NUTRIENT RELEASE FROM GREEN MANURE UNDER DIFFERENT SUN-EXPOSED FACES

The evaluation of the decomposition of plant residues added to the soil for green manures allows better understanding of the nutrient supply for coffee. The aim of this study was to determine the decomposition constant (κ), the halflifetime (t1/2) and the nutrient release from legumes and spontaneous plant under two environmental conditions of sun-exposure in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais state. The experimental unit located in Araponga has northwest sun-exposure face and the experimental unit located in Pedra Dourada has the south sun-exposure face. The experimental design was a randomized block in a 2 x 8 x 6 factorial (two environments facing sun-exposure, 8 green manures and 6 residue decomposition assessment times), with four replicates. The results showed that κ and t1/2 of the evaluated green manures did not differ between the northwestern face (highest altitude, temperature and incident light) and the south face (lower altitude, temperature and incident light). The κ difference obtained between all green manures was due to its chemical and biochemical composition. At the end of the evaluation period of 240 days an average of 62,3 and 63,1% N; 99,4 and 99,5% P and 92,8 and 93,3% K were released from the green manures of the northwest and south faces respectively. The most promising legume in the total nutrients release on the northwest face was D. lablab with 74,6; 10,9 and 69,0 kg ha-1 of N, P and K, respectively. To the south face the most promising legume was C. spectabilis with 69,1; 10,4 and 47,9 kg ha-1 of N, P and K, respectively

Biological Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes and N Uptake by Coffee Plants

ABSTRACT Green manures are an alternative for substituting or supplementing mineral nitrogen fertilizers. The aim of this study was to quantify biological N fixation (BNF) and the N contribution derived from BNF (N-BNF) to N levels in leaves of coffee intercropped with legumes grown on four family farms located in the mountainous region of the Atlantic Forest Biome in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The following green manures were evaluated: pinto peanuts (Arachis pintoi), calopo (Calopogonium mucunoides), crotalaria (Crotalaria spectabilis), Brazilian stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), lablab beans (Dolichos lablab), and velvet beans (Stizolobium deeringianum), and spontaneous plants. The experimental design was randomized blocks with a 4 × 8 factorial arrangement (four agricultural properties and eight green manures), and four replications. One hundred grams of fresh matter of each green manure plant were dried in an oven to obtain the dry matter. We then performed chemical and biochemical characterizations and determined the levels of 15N and 14N, which were used to quantify BNF through the 15N (δ15N) natural abundance technique. The legumes C. mucunoides, S. guianensis, C. cajan, and D. lablab had the highest rates of BNF, at 46.1, 45.9, 44.4, and 42.9 %, respectively. C. cajan was the legume that contributed the largest amount of N (44.42 kg ha-1) via BNF.C. cajan, C. spectabilis, and C. mucunoides transferred 55.8, 48.8, and 48.1 %, respectively, of the N from biological fixation to the coffee plants. The use of legumes intercropped with coffee plants is important in supplying N, as well as in transferring N derived from BNF to nutrition of the coffee plants

Design and evaluation of microencapsulated systems containing extract of whole green coffee fruit rich in phenolic acids

The optimal conditions to microencapsulate green coffee (Coffea canephora) fruit extract (GCFE) by spray drying using a maltodextrin (MD)-gum Arabic (GA) mixture as carrier material were selected. For this purpose, a Central Composite Rotational Design was applied to investigate the combined effects of the MD percentage in the mixture and the extract-to-carrier agent mass ratio (m(E)/m(C)) as the independent variables. These effects were modelled by second-order polynomial models on several responses, namely process yield, encapsulation efficiency, water activity, losses of reducing capacity, caffeic acid, caffeine, trigonelline, 5-O-caffeoilquinic acid (5-CQA) from microcapsules (MCs) and 5-CQA retention after 180-days storage. The statistically significant effects were then submitted to more in-depth analysis by Response Surface Methodology. The highest process yield was obtained using a MD percentage of 80% and a m(E)/m(C) ratio of 1:1.5 (w/w). Both microencapsulated and non-encapsulated GCFE showed good stability during the accelerated stability study performed at 40 degrees C for 180 days. Surface morphology and particle size distribution of GCFE-loaded MCs were shown to be suitable for use in the food industry100CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE MATO GROSSO - FAPEMAT404522/2016-5; 304092/2016-9não tem220261/201

Acute and subacute oral toxicity assessment of dry encapsulated and non-encapsulated green coffee fruit extracts

The coffee fruit is a high source of bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids and methylxanthines, comprising chlorogenic acids and caffeine, respectively. Extract from this matrix may be used as supplement or active ingredient of functional foods, energy drinks, cosmetics or drugs. Safety of caffeine- and chlorogenic acid-rich encapsulated and nonencapsulated hydroethanolic extracts from green coffee fruit (GCFE) was assessed by acute and subacute toxicity tests. In the acute test, oral single dosage until 1000 mg/kg per body weight (bw) did not show any adverse effect on both female and male mice according to the Hippocratic screening and clinical parameters for a period of 14 days. While the oral median lethal dose of non-encapsulated GCFE was 5000 mg/kg bw/day, that of encapsulated GCFE was not detectable likely due to the delayed release of caffeine and other compounds from GCFE. Non-encapsulated GCFE displayed a stimulating effect at a dose of 1000 mg/kg bw/day after 30 min of oral administration, but not after 60 min. Daily consumption of encapsulated GCFE for 30 days showed no adverse effect in male rats even at the highest dose. Extrapolating this value of no-observed-adverse-effect level (1000 mg/kg bw/day) to human consumption, a human equivalent dose of 189 mg/kg bw/day or 11.34 g/day could be estimated for encapsulated GCFE considering a 60 kg adult body weight