Freeze-dried fruit and vegetables useful for agrifood purposes

Lyophilized (freeze-dried) products are food with a long shelf life under storage temperatures above the regular used for food freezing. The manufacture of lyophilized products requires knowledge about the optimum conditions of processing in each vegetable including the right format for any of them. Usually, liophylization, a non-thermal treatment, preserves most of the nutrients and aroma compounds from the original vegetable, particularly when compared with other treatments. The product must to be freezing at around -30oC at the beginning in the same equipment or in other freezer. After that, ice is sublimed in a refrigerated chamber under vacuum and applying a little heat in order to favor water vapor release from the food matrix and then eliminating vapor by condensation at -60oC. Vacuum is a critical step of the process in order to avoid melting ice.Liophylization (freeze-drying) consist in freezing food below -30oC and later removing the ice formed by sublimation in a chamber with controlled temperature under vacuum, and the water vapor produced being removed by condensation at temperatures around -60oC. Different lyophilized products derived from vegetables have been developed that can be used to improved existing foods, to create new ones, or to extract compounds of interest in a food matrix almost free from water. The know-how on liophylization and the problems during the process have been acquired by using pilot equipment. The optimization of the process can be also addressed by calculating the curves of weight loss during drying and the electrical consumption. Quality and safety parameters in fresh and lyophilized product can be also determined compared with the fresh produce. Our main product are freeze-dried samples obtained from a near isogenic line collection of melon derived by classical plant breeding from the ´Piel de sapo´ parental line. This collection rendered products with different taste, flavor, color, etc.The lyophilized product can be stored at -18oC for long periods of time, keeping most of the flavor and taste. The lyophilized can be added as natural food aroma. Lyophilized samples are less sensitive to thawing problems and reduce the cost of transportation because of the lack of water. Technology for liophylization and for storage different kind of vegetable products under vacuum or with modified atmosphere packaging is available in our group

Postharvest technologies to store tropical fruit from the Amazonian Region

Araza is a very perishable fruit particularly at room temperature very rich in vitamin C and with a pleasant flavor. Fruit is also susceptible to wilting, softening, chilling injury (at temperatures below 12oC) and decay (anthracnose). Several combinations of physical postharvest treatments (modified atmosphere packaging, intermittent warming, etc.) have been successfully used to prevent or alleviate these disorders for local markets in Colombia (South America). Our know-how has been partly disseminated as a chapter in the review of the Handbook 66 of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) (see website below). Arazá fruit is being registered for fresh consumption in the USA, but the fruit is unknown in the Western world. The know-how and expertise background with these fruit can help to develop systematic studies to improve fruit quality and the postharvest system for local market or exports. We are looking for companies interested in supporting our research and apply the postharvest treatments that we developed in a commercial scale for arazá or different fruit from Amazonian.Araza is a very perishable fruit with good nutritive and aromatic value. In the framework of a bilateral agreement between UPCT and SINCHI coordinated by Dr. Hernández -Amazonic Institute for Scientific Research SINCHI, Colombia- and Dr. Fernández-Trujillo -UPCT, Spain- we developed several postharvest treatments to extend araza shelf life and quality. We are looking for a European company with capabilities to introduce araza in the European postharvest system and able to support part of our cooperative research on this fruit (or other Fruit from the Amazonian Region).Arazá fruit can be used for processing and fresh as well as for immediate juice squeezing. The fruit is being registered in the USA for fresh consumption. The product will be exotic in the EU with attractive flavor and nutritive value. Additionally, the fruit is not able to growth outside the rain forest of the Amazonic region or Costa Rica, reason why this fruit can be sold as a typical rain forest productPostharvest technology of fruits and vegetables

