Nutritional potential of green banana flour obtained by drying in spouted bed

This study evaluated the chemical composition of peeled and unpeeled green banana Cavendish (AAA) flour obtained by drying in spouted bed, aiming at adding nutritional value to food products. The bananas were sliced and crushed to obtain a paste and fed to the spouted bed dryer (12 cm height and T = 80 ºC) in order to obtain flour. The flours obtained were subjected to analysis of moisture, protein, ash, carbohydrates, total starch, resistant starch, fiber. The green banana flours, mainly unpeeled, are good sources of fiber and resistant starch with an average of 21.91g/100g and 68.02g/100g respectively. The protein content was found in an average of 4.76g/100g, being classified as a low biological value protein with lysine as the first limiting amino acid. The results showed that unpeeled green banana flour obtained by spouted bed drying can be a valuable tool to add nutritional value to products in order to increase their non-digestible fraction.

"Green chemistry": os 12 princípios da química verde e sua inserção nas atividades de ensino e pesquisa

Green chemistry ¾ defined as the design, development, and application of chemical processes and products to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of substances hazardous to human health and the environment. This article summarizes the 12 principles of green chemistry, describing how they have been applied to the academic, industrial and research activities around the world.

Electrochemistry and green chemical processes: electrochemical ozone production

After an introductory discussion emphasising the importance of electrochemistry for the so-called Green Chemical Processes, the article presents a short discussion of the classical ozone generation technologies. Next a revision of the electrochemical ozone production technology focusing on such aspects as: fundamentals, latest advances, advantages and limitations of this technology is presented. Recent results about fundamentals of electrochemical ozone production obtained in our laboratory, using different electrode materials (e.g. boron doped diamond electrodes, lead dioxide and DSAÒ-based electrodes) also are presented. Different chemical processes of interest to the solution of environmental problems involving ozone are discussed.

Supercritical CO2 recovery of caffeine from green coffee oil: new experimental solubility data and modeling

The caffeine solubility in supercritical CO2 was studied by assessing the effects of pressure and temperature on the extraction of green coffee oil (GCO). The Peng-Robinson¹ equation of state was used to correlate the solubility of caffeine with a thermodynamic model and two mixing rules were evaluated: the classical mixing rule of van der Waals with two adjustable parameters (PR-VDW) and a density dependent one, proposed by Mohamed and Holder² with two (PR-MH, two parameters adjusted to the attractive term) and three (PR-MH3 two parameters adjusted to the attractive and one to the repulsive term) adjustable parameters. The best results were obtained with the mixing rule of Mohamed and Holder² with three parameters.

Flow injection green method for the quantitative analysis of ketoconazole in pharmaceutical preparations

A flow injection method for the quantitative analysis of ketoconazole in tablets, based on the reaction with iron (III) ions, is presented. Ketoconazole forms a red complex with iron ions in an acid medium, with maximum absorbance at 495 nm. The detection limit was estimated to be 1×10--4 mol L-1; the quantitation limit is about 3×10--4 mol L-1 and approximately 30 determinations can be performed in an hour. The results were compared with those obtained with a reference HPLC method. Statistical comparisons were done using the Student's t procedure and the F test. Complete agreement was found at the 0.95 significance level between the proposed flow injection and the HPLC procedures. The two methods present similar precision, i.e., for HPLC the mean relative standard deviation was ca. 1.2% and for FIA ca. 1.6%.

Arylation of β,γ-unsaturated lactones by a Heck-Matsuda reaction: an unexpected route to aryldiazene butenolides and pyridazinones

The palladium catalysed coupling of aryldiazonium salts with β-γ-unsaturated lactones under basic conditions has been investigated. Both (3H)-furanone and α-angelicalactone were evaluated as substrates in the Heck Matsuda reaction but both failed to afford the desired arylated butenolides. Under basic conditions, β-γ-unsaturated lactones generate highly nucleophilic enolates that preferentially undergo azo coupling reactions with arenediazonium salts to afford aryldiazene butenolides. The electronic and steric effect of the substituents on the aryldiazonium salt in the azo coupling reaction is described. Aryldiazene-lactone derivatives were obtained in good yields from a highly facile and straightforward procedure. An aminoisomaleimide was formed from (3H)-furanone and cyclised to the corresponding pyridazinones in modest yield.

