Essays on the history of brazilian dipterology: III. Three remarkable notices from the 18th century, mainly related to myiasis-producing flies (Cochliomyia and Dermatobia)

This paper registers reports about dipterans made by three Portuguese who lived in Brazil during the 18th century. Luiz Gomes Ferreira, in his book "Erário mineral" ["Mineral revenue"], wrote curious passages related with myiasis-causing flies of the genus Cochliomyia. José Rodrigues de Mello registered, in Latin verses, the folklore for curing myiases caused by Cochliomyia hominivorax in cattle. Luiz dos Santos Vilhena, in the last of his twenty letters dealing with several aspects of life in Brazil, made reference to horseflies, human bot flies and mosquitos.

Analysis of passion fruit rinds (Passiflora edulis): isoorientin quantification by HPTLC and evaluation of antioxidant (radical scavenging) capacity

The content of isoorientin in passion fruit rinds (Passiflora edulis fo. flavicarpa O. Degener) was determined by HPTLC (high performance thin layer chromatography) with densitometric analysis. The results revealed a higher amount of isoorientin in healthy rinds of P. edulis (92.275 ± 0.610 mg L-1) than in rinds with typical symptoms of PWV (Passion fruit Woodiness Virus) infection (28.931 ± 0.346 mg L-1). The HPTLC data, allied to assays of radical scavenging activity, suggest the potential of P. edulis rinds as a natural source of flavonoids or as a possible functional food.

Correlations between yield and fruit quality characteristics of fresh market tomatoes

Genotypic, phenotypic and environmental correlations were estimated for all possible pairs among eleven characters of tomatoes. Fifteen treatments including five parents and ten hybrids of Instituto Agronômico (IAC) tomato breeding program were evaluated using a randomized complete block experimental design, with tree replications in Itatiba, São Paulo state, Brazil, during 2005/2006. The following traits were evaluated: fruit yield per plant (FP), fruit number per plant (FN), average fruit weight (FW), cluster number per plant (CN), fruit number per cluster (FC), number of locules per fruit (NL), fruit length (FL), fruit width (WI), fruit wall thickness (FT), total soluble solids (SS), and total titratable acidity (TA). The genotypic (rG), phenotypic (rF) and environmental correlations (rA) for two pairs of plant traits were estimated using the Genes© program. High similarity was found among the estimates of genotypic and phenotypic correlations. Positive and high phenotypic and genotypic correlations were observed between FP and the traits FN, FW and FT, and these associations contributed for yield increasing. FW and FT contributed to yield increase and should be considered together as primary yield components in tomato. Positive values of the genotypic and phenotypic correlations revealed that FP influenced FN with high direct effect and significant positive correlation. These traits may be included as the main selection criteria for tomato yield improvement.

Oxidative processes during 'Golden' papaya fruit ripening

'Golden' papayas at maturity stage 1 (15% yellow skin) were chosen to study selected oxidative processes, the activity of antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation in storage at 22°C, during the ripening of the fruit. An increase in ethylene production was observed on the second day of storage and it was followed by an increase in respiration. An increased activity of catalase, glutathione reductase and ascorbate peroxidase was observed concurrently or soon after this increase in ethylene production and respiration. The increased activity of these enzymes near the peaks of ethylene production and respiration is related to the production of oxidants accompanying the onset of ripening. On the fourth day of storage, there was an increased lipid peroxidation and decreased activities of catalase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase. Lipid peroxidation induces the increase of antioxidant enzymes, which can be verified by further increases in the activities of catalase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase. Unlike the other antioxidant enzymes, the ascorbate peroxidase activity in the pulp increased continuously during ripening, suggesting its important role in combating reactive oxygen species during papaya ripening. With regard to physical-chemical characteristics, the soluble solids did not vary significantly, the acidity and ascorbic acid contents increased, and hue angle and firmness decreased during storage. The results revealed that there was variation in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, with peaks of lipid peroxidation during the ripening of 'Golden' papaya. These results provide a basis for future research, especially with regard to the relationships among the climacteric stage, the activation of antioxidant enzymes and the role of ascorbate peroxidase in papaya ripening.