Potential industrial utilization of starches extracted from new yellow cassava varieties

Industrials generally utilize rice, wheat, corn and potato starches because of their well-known physicochemical and functional properties. In this study, starches of some improved cassava varieties were analyzed in order to detect those revealing potentialities and aptitude for industrial exploitation. For this, morphological, physicochemical and functional characteristics of these starches were evaluated. All the starches were composed of ovoid and conical granules with truncated sides bearing one or several holes. They contained relatively low amount of small granules (< 10 μm) with low amylopectin content. All starches showed very strong water absorption capacity with the strong value recorded by V53 (122.52 ± 1.57 %) and the lowest by V63 (104.84 ± 0.55 %) and began gelatinizing early (50–55 °C). However, physicochemical and functional characteristics significantly varied from a starch variety to another. Hence, V53 (32.47 ± 0.54 g/g), V63 (29.41 ± 0.64 g/g) and V71 (28.58 ± 0.55) varieties which recorded low small granules content showed the earliest (80 °C) and strongest swelling power peak. In addition, these varieties showed the lowest syneresis values at 4 °C (V53 (0.01%) and V63 (0.6%) and at – 15 °C V71 (0.01%)) during the first week of experimentation (V71) and during the four weeks of experimentation (V53 and V71). The highest values of paste clarity were highlighted by V23 (63.00 ± 0.3 %) and V53(85.85 ± 0.5 %), respectively. All the studied cassava starches varieties showed interesting physicochemical and functional characteristics which could be exploited in food and non-food industries. Keywords: New yellow Cassava varieties, starches, physicochemical characteristics, functional properties, industrial utilizatio

DIVERSITY OF MICROBIAL STRAINS INVOLVED IN COCOA FERMENTATION FROM SUD-COMOÉ (COTE D’IVOIRE) BASED ON BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES

The cocoa pulp fermentation is one of keys step for obtaining a quality chocolate. However, microflora involved in this process is complex and variable that leads to inconsistent production efficiency on cocoa quality. Here we investigate the diversity of microflora implicated in Sud-Comoé (area of Côte d’Ivoire) cocoa fermentation based on their biochemical properties. During fermentation, yeasts, Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) and Acetic Acid Bacteria (AAB) reached maximum load at 36, 24 and 72 h respectively and decreased rapidly while the rate of Bacillus load increased throughout the fermentative process to reach a peak at 144 h. Among the Bacillus strains, 62.22, 87.5 and 33.7 % were able to produce pectinolytic enzymes, acid and citrate lyase respectively. Concerning yeasts strains, 25.43 % showed pectinolytic enzymes production capacity and all of these isolates were able to ferment glucose and fructose while 52 % were able to produce gas from sucrose. Population of LAB was predominant by homofermentative group with proportion at 85.96 % while AAB were dominated by genera Acetobacter with 88.78 %. Therefore, this study shows the diversity of biochemical properties of tested microbial strains indicating a diversity of microbiota involved in Sud-Comoé cocoa fermentation

Development and Evaluation of a Novel 99mTc-Labeled Annexin A5 for Early Detection of Response to Chemotherapy

99mTc-HYNIC-annexin A5 can be considered as a benchmark in the field of apoptosis imaging. However, 99mTc-HYNIC-annexin A5 has characteristics of high uptake and long retention in non-target tissues such as kidney and liver. To minimize this problem, we developed a novel 99mTc-labeled annexin A5 using a bis(hydroxamamide) derivative [C3(BHam)2] as a bifunctional chelating agent, and evaluated its usefulness as an imaging agent for detecting apoptosis. The amino group of C3(BHam)2 was converted to a maleimide group, and was coupled to thiol groups of annexin A5 pretreated with 2-iminothiolane. 99mTc labeling was performed by a ligand exchange reaction with 99mTc-glucoheptonate. Biodistribution experiments for both 99mTc-C3(BHam)2-annexin A5 and 99mTc-HYNIC-annexin A5 were performed in normal mice. In addition, in tumor-bearing mice, the relationship between the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy (5-FU) and the tumor accumulation of 99mTc-C 3(BHam)2-annexin A5 just after the first treatment of 5-FU was evaluated. 99mTc-C3(BHam)2-annexin A5 was prepared with a radiochemical purity of over 95%. In biodistribution experiments, 99mTc-C3(BHam)2-annexin A5 had a much lower kidney accumulation of radioactivity than 99mTc-HYNIC- annexin A5. In the organs for metabolism, such as liver and kidney, radioactivity after the injection of 99mTc-HYNIC-annexin A5 was residual for a long time. On the other hand, radioactivity after the injection of 99mTc-C3(BHam)2-annexin A5 gradually decreased. In therapeutic experiments, tumor growth in the mice treated with 5-FU was significantly inhibited. Accumulation of 99mTc-C 3(BHam)2-annexin A5 in tumors significantly increased after 5-FU treatment. The accumulation of radioactivity in tumor correlated positively with the counts of TUNEL-positive cells. These findings suggest that 99mTc-C3(BHam)2-annexin A5 may contribute to the efficient detection of apoptotic tumor response after chemotherapy

