Polymorphisms in candidate genes and their association with carcass traits and meat quality in Nellore cattle

The objective of this work was to estimate the allele polymorphism frequencies of genes in Nellore cattle and associate them with meat quality and carcass traits. Six hundred males were genotyped for the following polymorphisms: DGAT1 (VNTR with 18 nucleotides at the promoter region); ANK1, a new polymorphism, identified and mapped here at the gene regulatory region NW_001494427.3; TCAP (AY428575.1:g.346G>A); and MYOG (NW_001501985:g.511G>C). In the association study, phenotype data of hot carcass weight, ribeye area, backfat thickness, percentage of intramuscular fat, shear force, myofibrillar fragmentation index, meat color (L*, a*, b*), and cooking losses were used. Allele B from the ANK1 gene was associated with greater redness (a*). Alleles 5R, 6R, and 7R from the DGAT1 VNTR gene were associated with increased intramuscular fat, reduced cooking losses and increased ribeye area, respectively. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the TCAP gene was not polymorphic, and MYOG alleles were not associated with any of the evaluated characteristics. These results indicate that ANK1 and DGAT1 genes can be used in the selection of Nellore cattle for carcass and meat quality.

Extração por fluido supercrítico de alguns inseticidas carbamatos em amostras de batata, com determinação por HPLC/fluorescência e confirmação por HPLC/espectrometria de massas

Six supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) methods were tested, by varying the following operational parameters: CO2 pressure, time and temperature of extraction, type and proportion of static modifier, and Hydromatrix®/sample rate into cell. Firstly, insecticide carbamates were extracted from spiked potatoes samples (fortification level of 0,5 mg.Kg-1) by using SPE procedures, and then final extracts were analyzed HPLC/fluorescence. Good performance was observed with SFE methods that operated with values of temperature and CO2 pressure of 50 ºC and 350 bar, respectively. Best efficiency was obtained when it was used acetonitrile as a modifier (3% on the cell volume), and Hydromatrix®/sample rate of 2:1. Static time was of 1 min; total extraction time was of 35 min; dynamic extraction was performed with 15 mL of CO2, and it was used methanol (2 mL) for the dissolution of the final residue. In such conditions, pesticide recoveries varied from 72 to 94%, depending on the analyzed compound. In higher extraction temperatures, a rapid degradation was observed for some compounds, such as aldicarb and carbaryl; presence of their metabolites was further confirmed by HPLC-APCI/MS in positive mode. Detection limits for chromatographic analysis varied from 0,2 to 1,3 ng.

Arqueologia biomolecular: passos preliminares para interpretações sobre a origem dos resíduos orgânicos preservados em fragmentos de cerâmica pré-colonial no Brasil

Organic residue analysis of archaeological potsherds is a well-established method for determining the uses of European and North American pottery vessels. In the present work we assess if the organic residues identified in Brazilian potsherd extracts are related to commodity processes (e.g. cooking or surface treatment) or to other non-archaeological sources, using as a model potsherds recovered from the Rio do Meio site (Santa Catarina Island). The potsherd extracts are dominated by saturated fatty acids (Ac16:0, with lower abundances of Ac14:0 and Ac18:0). Our studies provide evidence that the organic residues preserved in the Brazilian archeological potsherds are related to foodstuffs and surface treatment processes of the pottery vessels.

Folatos em brócolis convencional e orgânico e perdas no processo de cocção em água

Broccoli is a vegetable consumed in many countries and a possible source of folates, which are water-soluble vitamins active during DNA synthesis. The folates found in the samples analyzed were 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate. The vitamin content varied between 413.7 and 742.2 µg/100 g for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and from 4.8 to 12.8 µg/100 g for 5-formyltetrahydrofolate. In organic broccoli the amount of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was significantly higher than in the same vegetable cultivated by traditional methods, for the commercial samples analyzed. The losses of these folates after cooking in water were of approximately 68%, most of it (53%) found in the cooking water.

Desenvolvimento de um spot test para o monitoramento da atividade da peroxidase em um procedimento de purificação

In this work we describe both a chromatographic purification procedure and a spot test for the enzyme peroxidase (POD: EC 1.11.1.7). The enzyme was obtained from crude extracts of sweet potatoes and the chromatographic enzyme purification procedure resulted in several fractions. Therefore a simple, fast and economic spot test for monitoring peroxidase during the purification procedure was developed. The spot test is based on the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and guaiacol, which is catalyzed by the presence of peroxidase yielding the colored tetraguaiacol.

