Antioxidants of natural plant origins: from sources to food industry applications

ReviewIn recent years, great interest has been focused on using natural antioxidants in food products, due to studies indicating possible adverse effects that may be related to the consumption of synthetic antioxidants. A variety of plant materials are known to be natural sources of antioxidants, such as herbs, spices, seeds, fruits and vegetables. The interest in these natural components is not only due to their biological value, but also to their economic impact, as most of them may be extracted from food by-products and under-exploited plant species. This article provides an overview of current knowledge on natural antioxidants: their sources, extraction methods and stabilization processes. In addition, recent studies on their applications in the food industry are also addressed; namely, as preservatives in different food products and in active films for packaging purposes and edible coatingsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Microencapsulation of beta-carotene by spray drying effect of wall material concentration and drying inlet temperature

Research ArticleCarotenoids are a class of natural pigments found mainly in fruits and vegetables. Among them, -carotene is regarded the most potent precursor of vitamin A. However, it is susceptible to oxidation upon exposure to oxygen, light, and heat, which can result in loss of colour, antioxidant activity, and vitamin activity.Thus, the objective of thiswork was to study themicroencapsulation process of -carotene by spray drying, using arabic gum as wall material, to protect it against adverse environmental conditions. This was carried out using the response surfacemethodology coupled to a central composite rotatable design, evaluating simultaneously the effect of drying air inlet temperature (110-200∘C) and the wall material concentration (5-35%) on the drying yield, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and antioxidant activity. In addition, morphology and particles size distribution were evaluated. Scanning electron microscopy images have shown that the particles were microcapsules with a smooth surface when produced at the higher drying temperatures tested,most of them having a diameter lower than 10 m.The conditions that enabled obtaining simultaneously arabic gummicroparticles with higher -carotene content, higher encapsulation efficiency, and higher drying yield were a wall material concentration of 11.9% and a drying inlet temperature of 173∘C.The systematic approach used for the study of -carotene microencapsulation process by spray drying using arabic gum may be easily applied for other core and wall materialsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atendimento às condições e restrições da Licença de Operação: um estudo de caso no Porto de Pelotas-RS

Port activities can cause several negative impacts to the environment, and these are intensified in ports present in urban areas. Environmental licensing allows public administration to establish conditions and restrictions of activities that interfere with quality of environmental resources. CONAMA classifies port activities was potentially polluting, so this industry enterprises must pass through environmental licensing process and be following current legislation in order to avoid or minimize negative environmental impacts, with the Operation License (OL) being one of main compliance tools. From the above, the objective of the work was to evaluate the attendance, by Port of Pelotas, to the conformities and restrictions contained in its OL, granted in the year 2015 by FEPAM. The study was carried out through the analysis of the CONAMA Audit Report 306/2 of April 2018 and visits to the enterprise. The data obtained were analyzed based on evaluation criteria. The final diagnosis of compliance with the constraints and restrictions of the OL showed an unsatisfactory attendance, since the score obtained in the total sum reached only 122 points out of a total 327. Thus, it was verified the necessity of adaptation of the enterprise regarding the constraints and restrictions predicted in the OL.As atividades portuárias podem causar diversos impactos negativos ao meio ambiente, intensificadosnos portos presentes em áreas urbanas. O licenciamento ambiental permite à administração públicaestabelecer condições e restrições de atividades que interfiram na qualidade dos recursos ambientais.O CONAMA classifica as atividades portuárias como potencialmente poluidoras, portanto, as empresasdesse setor devem passar pelo processo de licenciamento ambiental e seguir a legislação vigente paraevitar ou minimizar os impactos ambientais negativos, sendo a Licença de Operação (LO) uma dasprincipais ferramentas de conformidade. Diante do exposto, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar oatendimento, por parte do Porto de Pelotas, às conformidades e restrições contidas em sua LO,concedido no ano de 2015 pela FEPAM. O estudo foi realizado por meio da análise do Relatório deAuditoria CONAMA 306/2 de abril de 2018 e visitas ao empreendimento. Os dados obtidos foramanalisados com base em critérios de avaliação. O diagnóstico final de cumprimento das restrições erestrições da LO mostrou um atendimento insatisfatório, uma vez que o escore obtido na soma total alcançou apenas 122 pontos em um total de 327. Dessa forma, verificou-se a necessidade deadaptação do empreendimento quanto à condições e restrições previstas na LO.