A green synthesis of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds from glyceraldehyde acetonide

The catalytic behavior of Cs-exchanged and Cs-impregnated zeolites (X and Y) was studied using the Knoevenagel condensation between glyceraldehyde acetonide and ethyl acetoacetate in order to produce the corresponding α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound that is an important intermediate for fine chemicals. The influence of reaction temperature, type of zeolite, and basicity of the sites on the catalytic behavior of the samples was evaluated. All zeolites were active for the studied reaction. The formation of the main condensation product was favored at lower reaction temperatures. Products of further condensations were also observed especially for samples that were only dried before catalytic test.

Green tea in transdermal formulation: HPLC method for quality control and in vitro drug release assays

RP-HPLC based analytical method for use in both quality control of green tea in a semisolid formulation and for in vitro drug release assays was developed and validated. The method was precise (CV < 5%), accurate (recovery between 98% and 102%), linear (R² > 0.99), robust, and specific for the determination of epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG), caffeine (CAF), and gallic acid (GA). In a diffusion cell chamber, the release rate of EGCG was 8896.01 µg cm-2. This data showed that EGCG will be able to exert its systemic activity when delivered though the transdermal formulation, due to its good flux rates with the synthetic membrane.

Removal of Pb(II) ions and malachite green dye from wastewater by activated carbon produced from lemon peel

In the present study, a high-surface area activated carbon was prepared by chemical activation of lemon peel with H3PO4 as the active agent. Then, the adsorption behavior of Malachite green dye and Pb(II) ions on the produced activated carbon was studied. Batch process was employed for sorption kinetics and equilibrium studies. Experimental data were fitted to various isotherm models. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacities of Malachite green dye and Pb(II) ions were found to be 66.67 and 90.91 mg g-1, respectively, at room temperature. Kinetic studies showed the adsorption process followed a pseudo second-order rate model. The sorption kinetics were controlled by intra-particle diffusion. The results indicated that the produced activated carbon can be economically and effectively used as an adsorbent for the removal of Malachite green dye and Pb(II) ions from wastewaters.

Sensitive spectrophotometric determination of lamotrigine in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulations using bromocresol green

Two new, simple, rapid and reproducible spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of lamotrigine (LMT) both in pure form and in its tablets. The first method (method A) is based on the formation of a colored ion-pair complex (1:1 drug/dye) of LMT with bromocresol green (BCG) at pH 5.02±0.01 and extraction of the complex into dichloromethane followed by the measurement of the yellow ion-pair complex at 410 nm. In the second (method B), the drug-dye ion-pair complex was dissolved in ethanolic potassium hydroxide and the resulting base form of the dye was measured at 620 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 1.5-15 µg mL-1 and 0.5-5.0 µg mL-1 for method A and method B, respectively, and the corresponding molar absorptivity values are 1.6932 x 10(4) and 3.748 x 10(4) L mol-1cm-1. The Sandell sensitivity values are 0.0151 and 0.0068 µg cm-2 for method A and method B, respectively. The stoichiometry of the ion-pair complex formed between the dug and dye (1:1) was determined by Job's continuous variations method and the stability constant of the complex was also calculated. The proposed methods were applied successfully for the determination of drug in commercial tablets.