A influência dos ácidos hexenurônicos no rendimento e na branqueabilidade da polpa kraft

This study investigated the impact of pulp hexenuronic acids (HexAs) content on pulping yield by changing cooking reaction temperature. The bleachability of pulps containing variable amounts of HexAs was also investigated. The cooking at 170 ºC produced pulp of kappa number, HexAs and screen yield of 16.2, 49.4 mmol/kg and 50.2%, respectively, whereas the cooking at 156 ºC resulted pulp of kappa 17.0, 61.3 mmol/kg HexAs and 50.8% screened yield. The pulp produced at lower cooking temperature also showed better bleachability as evaluated by the total amount of active chlorine required to achieve 90% ISO. The sequence OA HT D(EP)DD showed the lowest bleaching performance among all.

Biomassa e energia

Biomass was the dominating source of energy for human activities until the middle 19th century, when coal, oil, gas and other energy sources became increasingly important but it still represents ca. 10% of the worldwide energy supply. The major part of biomass for energy is still "traditional biomass" used as wood and coal extracted from native forests and thus non-sustainable, used with low efficiency for cooking and home heating, causing pollution problems. This use is largely done in rural areas and it is usually not supported by trading activities. There is now a strong trend to the modernization of biomass use, especially making alcohol from sugar cane thus replacing gasoline, or biodiesel to replace Diesel oil, beyond the production of electricity and vegetable coal using wood from planted forests. As recently as in 2004, sustainable "modern biomass" represented 2% of worldwide energy consumption. This article discusses the perspectives of the "first" and "second" technology generations for liquid fuel production, as well as biomass gaseification to make electricity or syngas that is in turn used in the Fischer-Tropsch process.

Tocoferois e tocotrienois em óleos vegetais e ovos

The distribution and content of vitamin E isomers was investigated in vegetable oils and raw and cooked egg yolk in commercial restaurants. The analysis of the eight vitamin E isomers was carried out by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The tocopherol and tocotrienol composition of foods varied considerably. Tocopherols were detected in greater quantity and frequency. The α-tocopherol predominated in egg yolks and olive oil while γ-tocopherol was found in high quantities in soybean and canola oils. Cooking did not cause major losses for most of the vitamin E isomers in egg yolks.

Cor ASTM: um método simples e rápido para determinar a qualidade do biodiesel produzido a partir de óleos residuais de fritura

In this study, 23 biodiesel samples were produced, 20 from used cooking oil and the remaining 3 from refined soybean oil. The following properties were determined in all of the samples (oil and its respective biodiesel): density; viscosity; total acid number and ASTM color. The results indicated high correlation (R > 0.6) between ASTM color of used cooking oil and total acid number of its resultant biodiesel. This high correlation allows prediction of the quality of the biodiesel produced using a simple and fast procedure such as ASTM color.

Brazilian vodkas have undetectable levels of ethyl carbamate

While in Europe vodka is mainly derived from potatoes or cereals, a large proportion of Brazilian vodka is likely obtained from sugarcane, which contains ethyl carbamate (EC) precursors. EC, in addition to several other contaminants and congeners, were investigated in 32 samples of Brazilian vodka. All samples complied with the Brazilian regulations for congeners and contaminants, having EC content below 0.01 mg/L (detection limit). These results are probably related to the processing of vodka, in particular the use of extractive and rectifying stainless steel distillation columns, which allow the production of high strength spirits with low levels of congeners and contaminants.

Análise exploratória aplicada a espectros de reflexão total atenuada no infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (ATR-FTIR) de blendas de biodiesel/diesel

In this study, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to classify blends produced from diesel S500 and different kinds of biodiesel produced by the TDSP methodology. The different kinds of biodiesel studied in this work were produced from three raw materials: soybean oil, waste cooking oil and hydrogenated vegetable oil. Methylic and ethylic routes were employed for the production of biodiesel. HCA and PCA were performed on the data from attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, showing the separation of the blends into groups according to biodiesel content present in the blends and to the kind of biodiesel used to form the mixtures.