Phytotoxicity test of effluent and sludge from a rice parboiling industry

The rice represents a great sector inside of Brazil's economy, witch around all the rice consumed in the country 25% is the parabolized type.  It is known that the beneficiation process of this product involves a high generation of effluent with the high organic loads and elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphor. The effluent treatment stations of these industries rely on anaerobic digestion to reduce the organic matter content, accordingly they generate anaerobic sludge. The possibility of the use of anaerobic sludge, treated or not, in agricultural soil awakens the need for studies that assure its practice in a sustainable way to the environment. The phytotoxicity is characterized as a highly important analysis, since it presents a general idea of the complexity of the interactions of the different compounds present in the residue or effluent. Germination tests have been the most used to evaluate phytotoxicity. This study aimed to evaluate the phytotoxicity of crude effluent and untreated sludge from a rice parboiling industry using three types of seeds, watercress, lettuce and cucumber. Germination rates varied from 1.432±0.370% to 78.176±15.340% indicating biomass phytotoxicity

Application of edible alginate films with pineapple peel active compounds on beef meat preservation

Alginate-based edible films containing natural antioxidants from pineapple peel were applied in the microbial spoilage control, color preservation, and barrier to lipid oxidation of beef steaks under storage at 4 C for five days. Di erent stabilization methods of pineapple peel compounds were used before incorporation into alginate films, including extracted compounds with an hydroalcoholic solvent encapsulated in microparticles, microparticles produced by spray-drying pineapple peel juice, and particles obtained by milling freeze dried pineapple peel. Bioactive films exhibited higher antioxidant activity (between 0.15 mol to 0.35 mol FeSO4.7H2O/g dried film) than the alginate film without these compounds (0.02 mol FeSO4.7H2O/g dried film). Results showed that control films without active compounds had no significant e ect on decreasing the microbial load of aerobic mesophilic and Pseudomonas spp., while the films containing encapsulated hydroalcoholic extract showed a significant inhibitory e ect on microbial growth of meat at two days of storage. Alginate films containing peel encapsulated extract were e ective for maintaining the color hue and intensity of red beef meat samples. Pineapple peel antioxidants have the potential to retard lipid oxidation in meat samples, and the possibility of incorporation of a higher amount of pineapple peel bioactive compounds in the films should be investigatedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Microencapsulation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) pomace ethanolic extract by spray drying: optimization of process conditions

Microencapsulation by spray-drying is a process used in the stabilization of active compounds from various natural sources, such as tomato by-products, with the purpose to be used as additives in the food industry. The aim of this work was to study the effects of wall material and spray drying conditions on physicochemical properties of microcapsules loaded with lycopene rich extract from tomato pomace. The assays were carried out with ethanolic tomato pomace extract as core material and arabic gum or inulin as wall materials. A central composite rotatable design was used to evaluate the effect of drying air inlet temperature (110–200 C) and concentration of arabic gum (5–35 wt %) or inulin (5–25 wt %) on the antioxidant activity, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and drying yield. SEM images showed that the produced particles were in the category of skin-forming structures. The most suitable conditions, within the ranges studied, to obtain lycopene loaded microparticles were a biopolymer concentration of 10 wt % for both materials and an inlet temperature of 200 and 160 C for arabic gum and inulin, respectively. Arabic gum and inulin possessed a good performance in the encapsulation of tomato pomace extract by spray drying. It is envisaged that the capsules produced have good potential to be incorporated in foods systems with diverse chemical and physical propertiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Heat treatment and wounding as abiotic stresses to enhance the bioactive composition of pineapple by-products

