Flooding tolerance and cell wall alterations in maize mesocotyl during hypoxia.

This research aimed to characterize the tolerance to flooding and alterations in pectic and hemicellulose fractions from mesocotyl of maize tolerant to flooding when submitted to hypoxia. In order to characterize tolerance seeds from maize cultivars Saracura BRS-4154 and BR 107 tolerant and sensitive to low oxygen levels, respectively, were set to germinate. Plantlet survival was evaluated during five days after having been submitted to hypoxia. After fractionation with ammonium oxalate 0.5% (w/v) and KOH 2M and 4M, Saracura BRS-4154 cell wall was obtained from mesocotyl segments with different damage intensities caused by oxygen deficiency exposure. The cell wall fractions were analyzed by gel filtration and gas chromatography, and also by Infrared Spectrum with Fourrier Transformation (FTIR). The hypoxia period lasting three days or longer caused cell lysis and in advanced stages plant death. The gelic profile from pectic, hemicellulose 2M and 4M fractions from samples with translucid and constriction zone showed the appearance of low molecular weight compounds, similar to glucose. The main neutral sugars in pectic and hemicellulose fractions were arabinose, xilose and mannose. The FTIR spectrum showed a gradual decrease in pectic substances from mesocotyl with normal to translucid and constriction appearance respectively.Made available in DSpace on 2011-04-09T12:04:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1027.pdf: 364997 bytes, checksum: d1363ccf173cb60858a44200da90e34d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001-09-20200

Compostos bioativos e atividade antioxidante do café (Coffea arabica L.) Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity

Conduziu-se este trabalho, com a proposta de avaliar o potencial antioxidante de dois padrões da bebida do café (rio e mole), verdes e torrados, utilizando modelos in vitro. Foram determinados o teor de fenólicos totais, ácido clorogênico (ácido 5-cafeoilquínico) e cafeína das bebidas. A avaliação in vitro do potencial antioxidante foi investigada pelos métodos de captação do radical DPPH e pelo poder redutor de metais. Os dois padrões de bebida do café analisados não apresentaram diferenças quanto aos parâmetros cor, ácido clorogênico e cafeína. Observou-se que houve redução nos valores de ácido clorogênico à medida que os grãos foram torrados. O café verde bebida rio apresentou maior teor de fenólicos totais que o café bebida mole. Nos grãos torrados não foi observada diferença. A bebida do café independente da qualidade sensorial apresentou alto poder redutor e importante atividade sequestrante de radicais livres. A atividade sequestrante de radicais livres foi significativamente superior nas amostras obtidas a partir dos grãos torrados, quando comparados aos extratos dos grãos verdes. A torração, porém, reduziu o poder redutor das bebidas do café. Os dados obtidos permitem sugerir que, independente da classificação sensorial da bebida, o café apresenta expressiva capacidade sequestrante de radicais livres e poder redutor de metais.<br>The present work intended to evaluate the antioxidant potential of two coffee sorts (soft and river), green and roasted, in vitro. Phenolic compounds content, chlorogenic acid (5-cafeoyolquinic) and caffeine of the beverages were evaluated. In vitro evaluation of the antioxidant potential was investigated by DPPH radical scavenging assay and by reducing the power of metals. Both sorts of coffee did not present statistical differences for color, chlorogenic acid and caffeine. After roasting, 5-cafeoyolquinic acid levels decreased. River coffee beverage presented greater content of phenolics than the soft coffee beverage. In the roasted coffees no significant difference was observed. All sorts of coffee beverages presented high reducing ability and important scavenging activity of free radicals. The scavenging activity was higher in the roasted samples. The roast process decreased the reducing ability of the coffee beverage. Results allow suggesting that independent of the sort, coffee presents expressive antioxidant activity and reducing ability