Partially characterization and application of phytase extracted from germinated sunflower seeds

O objetivo deste trabalho foi ativar, extrair e caracterizar parcialmente a fitase em sementes germinadas de girassol (Helianthus annuus L.), híbrido M734, e avaliar o efeito da fitase no farelo de girassol. Sementes foram colocadas para germinar por oito dias em câmara a 25°C. A fitase foi extraída com CaCl2 2%, depois do quinto dia de germinação, e fracionada com (NH4)2SO4 até 80% de saturação. O extrato bruto foi caracterizado parcialmente e aplicado em farelo de girassol desengordurado para avaliar a hidrólise do fitato. Com a germinação, houve aumento na atividade da fitase e redução no teor de fitato. A maior atividade da fitase foi observada do quinto ao oitavo dia de germinação. A fitase das sementes germinadas aos cinco dias apresentou atividade ótima em pH de 5,2 e temperatura de 55ºC. A enzima se manteve estável, quando pré-aquecida por 10 minutos a 50ºC, com Vmáx de 1,87 U g-1 de amostra e Km de 0,29 mM, indicando alta especificidade pelo fitato. Quando aplicada no farelo de girassol desengordurado, depois de oito horas de incubação, a fitase hidrolisou 92% do fitato. A germinação de sementes de girassol estimula a atividade da fitase, o que facilita sua extração para a produção de alimentos livres de fitatos.The objective of this work was to activate, extract and partially characterize the phytase in hybrid sunflower M734 (Hellianthus annuus). The enzyme was extracted from seeds germinated for eight days, with CaCl2 2%, fractionated with (NH4)2SO4 up to 80% saturation. The obtained crude extract was partially characterized and applied over defatted sunflower flour in order to evaluate the phytate hydrolysis. In germination, there was an increase in the phytase activity and a reduction of phytate content. The highest enzyme activity was observed from the 5th to the 8th day of germination. The phytase extracted from sunflower seeds at the 5th day of germination presented optimum activity at pH 5.2 and temperature at 55ºC. The phytase was heat stable at 50ºC for 10 minutes, and presented Vmax of 1.87 U g-1 of substract and Km of 0.29 mM, indicating high specificity to phytate. When applied over defatted sunflower flour, after eight hours of incubation the phytase hydrolyzed 92% of phytate. Sunflower seeds germination stimulates phytase activity, making easy the extraction process, in the production of phytate-free feed products

Use of bacaba peel for the development of hydroelectrolytic beverages and their consumer acceptance

The hydroelectrolytic beverages segment has been expading its market and introducing new flavors in order to meet the demand for new products. However, experimental studies find concerns about the chemical compositions of these drinks. The aim of this study was to develop a drink without synthetic coloring or flavoring, with functional attributes based on the bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba Mart.) peel extract. Two hydroelectrolytic drinks were developed, one hypotonic and the other isotonic, containing 0.5 and 1.0% of bacaba peel extract. Physicochemical characterization, determination of total phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, and antioxidant capacity were perfomed, in addition to color evaluation, as well as sensory analysis by means of preference tests. The developed formulations showed potential antioxidant activity and natural red coloring due to the phenolic compounds and anthocyanins present in the beverages. The sensory evaluation indicated positive acceptance by the tasters regarding the addition of the bacaba peel extract to the beverage formulations. The developed formulations demonstrated that the use of the bacaba peel is a viable option for the production of sports drinks, acting as a natural dye and offering health benefits due to its bioactive compounds

Centesimal and mineral composition and antioxidant activity of the bacaba fruit peel

Oenocarpus bacaba Mart. is a palm tree native from Amazon with highlighted antioxidant activities. Its fruit (bacaba) processing dismisses the peel, which has nutrients that can collaborate for its antioxidant activity and preventing diseases. Thus, this study assessed the centesimal and mineral composition, physicochemical characterization (acidity, total soluble solids, pH, and color), total phenolics (Folin-Ciocalteu method), anthocyanins and antioxidant activity by DPPH (2,2 difenil-1-picril hidrazil) method in bacaba peels. For the centesimal composition, it was found 4.87, 1.42, 29.13, 1.08 and 63.32 g 100 g-1 for water content, ashes, lipids, proteins, and total carbohydrates, respectively. For the mineral composition, it was found 582.97, 79.00, 51.79, 0.625, 37.02, 2.37 and 77.12 mg 100g-1 contents for potassium, sodium, magnesium, copper, calcium, manganese, and phosphorus, respectively. The physicochemical characterization showed pH 5.66, titratable acidity 0.306% of citric acid, total soluble solids 9,75, and coordinates L* a* e b* of 19.03, 8.07 and 9.25, respectively. Phenolic contents were 42.07 mg EAG g-1. The antioxidant potential IC50 was 1.07 mg mL-1 and anthocyanins 37.31 mg 100 g-1. Results show that bacaba peels are an alternate source of nutrients suggesting their use in food as well cosmetic industries, especially for their antioxidant activity and mineral composition