Effet du taux d’incorporation de la farine de patate douce crue dans l’aliment sur les performances de croissance du poulet de chair

Objectifs : Cette étude a été menée dans le but d’évaluer l’effet du taux d’incorporation de la farine de patate douce crue sur les performances de croissance du  poulet de chair.Méthodologie et résultats : A cet effet, 192 poussins d’un jour de souche Starbro ont été repartis dans 16 unités expérimentales suivant un dispositif   complètement randomisé comportant 4 traitements et 4 répétitions chacun. Une ration témoin (R0) contenant le maïs comme principale source d’énergie a été comparée à trois autres rations R50, R75 et R100 dans lesquelles 50, 75 et 100% de maïs ont été remplacés avec de la farine de patate douce crue de    granulométrie comprise 1 et 2 mm. En dehors de l’indice de consommation, tous les paramètres de croissance étudiés ont baissé avec le taux  ’incorporation  croissant de la patate dans l’aliment. De même, le rendement carcasse tend à baisser avec l’augmentation du taux de patate dans la ration, la ration R100 sans  maïs ayant induit le rendement carcasse le plus faible de tous les groupes de poulets. Par contre, le poids et la densité de l’intestin ont augmenté de façon  significative (P<0,05) avec la ration R100 contenant uniquement la patate douce comme source d’énergie. Tous les traitements ont été comparables pour le poids du gésier et la longueur de l’intestin.Conclusions et applications des résultats: Dans les conditions de la présente étude, il a été conclu qu’il est possible de substituer le maïs par de la farine de patate de granulométrie comprise entre 1 et 2 mm pourvu que le taux d’incorporation ne dépasse pas 50% dans la ration.Mots clés : Granulométrie, patate crue, performances de croissance, poulets de chair, taux d’incorporation

Gestion patrimoniale des réseaux d'eau potable et d'assainissement : Approches croisées techniques, comptables et financières pour la gestion des immobilisations et analyse des couts au travers des activités du service

The article presents some of the discussions carried out by the ASTEE work groups on asset management of drinking water and sewer networks. It focuses on two guides : the first guide deals with infrastructures' accounting, it was published in 2014. Its aim was to combine technical approaches to decision support, taking account maintenance and rehabilitation or renovation decisions, but also accounting and financial approaches, necessary to prepare multiannual investment plans; the second guide to be published in 2017, focuses on methods of cost accounting and cost analysis at the level of the drinking water supply and sewer utilities with a specific view on asset management. The two guides are based on the theoretical frame-work and the approaches resulting from the research works but above all on utilities but mainly on feedbacks.L'article présente une partie du travail réalisé par les groupes de travail de l'Astee sur la gestion patrimoniale des réseaux d'eau potable et d'assainissement. Il s'intéresse plus précisément à deux guides : le guide qui traite des immobilisations paru en 2014 et dont l'objectif était de croiser les approches techniques d'aide à la décision, tenant compte de la maintenance et des décisions de réhabilitation ou de rénovation, avec les approches comptables et financières permettant l'élaboration des plans pluriannuels d'investissements (PPI); le guide de 2017 qui s'intéresse aux méthodes de comptabilité analytique et d'analyse de coûts à l'échelle du service d'eau potable et d'assainissement avec un regard spécifique sur la gestion patrimoniale. Les deux guides s'appuient sur le cadre théorique et les approches issues de la recherche, mais surtout sur des retours d'expérience