Abiotic stress, like heat treatment and wounding, applied to pineapple by-products induce the accumulation of new compounds and add value. In this work the effect of the individual or combined application of wounding and heat treatment stresses on total phenolic content, antioxidant activity through complementary methods (DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS) and enzymatic activity (bromelain, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase) were evaluated. Whole and wounded pineapple shell and core were dipped in a hot water bath at 30 ± 1 °C or 40 ± 1 °C for 10 min and stored under refrigeration conditions (4 ± 1 °C) for 24 h or 48 h. Results allowed that pineapple by-products reacted differently to the tested stresses. For the core, the application of wounding and heat treatment (40 °C) before storage (24 h) induced a synergistic effect on the accumulation of phenols (increased 17%) and antioxidant activity (422%). For the shell samples, the treatment that most increased the content of phenols (14%) and antioxidant activity (3845%) was heat treatment at 30 °C and storage for 48 h. Treatments that positively influenced the content of phenols and antioxidant activity of the samples did not affect the activity of bromelain or PAL. This study showed that proper abiotic stresses could increase the functional value of by-products.The first author acknowledges the financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, through Doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BD/109124/2015). This work was supported by the national funding of FCT, under the scope of the strategic funding to the research units LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture, and Food, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, 1349-017 Lisbon (UIDP/04129/2020), Associate Laboratory LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro (UIDB/50006/2020) and CEB, Centre of Biological Engineering, Department of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710–057 Braga (UIDP/04469/2020) through national funds and where applicable co-financed by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Barretos Cancer Hospital Animal Facility: implementation and results of a dedicated platform for preclinical oncology models

The Barretos Cancer Hospital Animal Facility (BCHAF) is a unique facility in Brazil exclusively dedicated to working with animal models for cancer research. In this article, we briefly present our modern facility and the main experiments performed, focusing on mutant strains of mice (PTCH-knockout and ApcMin mice), xenograft models, and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). Our results show the progress and challenges in establishing these models and the need for having an appropriate representation of our cancer population to better understand tumor biology and to identify cancer biomarkers, which could be putatively targeted, allowing for personalized therapy.This study was funded by the Public Ministry of Labor Campinas (Research, Prevention and Education of Occupational Cancer) and by Pio XII Foundation, Barretos Cancer Hospital internal funds, Grant Number: 13/2021

Long-term declines of wader populations at the Tagus estuary, Portugal: A response to global or local factors?

Migratory wader populations face global threats, mainly related to increasing rates of habitat loss and disturbance driven by human activities. To a large extent, the long-term survival of these populations requires the conservation of networks of sites along their migratory flyways. The Tagus estuary, Portugal, is among the most important wetlands for waders in the East Atlantic Flyway. Annual winter wader counts have been carried in this wetland since 1975 and a monthly roost-monitoring programme was implemented in 2007. Wintering populations of three out of the five most abundant species, Dunlin Calidris alpina, Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola and Redshank Tringa totanus, showed significant population declines over the past three decades, which are most likely due to the loss and degradation of roost sites as a result of increasing human activity. The situation is unlikely to improve, as a high proportion of the wintering waders use roost sites that are situated in highly urbanised areas with no legal protection. The use of different roost sites by waders is highly variable both temporally and spatially, thus emphasizing the need for a network of good quality roost sites. Additionally, during migration, 60–80% of all the waders of the Tagus estuary concentrate at a single refuge, thus increasing the risk for wader populations during these periods. ------ RESUMO ------ As populações de aves limícolas migradoras enfrentam ameaças globais, maioritariamente relacionadas com a crescente perda de habitat e perturbação humana. Para garantir a sobrevivência a longo-termo destas populações é imprescindível a conservação de uma rede de áreas húmidas ao longo das suas rotas migratórias. O estuário do Tejo, em Portugal, é uma das mais importantes áreas húmidas para aves limícolas na rota Migratória do Atlântico Este. Desde 1975, foram efectuadas contagens anuais de aves limícolas no inverno nesta zona húmida e, em 2007, foi implementado um programa de monitorização mensal dos refúgios de preia-mar. As populações invernantes de três das cinco espécies de limícolas mais abundantes no estuário, o Pilrito-de-peito-preto Calidris alpina, a Tarambola-cinzenta Pluvialis squatarola e o Perna-vermelha Tringa totanus, mostraram tendências significativas de decréscimo nas últimas três décadas, potencialmente devido à degradação e perda de refúgios como resultado da crescente actividade antropogénica. Esta situação poderá deteriorar-se, uma vez que uma grande proporção das aves limícolas invernantes utiliza refúgios em áreas densamente urbanizadas sem qualquer estatuto legal de protecção. A utilização dos diferentes refúgios do estuário do Tejo por aves limícolas tem uma grande variação espacial e temporal, o que reforça a importância da existência de uma rede de refúgios de elevada qualidade nesta área húmida. Durante a migração, 60 a 80% das aves limícolas concentram-se num único refúgio, ficando assim particularmente vulneráveis neste período