Classificação do mel em floral ou mel de melato

O mel é um produto natural de abelhas fabricado a partir do néctar das flores (mel floral) e de secreções de partes vivas das plantas, ou de excreções de insetos sugadores de partes vivas das plantas (mel de melato). O melato é uma fonte alternativa de alimento bastante utilizada pela abelha. Em Santa Catarina, o mel de melato é muito conhecido, sendo produzido nos meses de janeiro a abril, em ciclos bianuais. Foram colhidas aleatoriamente 25 amostras de mel, no período de janeiro/93 a junho/96, de diferentes apiários e datas de colheita. Foram determinados os teores de umidade, pH, cinzas e açúcares redutores. Os resultados foram utilizados na aplicação da equação de Kirkwood para classificar o mel como floral ou de melato. As amostras também foram analisadas quanto à rotação óptica para classificação de acordo com White. Das 25 amostras analisadas, 11 foram classificadas como mel de melato de acordo com Kirkwood e White. O estudo estatístico, feito pela aplicação do teste exato de Fisher, indicou que, apesar da divergência em 4 amostras, estes métodos são equivalentes e ambos podem ser usados.

Effect of genotype, finishing system, and sex on physiochemical characteristics of goat meat

Seventy-eight kids of both sexes and five genotypes were used: Alpine, ½ Boer + ½ Alpine (½ BA), ¾ Boer + ¼ Alpine, ½ Anglo-nubian + ½ Alpine and "tricross" (½ Anglo-nubian + ¼ Boer + ¼ Alpine) with initial average weight of 14.1 ± 2.5. The objective was to evaluate the effect of genotype, finishing system, and sex on the physiochemical characteristics of goat meat. Finishing systems were: ST1 - kid + dam in pasture and ST2 - weaned kid and feedlot. Kids in ST1 were kept in an area with Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania, and after grazing, water and mineral salt/mix were fed ad libitum to the animals. The animals in ST2 were confined in collective pens distributed according to genotypes and received diet with 16% CP and 73% TDN. The values of pH, a* (red content), Cooking Loss (CL), and Ether Extract (EE) percentage were influenced by genotype. Values for red content (a*) and L* (brightness), CL and percentages of moisture, protein, EE, and ash were influenced by the finishing system. Longissimus dorsi muscle from animals ½ BA exhibited better physiochemical characteristics. For greater tenderness and higher percentages of fat, consumers should choose female kid goat meat.

Floral biology and characterization of seed germination in physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.)

The objective of this study was to characterize morphologically the seed germination and floral biology of Jatropha curcas grown in Viçosa, Minas Gerais state. The floral biology study was made on fresh inflorescences of 20 plants. For the post-seminal development study, the seeds were submitted to laboratory and greenhouse germination test. J. curcas has flowers of both sexes within the same inflorescence, with each inflorescence having an average of 131 flowers, being 120 male and 10.5 female flowers. Low numbers of hermaphrodite flowers were also found, ranging from 0 to 6 flowers per inflorescence. The germination of J. curcas begins on the third day with radicle protrusion in the hilum region. The primary root is cylindrical, thick, glabrous and branches rapidly, with about 4-5 branches three days after protrusion, when the emergence of the secondary roots begins. Seed coat removal occurs around the 8th day, when the endosperm is almost totally degraded and offers no resistance to the cotyledons that expand between the 10th and 12th day. A normal seedling has a long greenish hypocotyl, two cotyledons, a robust primary root and several lateral roots. On the 12th day after sowing, the normal seedling is characterized as phanerocotylar and germination is epigeal.