USO DA RMN DE BAIXA RESOLUÇÃO NA AVALIAÇÃO DA DINÂMICA MOLECULAR DO Origanum vulgare

In this work, proton NMR relaxometry was used to measure the behavior of spin-lattice relaxation time with T1H as the time constant, and also of spin-spin relaxation time with the time constant T2H. These relaxometry parameters were determined to better understand the changes in the main structures present in commercial and in nature forms of origanum. The T1H relaxation data showed that the structures which had higher molecular mass were more sensitive to degradation with increased temperature treatment. According to the values of the T2H parameter, up to 150 degrees no significant change in the mobility and organization of water was observed. These data infer that the ideal cooking temperature and tea preparation mode for this herb should be around 100 degrees for the sample not to lose its characteristics. Also, it is not advisable to cook this herb at higher than 150 degrees but better to consume it at room temperature, especially give commercial herb has already been dehydrated.

Quality of beans stored under hermetic conditions

This study aimed to evaluate the quality of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) stored with different moisture contents under hermetic conditions. Beans with 12.3%, 15.7%, and 17.8% moisture content were used in the experiment. They were packed in bag type silos (3 kg), PET bottles (1.5 L), and glass containers (3 L), covered with organza fabric (control), and stored at 25 ºC and 70±5% relative humidity, for 120 days. The evaluated characteristics included moisture content, apparent density, electrical conductivity, germination percentage, cooking time, and bean classification, every 30 days. Except for the electrical conductivity and cooking time, the other characteristics were kept for 120 days in the stored product with moisture contents of 12.3% and 15.7% in hermetic conditions. Beans with 17.8% of the moisture content, electrical conductivity and cooking time increased, and apparent density and germination were reduced. Beans stored in the control, with any of the moisture contents, showed high quality loss during the long storage. It was concluded that it is possible to storage beans with moisture contents of 12.3% and 15.7%, with quality, for until 120 days, in hermetic conditions.

Risk factors and presence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in dogs from the coast of São Paulo State, Brazil

Toxoplasmosis is caused by the obligate intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii and affects warm-blooded vertebrates, including pets and man. Dogs are epidemio-logically important since they act as sentinels for the infection in humans. The present study aimed to determine the presence of antibodies to T. gondii in 205 serum samples from dogs in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, through indirect immunofluorescence reaction (IFAT), as well as the risk factors related to toxoplasmosis in the animals such as breed, age, sex, access to outdoors, homemade food ingestion, access to untreated water, and contact with rodents. Toxoplasmosis-positive samples accounted for 52/205 (25.4%), with titers ranging from 16 to 256. The serological results presented significant association (P<0.05) with homemade food ingestion (45/118; 38.1%; CI95% 29.9%-47.2%) (OR=7.0; CI95% 3.0-16.6), and with access to outdoors where those that do not have access to the street were prevalent (37/121; 30.6%; CI95% 23.1%-39.3%) (OR=0.5; CI95% 0.2-1.0). These results show that toxoplasmosis in this region is related to problems of sanitary education, mainly concerning the appropriate cooking of foods, since most positive animals did not show significant association with the presence of rodents or untreated water consumption but showed, instead association with ingestion of homemade food. Thus, toxoplasmosis is a public health problem in the studied region, and sanitary measures are needed to control the infection due to the strict relationship between man and dog and the presented risk factors

Indoor NO2 air pollution and lung function of professional cooks

Studies of cooking-generated NO2 effects are rare in occupational epidemiology. In the present study, we evaluated the lung function of professional cooks exposed to NO2 in hospital kitchens. We performed spirometry in 37 cooks working in four hospital kitchens and estimated the predicted FVC, FEV1 and FEF25-75, based on age, sex, race, weight, and height, according to Knudson standards. NO2 measurements were obtained for 4 consecutive days during 4 different periods at 20-day intervals in each kitchen. Measurements were performed inside and outside the kitchens, simultaneously using Palm diffusion tubes. A time/exposure indicator was defined as representative of the cumulative exposure of each cook. No statistically significant effect of NO2 exposure on FVC was found. Each year of work as a cook corresponded to a decrease in predicted FEV1 of 2.5% (P = 0.046) for the group as a whole. When smoking status and asthma were included in the analysis the effect of time/exposure decreased about 10% and lost statistical significance. On predicted FEF25-75, a decrease of 3.5% (P = 0.035) was observed for the same group and the inclusion of controllers for smoking status and asthma did not affect the effects of time/exposure on pulmonary function parameter. After a 10-year period of work as cooks the participants of the study may present decreases in both predicted FEV1 and FEF25-75 that can reach 20 and 30%, respectively. The present study showed small but statistically significant adverse effects of gas stove exposure on the lung function of professional cooks.