Antioxidant activity and phenolic contents of Olea europaea L. leaves sprayed with different copper formulations

Olive trees (Olea europaea L. Cv. Cobranc¸osa) from the northeast of Portugal were sprayed with three different copper formulations [bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate + calcium hydroxide - 20% Cu), copper hydroxide (40% Cu) and copper oxychloride (50% Cu)] to control olive fungal diseases. The residues of copper in olive leaves, harvested at different times, were evaluated by atomic absorption spectrometry. At all the collection times, treated olive leaves had significantly higher copper contents, compared to the control. The different copper amounts in pesticide formulations lowered the leaves contents in total phenols and hence their antioxidant properties. Olive leaves sprayed with copper oxychloride possessed the highest copper levels and the lowest content in phenols, which influenced its antioxidant activity (higher EC50 values for reducing power, scavenging effect on DPPH radicals and inhibition of erythrocyte hemolysis). Leaves without copper residues proved to be a good natural source of antioxidants, giving values comparable to the reference compounds

Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction of hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidants from a surplus tomato crop by response surface methodology

Tomato is the second most important vegetable crop worldwide and a rich source of industrially interesting antioxidants. Hence, the microwave-assisted extraction of hydrophilic (H) and lipophilic (L) antioxidants from a surplus tomato crop was optimized using response surface methodology. The relevant independent variables were temperature (T), extraction time (t), ethanol concentration (Et) and solid/liquid ratio (S/L). The concentration-time response methods of crocin and β-carotene bleaching were applied, since they are suitable in vitro assays to evaluate the antioxidant activity of H and L matrices, respectively. The optimum operating conditions that maximized the extraction were as follows: t, 2.25 min; T, 149.2 ºC; Et, 99.1 %; and S/L, 45.0 g/L for H antioxidants; and t, 15.4 min; T, 60.0 ºC; Et, 33.0 %; and S/L, 15.0 g/L for L antioxidants. This industrial approach indicated that surplus tomatoes possess a high content of antioxidants, offering an alternative source for obtaining natural value-added compounds. Additionally, by testing the relationship between the polarity of the extraction solvent and the antioxidant activity of the extracts in H and L media (polarity-activity relationship), useful information for the study of complex natural extracts containing components with variable degrees of polarity was obtained.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2014), REQUIMTE (UID/QUI/50006/2013) and J. Pinela (SFRH/BD/92994/2013); to FCT/MEC and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to LSRE (UID/EQU/50020/2013), and to QREN, ON2 and FEDER (Project NORTE-07-0162-FEDER-000050); to the Xunta de Galicia for financial support for the post-doctoral researcher of M.A. Prieto

Actividade antioxidante de azeitonas descaroçadas tipo “Alcaparras”

A azeitona de mesa é um alimento tradicionalmente Incluído na dieta Meditenânica, sendo considerada uma fonte importante de antioxidantes naturais nomeadamente compostos fenólicos e vitamina E. A presença destes compostos nos alimentos tem sido relacionada com uma menor taxa de incidência de doenças coronárias nos países da Bacia do Mediterrâneo. Em Trás-os-Montes, há um grande consumo dos diferentes tipos de azeitona de mesa, sendo as azeitonas descaroçadas tipo "Alcaparra", produto obtido de forma tradicional, largamente consumidas nos meses de Outono-Inverno

Landscape composition and configuration affect the abundance of the olive moth (Prays oleae, Bernard) in olive groves