Susceptibility of leguminous green manure species to Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii

We studied the susceptibility of species used as green manure in common bean fields to root rot (Rhizoctonia solani) and southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsii). Seeds of Crotalaria breviflora, Canavalia ensiformis, Cajanus cajan, Dolichos lablab, Stizolobium cinereum, S. aterrimum, and the bean cvs. "Pérola", "Valente" and "Carnaval" were sown in soil infested by either R. solani AG-4 or S. rolfsii in greenhouse. The emergence of D. lablab seedlings in soil infested by R. solani dropped to 62%. C. breviflora, C. ensiformis and cv. "Valente" presented the lowest root rot severity. The pathogen S. rolfsii drastically reduced seedling emergence in all species; no C. cajan and S. cinereum seedling emerged. All plant species presented high southern blight severity. We conclude that leguminous crops are not suitable as green manure for areas of bean cultivation with high R. solani and S. rolfsii populations.

CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST ROADS AND DETERMINATION OF ROUTE USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

ABSTRACT Geographic Information System (GIS) is an indispensable software tool in forest planning. In forestry transportation, GIS can manage the data on the road network and solve some problems in transportation, such as route planning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the pattern of the road network and define transport routes using GIS technology. The present research was conducted in a forestry company in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The criteria used to classify the pattern of forest roads were horizontal and vertical geometry, and pavement type. In order to determine transport routes, a data Analysis Model Network was created in ArcGIS using an Extension Network Analyst, allowing finding a route shorter in distance and faster. The results showed a predominance of horizontal geometry classes average (3) and bad (4), indicating presence of winding roads. In the case of vertical geometry criterion, the class of highly mountainous relief (4) possessed the greatest extent of roads. Regarding the type of pavement, the occurrence of secondary coating was higher (75%), followed by primary coating (20%) and asphalt pavement (5%). The best route was the one that allowed the transport vehicle travel in a higher specific speed as a function of road pattern found in the study.

Potential of utilization of rain water excess for irrigation of green roofs in Mato Grosso, Brasil

The aim of this study was to identify the relation between the evapotranspirometer demand and the supply of water from local rainfall, evaluating the possibility of using water excess for irrigation of Green Roofs in the State of Mato Grosso, in Brazil. The study was done using a series of historical data provided by the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET - Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia) which has official climatological stations in 12 cities and regions of the State. The evapotranspiration values were obtained by the Penman-Monteith method and by the Climatic Water Balance (CWB) by the Thornthwaite and Mather method using Available Water Capacity (AWC) of 12mm. With the CWB the excess and deficit were calculated, which were used for the estimative of the volume and area of a reservoir as a function of a collector area of a roof of 100m² and the volume of supplementary water for irrigation. With the obtained results, it was found that in most investigated regions of the State the use of green roofs is not compromised by the water deficiency. On the other hand, the use of a reservoir to accumulate the rain water excess may be impractical, because it requires a considerable area for installation and also because of the high cost of the land.

Hematological and histopathological evaluation of wildlife green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with and without fibropapilloma from the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil

Blood profiles were determined in 47 juvenile green turtles, Chelonia mydas, from São Paulo northern coast, Brazil. Twenty-nine were affected by fibropapillomas and 18 were tumor free. Complete gross and histopathologic examinations of the fibropapillo were performed in 21 green turtles. Biometrical data, size, location and amount of tumors were recorded. The papillomas varied in morphology, location, size, color and texture. We found hyperplastic stroma, rich in blood vessels and connective tissue with increase in thickness of the dermis. The tumors w0ere classified as papillomas or fibropapillomas according to their epithelial and/or stromal proliferation. The lowest Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (HCM) values were observed in affected turtles.

Weed control and green ear yield in maize

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of weeding frequency on cultivar Centralmex green corn yield. Two experiments were conducted in Mossoró-RN (Brazil), with the use of sprinkler irrigation. A random block design with four replicates was used. It was observed that the total number and weight (TW) of unhusked green ears, the number and weight of marketable unhusked ears and the number and weight of marketable husked ears were reduced under no weeding treatment. The number timing of weedings did not influence green corn yield, except for one weeding at 60 DAP, which was equivalent to the "no weeding" treatment, for TW. When maize is marketed considering the total number of green ears, higher net income is obtained when one weeding is carried out 45 days after planting.