana de celulose com 34 mm de porosidade. Os teores em vitamina B9 foram também analisados, por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada a detecção por fluorescência, nas diferentes preparações de cada amostra. O dente de leão apresentou os níveis mais elevados de elementos minerais (exceto zinco) independentemente da formulação utilizada (planta seca ou infusão). Por outro lado, o milefólio mostrou um conteúdo mais elevado de vitamina B9. As plantas secas, como era expectável, mostraram maiores quantidades de todos os elementos estudados, em relação às respetivas infusões; no entanto, os rendimentos de extração dos elementos minerais variaram muito, sendo mais elevados para os macroelementos. Os níveis de vitamina 89 foram muito mais baixos nas infusões, possivelmente devicto à degradação induzida pela água fervente aquando da sua preparação. Relativamente à biodisponibilidade, o cálcio e o potássio demonstraram maior capacidade para atravessar a membrana de diálise. As espécies de plantas estudadas, especialmente se usadas diretamente na forma seca, podem ser consideradas para o desenvolvimento de formulações que atuem como fontes de vitamina B9 e minerais

Emerging Role for the PERK/eIF2α/ATF4 in Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.

Leishmania parasites utilize adaptive evasion mechanisms in infected macrophages to overcome host defenses and proliferate. We report here that the PERK/eIF2α/ATF4 signaling branch of the integrated endoplasmic reticulum stress response (IERSR) is activated by Leishmania and this pathway is important for Leishmania amazonensis infection. Knocking down PERK or ATF4 expression or inhibiting PERK kinase activity diminished L. amazonensis infection. Knocking down ATF4 decreased NRF2 expression and its nuclear translocation, reduced HO-1 expression and increased nitric oxide production. Meanwhile, the increased expression of ATF4 and HO-1 mRNAs were observed in lesions derived from patients infected with the prevalent related species L.(V.) braziliensis. Our data demonstrates that Leishmania parasites activate the PERK/eIF2α/ATF-4 pathway in cultured macrophages and infected human tissue and that this pathway is important for parasite survival and progression of the infection

Valorização de produtos de montanha do ponto de vista nutricional e bioativo: estudos de caso em plantas, cogumelos e frutos secos

Atualmente, os consumidores reconhecem a relação entre nutrição e saúde, aumentando a sua preferência por “alimentos funcionais” e “nutracêuticos”. Neste sentido, vários produtos de montanha são utilizados não apenas pelas suas propriedades nutricionais mas também pelo seu enorme potencial bioativo. Alguns exemplos incluem plantas e cogumelos silvestres do Nordeste de Portugal, bem como frutos secos que se tornam alvos extremamente interessantes quer pelos benefícios diretos que podem trazer aos consumidores, quer pelo potencial de incorporação noutros alimentos de forma a conferir-lhes propriedades bioativas e permitir o desenvolvimento de novos produtos/novas formulações. O grupo BioChemCore do Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO) já estudou as propriedades químicas, nutricionais e bioativas de dezenas destes produtos e alguns dos resultados mais recentes relativos às espécies comestíveis são apresentados e discutidos no presente capítulo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of anion type in the performance of ionic liquid/poly(vinylidene fluoride) electromechanical actuators

Low voltage actuators based on poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)with 10, 25 and 40 % 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C6mim][Cl])and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C6mim][NTf2]) are prepared by solvent casting in order to evaluate the effect of anion size in the bending properties. Independently of the ionic liquid type and content, its presence leads to the crystallization of PVDF in the -phase. The addition of ionic liquid into the polymer matrix decreases significantly its degree of crystallinity and the elastic modulus. It is also confirmed the good miscibility between PVDF and IL,determinedby the interaction of the CF2groups from the PVDF chains with the imidazolium ring in the ionic liquid (IL). The AC conductivity of the composites depends both on the amount of ionic liquid content and anion size. The bending movement of the IL/PVDF composites is correlated to theirdegree of crystallinity, mechanical properties and ionic conductivity value and the best value of bending response (0.53 %) being found for IL/PVDF composite with40 wt% of [C6mim][Cl] at an applied voltage of 10 volts square signal.The authors thank the FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia-for financial support in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2013, projects PTDC/EEI-SII/5582/2014 and PTDC/CTM-ENE/5387/2014,and grants SFRH/BD/90215/2012 (J.C.D.), SFRH/BPD/112547/2015 (C.M.C.). The authors thank Solvay for kindly supplying the high quality materials. Financial support from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK Program is also acknowledged.The authorsexpress their gratitude to the Ministry of the Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisiafor a research fellowship

A Statistical Approach to Multifield Inflation: Many-field Perturbations Beyond Slow Roll

We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we compute the primordial perturbations numerically, both exactly and using an array of truncated models. The scalar mass spectrum and the number of fluctuating fields are accurately described by a simple random matrix model. During the approach to the inflection point, bending trajectories and violations of slow roll are commonplace, and 'many-field' effects, in which three or more fields influence the perturbations, are often important. However, in a large fraction of models consistent with constraints on the tilt the signatures of multifield evolution occur on unobservably large scales. Our scenario is a concrete microphysical realization of quasi-single-field inflation, with scalar masses of order $H$, but the cubic and quartic couplings are typically too small to produce detectable non-Gaussianity. We argue that our results are characteristic of a broader class of models arising from multifield potentials that are natural in the Wilsonian sense.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figures. References added. Matches version published in JCA