Coqueluche em crianças menores de 3 anos de idade hospitalizadas em 2011 e 2012

Objetivo: Descrever as características demográficas e clínicas de pacientes pediátricos internados com PCR positivo para Bordetella pertussis. Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo, observacional incluindo todos os pacientes pediátricos entre zero e dois anos 11 meses e 29 dias de idade internados em um hospital universitário, com diagnóstico de coqueluche confirmado por PCR, no período de julho de 2011 a dezembro de 2012. Resultados: Foram incluídos no estudo 155 pacientes com idade média de 7,8 meses. Apenas 22 casos tinham história de contato com tosse paroxística ou prolongada (>14 dias). O tempo médio de duração de sintomas antes da admissão hospitalar foi de 9,87±10,08 dias e o tempo de internação médio foi de 5,52±9,60 dias. Tosse foi o sintoma mais prevalente (99%), sendo paroxística em apenas 16,8%. Cianose esteve presente em 29,7% e apneia em 5,8%. Necessitaram oxigênio suplementar 52,2%, ventilação mecânica 4,9% e foram a óbito 2,5% dos pacientes. Conclusão: O estudo corrobora o impacto da coqueluche epidêmica sobre as crianças, principalmente lactentes, evidenciando a necessidade da implementação de novas estratégias de prevenção e controle desta infecção

Data standardization of plant–pollinator interactions

Background: Animal pollination is an important ecosystem function and service, ensuring both the integrity of natural systems and human well-being. Although many knowledge shortfalls remain, some high-quality data sets on biological interactions are now available. The development and adoption of standards for biodiversity data and metadata has promoted great advances in biological data sharing and aggregation, supporting large-scale studies and science-based public policies. However, these standards are currently not suitable to fully support interaction data sharing. Results: Here we present a vocabulary of terms and a data model for sharing plant–pollinator interactions data based on the Darwin Core standard. The vocabulary introduces 48 new terms targeting several aspects of plant–pollinator interactions and can be used to capture information from different approaches and scales. Additionally, we provide solutions for data serialization using RDF, XML, and DwC-Archives and recommendations of existing controlled vocabularies for some of the terms. Our contribution supports open access to standardized data on plant–pollinator interactions. Conclusions: The adoption of the vocabulary would facilitate data sharing to support studies ranging from the spatial and temporal distribution of interactions to the taxonomic, phenological, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of plant–pollinator interactions. We expect to fill data and knowledge gaps, thus further enabling scientific research on the ecology and evolution of plant–pollinator communities, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the development of public policies. The proposed data model is flexible and can be adapted for sharing other types of interactions data by developing discipline-specific vocabularies of termsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Physical and chemical characteristics of cashew nut flour stored and packaged with different packages

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical changes in cashew nut flour under different packaging and storage conditions. The flour samples were characterized according to their chemical composition, packaged in polystyrene trays associated with covering chloride polyvinyl (PVC), plastic pot of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), plastic packaging polyethylene (POL) and without coating polystyrene trays (CON). All packages were stored for 225 days, evaluating every 45 days the moisture content of the flour as well as extracting their oil by the cold method for characterization on the following indexes: acidity, saponification, iodine, peroxide and refraction. There was slight and gradual increase in the moisture content from the 45th to the 225th day, especially for products packaged in PVC and without coating polystyrene trays (CON). The oil saponification indexes showed gradual decrease during storage, especially in flour without packaging (CON). There was a gradual increase in the iodine index until the 135th day, followed by decay. The acidity and peroxide indexes increased along with the storage time. However packages with lower oxygen and moisture permeability, such as PET and POL, minimized such changes, being therefore the most suitable for long-term storage