Immunomodulating Chinese herbal medicines

Traditional Chinese medicine always pays close attention to the strengthening of the patient"s general resitence against illness, ther are many Chinese herbs used for thousands of years are considered as tonics. Animal experiments and modern clinica; trails have shown that quite a number herbs are immunologically active, and most of the tonics are excellent immunomodulating agents, such as polysaccharides or saponins isolated from Astragalus mongholicus, Acanthopanax senticosus and Panax notoginseng, which stimulated mactophages, promoted antibody formation, actived complement and increased T lymphocyte proliferation. Moreover, some of them were proved to be anti-irradiative and protected animals from liver intoxications. On the other hand, some anti-inflammative or anti-pyretic hervs such as Tripterygium wilfordii, Aconitum and Artemiasiae species were proved to have immunosuppressive principles, some of them were now used clinically for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, chronic nephritis, systemic lupus erythematosis and various skin disorders. Pharmacological studies revealed that they have depressant effect on most of the humoral-immunity but not on the cell-mediated immunity. Some of them stimulated adrenal cortex functions and prolonged the survival time of transplanted allograft tissues.

Taxa de polinização cruzada em cubiu

Com o objetivo de avaliar a frequência de hibridação natural em Cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) foram avaliadas em Manaus, AM, duas cultivares que se diferenciavam pela presença ou ausência de pigmentação de antocianina nos ramos, pecíolos e nervuras das folha. A taxa de polinização cruzada foi avaliada em três épocas do florescimento das plantas e foi estimada em 31%. Durante o desenvolvimento da cultura, observou-se grande presença de abelhas dos gêneros (Apidae) Paratrigona, Trigona e Melipona e coleópteros Crysomelidae.

Effects of peeling methods on the quality of cubiu fruits

Cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) is an Amazonian Basin native fruit. Its importance comes from its high contents of pectin. Currently, processing technologies are necessary for the substitution of the traditional system (small crops and small-scale processing) for a larger scale system and thus increase the use of biodiversity and promote the implementation of Local Productive Arrangements of agribusiness in the Amazon. This research aims to evaluate the methods of peeling cubiu. Ripe fruits were divided into lots (150 each) and subjected to the following treatments: immersion in 2.5% NaOH boiling solution for 5 minutes, exposure to water vapor, and immersion in water at 96 ºC for 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes. The peel released during heat treatment and immediately removed under running tap water. In the control treatment, the fruits were manually peeled (unheated) with a stainless steel knife. The treatments were evaluated for completeness and ease of peeling, tissue integrity, texture, and peroxidase activity. The immersion in 2.5% NaOH boiling solution (5 minutes) stood out as the best treatment since it inhibited the enzymatic browning and intensified the natural yellow color of the cubiu fruit and easily and fully peeled the whole fruit more rapidly without damaging its tissues. This treatment was chosen as the most advantageous because it can promote simultaneous peeling and bleaching. Therefore, it is recommended for cubiu industrial processing.

Germinação de sementes de cubiu em diferentes substratos e temperaturas

O cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) é uma solanácea arbustiva nativa da Amazônia, que apresenta potencialidades para a agroindústria devido à alta produção de frutos saudáveis, com elevada concentração de ácido cítrico. Objetivou-se neste estudo analisar o comportamento germinativo das sementes de cubiu sob regime de temperaturas e substratos diferentes. O trabalho foi realizado no Laboratório de Tecnologia e Análises de Sementes do Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (CCA-UFES), Alegre-ES. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado, num esquema fatorial 6x6 (seis substratos e seis temperaturas) com quatro repetições. A comparação de médias foi feita pelo teste de Tukey, a 5% de probabilidade. Os substratos utilizados foram: sobre vermiculita (V); entre areia (EA); sobre papel (SP); sobre areia (SA); sobre mistura terra + areia + esterco (TAE) e rolo de papel germitest (RP) e as temperaturas foram constantes de 20, 25 e 30ºC e alternadas de 20-25; 25-30 e 20-30ºC. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram maior porcentagem de germinação das sementes de cubiu semeadas nos substratos sobre areia e entre areia, sendo a temperatura de 20-30ºC, aquela que mais favoreceu a germinação e a velocidade de germinação das sementes.