Seasonal effect on selected quality traits of a melon near-isogenic line

[SPA] La calidad del fruto de melón (Cucumis melo L.) es un criterio importante para la aceptación por parte del consumidor. El desarrollo del fruto y el proceso de maduración están vinculados a una serie de cambios bioquímicos y fisiológicos. Este trabajo compara clases de compuestos químicos del aroma del fruto de melón de una línea casi isogénica (NIL) SC7-2 durante dos campañas (S1, S2). El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la influencia de la campaña en el uso de los volátiles como potenciales biomarcadores de diferencias de textura (especialmente firmeza de la pulpa), debido a la introgresión en el melón LG VII. En la campaña S2, con mejores condiciones ambientales para el desarrollo del fruto en comparación con S1, se obtuvo un fruto con mejores atributos de calidad en general y con una firmeza de pulpa ligeramente inferior. Las diferencias entre temporadas fueron que el porcentaje de ésteres de acetato totales y otros compuestos aumentaron en S2, mientras que el porcentaje de aldehídos, alcoholes o alcanos típicos de los melones no climatéricos disminuyó. Nuestra hipótesis es que la biosíntesis de ésteres de acetato aumentó en los melones no climatéricos en mayor medida cuando las condiciones de crecimiento fueron favorables. [ENG] Fruit quality in melon (Cucumis melo L.) is an important criterion for consumer’s acceptance. Melons development and ripening process are linked to a series of biochemical and physiological changes. This work compared aroma compound classes of a melon near-isogenic line (NIL) SC7-2 during two seasons (S1, S2). The goal of this work was tracking the seasonal influence on the volatiles as potential biomarkers of textural differences (especially flesh firmness) due to introgression in melon LG VII. S2 with a better growing conditions compared with S1 resulted in enhanced quality traits with a slightly lower flesh firmness. Differences between seasons were that the percentage of total acetate esters and other compounds increased in S2, while the percentage of aldehydes, alcohols or alkanes typical of non-climacteric melons diminished. We hypothesize that acetate esters were biosynthesized in non-climacteric melons at a higher extent when growing conditions were favourable.Financial support was provided by Fundación Séneca de la Región de Murcia (11784/PI/09) &, MINECO & UE-FEDER funds (AGL2010-20858). M.Z was supported by the UE-Mundus program. We acknowledge the assistance of P. Varó & his team in CIFEA-Torre Pacheco (Consejería de Agricultura, Región de Murcia) for crop management, to M.J. Roca (SAIT-UPCT) and L. Llanos, M.M. Jowkar, Y. Piñeros, P. Jiménez, R. Pérez Reverte, J.M. Obando, and N. Dos-Santos for the technical assistance, and IRTA-CRAG for the seeds of the NIL

Association among aroma volatiles and other traits in near-isogenic lines with firm flesh texture

[SPA] La calidad en los melones (Cucumis melo L.) es un criterio importante para la aceptación del consumidor. Al igual que en cualquier otra fruta, el proceso de desarrollo y maduración involucra una serie de cambios bioquímicos y fisiológicos como la descomposición de la clorofila, la degradación de la pared celular (que resulta desde ablandamiento a cambios en la ultraestructura de la pulpa y del fruto entero), el aumento en el contenido de azúcares y el contenido de sólidos solubles (SSC), la biosíntesis de pigmentos, aromas y la generación de sabor, etc. El objetivo de la tesis doctoral será determinar la calidad global y perfil aromático de al menos una línea casi isogénica (NIL) de melón con diferencias en textura respecto a su parental no climatéricos (PS) para mapear QTLs asociados a la calidad especialmente aromática y textural de la fruta. Utilizando resultados de expresión génica diferencial PS-NIL y el mapa genético de melón y las secuencias previamente almacenada en el GenBank estaremos posicionando genes candidatos y relacionando esta información con el fenotipo. [ENG] Quality in melons (Cucumis melo L.) is an important criterion for consumer’s acceptance. Like any other fruit, melons development and ripening process are linked to a series of biochemical and physiological changes including chlorophyll breakdown, cell wall degradation (leading from flesh to whole fruit softening to changes in ultrastructure), increase in the sugar content and soluble solids content (SSC), pigment biosynthesis, aroma and flavour generation, etc. The goal of the PhD will be to determine global quality and aroma profile at least one near-isogenic lines (NILs) of melon with different texture than its non-climacteric parental PS in order to map QTLs associated with fruit quality and particularly aroma volatiles. Using some results of differential gene expression and the genetic map of melon and the sequences stored in GenBank some candidate genes will be suggested and linking genetic and phenotypic information.Financial support was provided by Fundación Séneca de la Región de Murcia (11784/PI/09), MINECO & UE-FEDER funds (AGL2010-20858). M.Z is supported by the UE-Mundus program. We acknowledge the assistance of P. Varó & his team in CIFEA-Torre Pacheco (Consejería de Agricultura, Región de Murcia) for crop management, and to M.J. Roca (SAIT-UPCT) & N. Dos-Santos for technical assistance

Clinical, laboratory data and inflammatory biomarkers at baseline as early discharge predictors in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients

Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has overwhelmed hospital services due to the rapid transmission of the virus and its severity in a high percentage of cases. Having tools to predict which patients can be safely early discharged would help to improve this situation. Methods Patients confirmed as SARS-CoV-2 infection from four Spanish hospitals. Clinical, demographic, laboratory data and plasma samples were collected at admission. The patients were classified into mild and severe/critical groups according to 4-point ordinal categories based on oxygen therapy requirements. Logistic regression models were performed in mild patients with only clinical and routine laboratory parameters and adding plasma pro-inflammatory cytokine levels to predict both early discharge and worsening. Results 333 patients were included. At admission, 307 patients were classified as mild patients. Age, oxygen saturation, Lactate Dehydrogenase, D-dimers, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and oral corticosteroids treatment were predictors of early discharge (area under curve (AUC), 0.786; sensitivity (SE) 68.5%; specificity (S), 74.5%; positive predictive value (PPV), 74.4%; and negative predictive value (NPV), 68.9%). When cytokines were included, lower interferon-γ-inducible protein 10 and higher Interleukin 1 beta levels were associated with early discharge (AUC, 0.819; SE, 91.7%; S, 56.6%; PPV, 69.3%; and NPV, 86.5%). The model to predict worsening included male sex, oxygen saturation, no corticosteroids treatment, C-reactive protein and Nod-like receptor as independent factors (AUC, 0.903; SE, 97.1%; S, 68.8%; PPV, 30.4%; and NPV, 99.4%). The model was slightly improved by including the determinations of interleukine-8, Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 beta and soluble IL-2Rα (CD25) (AUC, 0.952; SE, 97.1%; S, 98.1%; PPV, 82.7%; and NPV, 99.6%). Conclusions Clinical and routine laboratory data at admission strongly predict non-worsening during the first two weeks; therefore, these variables could help identify those patients who do not need a long hospitalization and improve hospital overcrowding. Determination of pro-inflammatory cytokines moderately improves these predictive capacities.Consejeria de Salud y Familia COVID-00052020 RH-0037-2020Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades PY20/01276Instituto de Salud Carlos III CP19/00159 CP19/00146 FI19/00304 FI19/00083 COV20/00698Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en SIDA RD16/0025/0020 RD16/0025/0006 RD16/0025/0026European CommissionCentro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas-ISCIII Madrid, Spain CB21/13/00020Spanish Research Council (CSIC)IISPV 2019/IISPV/05GeSID

Immunological and inflammatory changes after simplifying to dual therapy in virologically suppressed HIV-infected patients through week 96 in a randomized trial

Objectives: To evaluate whether simplification of antiretroviral treatment to dual therapy (DT) negatively impacts immune recovery (IR), immune activation and inflammation (IA/I), and HIV reservoir. Methods: An open-label, single-centre, randomized controlled trial conducted in adult virologically suppressed HIV-infected patients on triple therapy (TT) with elvitegravir-cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide or dolutegravir (DTG), abacavir, and lamivudine (3TC). Participants were randomized to continue TT or switch to DTG, or darunavir/cobicistat (DRVc) plus 3TC. IR was assessed by CD4þ/CD8þ ratio at 48 and 96 weeks. Changes in immune activation, proliferation, exhaustion, senescence, and apoptosis in CD4þ and CD8þ T cells, plasma sCD14, hsCRP, D-dimers, b2-microglobulin, IL-6, TNF-a and IP-10 levels, cell-associated HIV-DNA (CA-DNA), and unspliced HIV-RNA (usRNA) were also analysed. Results: One hundred and fifty-one participants were enrolled. Fourteen patients did not complete the follow up. In the ITT and PP analysis, the IR was similar between the treatment arms. In the ITT analysis, the median increase in CD4þ/CD8þ ratio was 0.10, 0.04, and 0.07 at week 48, and 0.09, 0.05, and 0.08 at week 96 for TT, DTG/3TC, and DRVc/3TC, respectively. After adjusting for confounding factors, the slopes of changes in CD4þ/CD8þ ratio over time were independent of treatment (F ¼ 1.699; p ¼ 0.436) and related only to baseline values (F ¼ 756.871; p ¼ 0.000). There were no differences in IA/I, CA-DNA, or usRNA between treatment arms. Discussion: Both IR and IA/I, CA-DNA, and usRNA were similar in the three treatment groups, regardless of maintaining TT or simplifying to DTG/3TC or DRVc/3TC in virologically suppressed HIV-infected patients

Aproximação às mediações na produção simbólica pública de Las Villas em meados do século XX

El examen desde una visión hermenéutica, sistémica y de reflexividad de la producción simbólica pública de la sociedad insular en Cuba, durante el período republicano, décadas del 40 y 50 del siglo XX, acusa la pertinencia de la historiografía de la comunicación como constructo interdisciplinar, capaz de activar las relaciones procesuales entre las dimensiones económicas, jurídicas, políticas y culturales que distinguieron el período, a sus actores, estructuras y soportes, así como las mediaciones macro y micro que inciden en las articulaciones entre el sistema social y el sistema de comunicación pública, a escala de cuanto acontece en sociedades locales y regionales. El contexto de la Constitución del 40, de carácter democrático-burgués, impacta con singularidad la esfera de los derechos civiles, la participación de sectores históricamente invisibilizados, así como el empoderamiento de sectores comerciales, con presencia española e inmigrante, y una vida pública distintiva y plural que tendió al reforzamiento de una visión endógena regionalista.El presente artículo, que responde a un estudio doctoral en curso, procura en clave inter- y transdiciplinar, y desde el análisis lógico-histórico, diacrónico, otorgar énfasis a la investigación documental, bibliográfica, el criterio de expertos y el análisis de contenido cualitativo, para una construcción conceptual y categorial inédita en el campo de la historia de la comunicación en Cuba.The examination from a hermeneutic, systemic, and reflective view of the public symbolic production of island society in Cuba, during the Republican period, 40 and 50 decades of the 20th century, accuses the relevance of the historiography of communication as an interdisciplinary construct, able to activate the procedural relations between the economic, legal, political, and cultural dimensions that distinguished the period, its actors, structures and supports, as well as the macro and micro mediations that affected the articulations between the social system and the communication public system, at the scale of what happens in local and regional societies. The context of the Constitution of 1940, of a bourgeois-democratic nature, only impacts the sphere of civil rights, the participation of historically invisible sectors, as well as the empowerment of commercial sectors, with a Spanish and immigrant presence, and a distinctive public and plural life that tended to reinforce an endogenous regionalist vision.This article, which responds to an ongoing PhD study, seeks inter- and transdisciplinary key, and from the logical-historical, diachronic analysis, to give emphasis to the documentary research, bibliography, the criterion of experts and the analysis of qualitative content, for an unprecedented conceptual and categorical construction in the field of the history of communication in Cuba.A análise, sob uma visão hermenêutica, sistêmica e reflexiva, da produção pública da sociedade insular em Cuba, durante o período republicano, décadas de 40 e 50 do século XX, demonstra a pertinência da historiografia da comunicação como construto interdisciplinar, capaz de ativar as relações processuais entre as dimensões econômicas, jurídicas, políticas e culturais que distinguiram o período, seus atores, estruturas e suportes, bem como as mediações macro e micro que incidem nas articulações entre o sistema social e o sistema de comunicação pública, a escala de quanto acontece em sociedades locais e regionais. O contexto da Constituição de 1940, de caráter democrático-burguês, impacta com singularidade a esfera dos direitos civis, a participação de setores historicamente invisibilizados bem como o empoderamento de setores comerciais, com presença espanhola e imigrante, e uma vida pública diferente e plural, que tendeu ao reforço de uma visão endógena regionalista. Este artigo, que corresponde a um estudo doutoral em andamento, procura, em termos inter e transdisciplinar, e sob a análise lógico-histórica, diacrônica, outorgar ênfase à pesquisa documental, bibliográfica, ao critério de especialistas e à análise de conteúdo qualitativa, para uma construção conceitual e categorial inédita no campo da história da comunicação em Cuba.https://revistas.udem.edu.co/index.php/anagramas/article/view/200

Ultrastructure of the onset of chilling injury in cucumber fruit

The onset of the symptoms of disorders provoked by low temperature storage or chilling injury (CI) in pickling cucumber fruit (Cucumis sativus L. cv. 'Trópico' and in the cv. 'Perichán 121') and associated rot were monitored by cryoscanning electron microscopy. Fruit were stored at 4°C for different times (4 to 12 d) and samples were transferred to 20°C every 2-3 d (cv. Trópico). In a second experiment, fruit cv. 'Perichán 121' were stored at 6°C. Macroscopic CI symptoms included small-flattened areas with sunken but externally sound tissue. Later, the damage was manifested as pitting and decay due to the presence of necrotrophic fungi (Pleospora herbarum, Alternaria sp.) on the surface of the broken areas, and Botrytis cinerea in cv. 'Perichán 121'. The period of induction of CI becoming apparent lasted about 4 d at 4oC followed by a phase of slow increase of around 4-5 d prior to an exponential increase in CI. Micro fractures of 45-250 μm length developed in CI tissue around the stomata of 20 μm Ø. The first response to chilling was the sinking of stomata accompanied by 10 μm Ø fractures with collapse of hypodermal cells. These small fractures expanded into a sink of around 40 μm Ø and more than 50 μm depth. Refrigerated tissue had visibly collapsed in 4-6 d, starting with a small brown area indicating collapse of parenchymatous cells, followed by sinking and collapse of epidermal cells, particularly around the micro fractures. The pitted tissue showed flattening of the cell walls, plasmalemma and middle lamella region, with severity increasing with increasing depth in the parenchymatous tissue. Translucent water soaked areas were also located depth in the mesocarp tissue with similar cell damages