Landscape and crop management are important concepts for conservation biological control as they can influence the abundance of natural enemies. In this work we accomplished a multi-scale study focused on the effect of landscape structure and crop management on the olive moth, Prays oleae (Bernard), an important pest of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.). The olive moth was collected in different olive groves managed under organic farming and integrated production and surrounded by different landscape structures. Generalized additive mixed models were used to analyze the response of the pest to (i) landscape composition and configuration indices, (ii) the management system and (iii) pesticides applications at different scales. Results indicated that the landscape composition, through the effect of the Simpson’s diversity index, negatively influenced P. oleae abundance and that the effect was evident at larger scales. Also, the landscape configuration negatively affected P. oleae at larger scales. However, neither the crop management system nor the pesticide applications affected P. oleae abundance. This study emphasizes that the preservation or implementation of diverse and complex landscapes can contribute to maintain lower population levels of P. oleae when compared with homogenous landscape areas.The authors are grateful to the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through the projects EXCL/AGR-PRO/0591/2012 “Olive crop protection in sustainable production under global climatic changes: linking ecological infrastructures to ecosystem functions” and PTDC/ASP-PLA/30003/ 2017 – “OLIVESIM - Managing ecosystem services in olive groves using advanced landscape agent-based models” and CIMO (UIDB/00690/ 2020). María Villa also thanks to Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology for the Postdoctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/119487/2016. The authors would like to thank to the farmers for allowing the access to their olive groves.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Methylation status of ANAPC1, CDKN2A and TP53 promoter genes in individuals with gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is the forth most frequent malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide. DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic alteration, occurring through a methyl radical addition to the cytosine base adjacent to guanine. Many tumor genes are inactivated by DNA methylation in gastric cancer. We evaluated the DNA methylation status of ANAPC1, CDKN2A and TP53 by methylation-specific PCR in 20 diffuse- and 26 intestinal-type gastric cancer samples and 20 normal gastric mucosa in individuals from Northern Brazil. All gastric cancer samples were advanced stage adenocarcinomas. Gastric samples were surgically obtained at the João de Barros Barreto University Hospital, State of Pará, and were stored at -80°C before DNA extraction. Patients had never been submitted to chemotherapy or radiotherapy, nor did they have any other diagnosed cancer. None of the gastric cancer samples presented methylated DNA sequences for ANAPC1 and TP53. CDKN2A methylation was not detected in any normal gastric mucosa; however, the CDKN2A promoter was methylated in 30.4% of gastric cancer samples, with 35% methylation in diffuse-type and 26.9% in intestinal-type cancers. CDKN2A methylation was associated with the carcinogenesis process for ~30% diffuse-type and intestinal-type compared to non-neoplastic samples. Thus, ANAPC1 and TP53 methylation was probably not implicated in gastric carcinogenesis in our samples. CDKN2A can be implicated in the carcinogenesis process of only a subset of gastric neoplasias.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FINEP/CT-INFRAFAEPAUniversidade Federal do Piauí Colegiado de BiomedicinaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de MorfologiaUniversidade Federal do Pará Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Laboratório de Citogenética HumanaHospital João de Barros Barreto Serviço de CirurgiaInstituto de Investigaciones BiomedicasUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto Departamento de GenéticaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de MorfologiaFINEP/CT-INFRA: 0927-03SciEL

Tranfer+.Tec. Castanha

O Projeto “Tranfer+.Tec.Castanha” tem como objetivo central o dinamizar o ecossistema regional de inovação e estimular a transferência de tecnologia e de conhecimento da fileira da Castanha, para o setor empresarial da região, nacional e internacional, com vista ao desenvolvimento de novos produtos e ao desenvolvimento de projetos de transferência e utilização de conhecimento. Foram definidas seis ações e 19 atividades específicas. As ações são: 1 - Levantamento de Necessidades de Tecnologia e Conhecimento das empresas da fileira da Castanha; 2 - Disseminação e de difusão de novos conhecimentos e tecnologias geradas no âmbito da I&D, através de ações setoriais de experimentação, no domínio das pragas e doenças do castanheiro; 3 - Interação com o ambiente empresarial, para a sensibilização, partilha e mapeamento de oportunidades de desenvolvimento de tecnologias e conhecimentos na fileira da Castanha e criação de comunidades de inovação; 4 - Valorização económica dos resultados da investigação; 5 - Iniciativas de interação com o ambiente empresarial para a promoção nacional e internacional de tecnologias e de conhecimento; 6 - Promoção e divulgação do projeto. Será apresentado um balanço das atividades já realizadas e a realizar no próximo ano.Projeto “Tranfer+.Tec.Castanha: Reforço da transferência de conhecimento científico e tecnológico da fileira da castanha para o setor empresarial. NORTE 2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio