Analysis of Brazilian consumer preference of filled chocolate

Chocolate is the most popular product made from cocoa. It is mainly consumed with fillings, such as fondant, hydrogenated fat or fruits. This work aimed at assessing the sensory acceptability of chocolate filled with strawberry, orange or passion fruit pulps, mixed in fondant, in a hydrogenated fat base and as truffles. Ninety four consumers participated in the test using a 10 cm hedonic scale to rate the overall liking of the samples. Two-way analysis of variance and the Internal Preference Mapping technique were used to analyze the data. Results showed a good overall liking for almost all samples, especially for strawberry and passion fruit truffles, which obtained 8.4 and 8.8 global means, respectively (p < 0.05), in liking ratings, followed by the hydrogenated fat and fondant fillings. The Internal Preference Map presented two dimensions explaining 72.5% of the variation found. Regarding the flavors, strawberry - traditional in chocolate and confectionary in Brazil - and passion fruit obtained better acceptance, unlike the orange fillings, which showed significantly lower ratings (p < 0.05). The orange fondant filling obtained a global mean of 6.5.

Soy and Brazil nut beverage: processing, composition, sensory, and color evaluation

Despite its high nutritional value, soymilk consumption in Western countries is limited mainly due to undesirable flavors developed during the traditional elaboration process. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) has pleasant flavor and recognized nutritional value. Thus, the aim of this work was to elaborate a soy and Brazil nut beverage exploring the use of two national products of high nutritional quality. The process for manufacturing a soy and Brazil nut beverage consisted of elaboration, formulation, and homogenization of soymilk and Brazil nut milk. The addition of five levels (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%) of Brazil nut milk to soy beverages was investigated. Although no significant differences in consumer average preference (p > 0.05) were observed among the beverages, analyzing both the consumer preference frequency distribution of the products and the Internal Preference Mapping (IPM), it was possible to conclude that the beverage with 30% of Brazil nut milk reached the most adequate performance demonstrating the sensory benefits Brazil nuts brought to the product. Regarding proximate composition, it did not present a better performance in terms of nutritional value, except for the oil content. The soy and Brazil nut beverage presented visual stability and no phase separation despite the non-stability shown by Brazil nut beverage itself. When Brazil nut milk was added to soy beverage, the final product became whiter than soy beverage, which is appealing to consumers who normally search for a clearer soymilk. The soy and Brazil nut beverage processing can be considered an alternative to increase the use of Brazil nuts in the Brazilian diet.

Sensory and physicochemical evaluation of acerola nectar sweetened with sucrose and different sweeteners

This paper aims to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics, sensory acceptance, and purchase intent of acerola nectar sweetened with sucrose and other sweeteners (neotame, sucralose and stevia extracts with 40%, 60%, 80%, and 95% rebaudioside A). The analyses were carried out for pH, soluble solids, total titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, and colorimetry (L*a*b). The acceptance test was performed by 120 consumers who evaluated the appearance, aroma, flavor, texture, and overall impression of the samples using a 9-cm unstructured hedonic scale. Furthermore, the consumers were asked to rate overall purchase intent along the scale anchored with (1) "would definitely not purchase" to (5) "would definitely purchase." The results were evaluated using analysis of variance/Tukey test and the internal preference mapping technique. The acerola nectar samples did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between themselves in terms of vitamin C content and total titratable acidity. As for appearance and aroma, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the samples, and as for flavor and overall impression, the most accepted samples were those with sucrose and sucralose. The internal preference mapping indicated that the most accepted samples were those with sucrose, sucralose, and neotame were. The highest frequency of positive purchase intent scores was observed for sucrose and sucralose.

Development and chemical and sensory characterization of pumpkin seed flour-based cereal bars

Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), popularly known as squash, is a widely grown vegetable in Brazil. In this study, pumpkin seed flours (PSF) with different granulometries were used: PSF 1 (medium granulometry) and PSF 2 (coarse granulometry) in the preparation of cereal bars (CB) with different combinations with brown oats. Five formulations were prepared: CB-1 (control - 25% brown oats and 0% PSF); CB-2 (12.5% PSF 1 and 12.5% brown oats); CB-3 (25% PSF 1 and 0% brown oats); CB-4 (12.5% PSF 2 and 12.5% brown oats); and CB-5 (25% PSF 2 and 0% brown oats). The acceptance test results were analyzed in a conventional preference mapping which indicated that the bars CB-2 and CB-5 received mostly the maximum hedonistic score. With the objective of developing a cereal bar replacing oats with PSF, the bars CB-2 and CB-5 were compared to the conventional bar CB-1. The cereal bars CB-2 and CB-5 showed an increase in crude protein (87.5% and 62.5%) and in dietary fiber (77% and 44%), respectively. These results allowed the classification of CB-2 and CB-5 as fiber sources; they can, therefore, be classified as light products according to the Brazilian legislation.

Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of pan bread samples available in the Brazilian market

Pan bread samples available in the Brazilian market were evaluated for their physicochemical and sensory characteristics. Twelve pan breads, seven white and five whole grain breads, were evaluated. Moisture, water activity (Aw), firmness, and color (L*, a*, b*) of the crumb were evaluated on the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth days after purchasing the breads. Specific volume was evaluated on the first day of analysis with averages of 4.72 and 4.70 mL/g for the white and whole grain breads, respectively. The average results on the first day of analysis were: 37.03% and 41.23% moisture, 0.954 and 0.966 Aw, 276.27 and 267.83 gf firmness, 74.73 and 64.45 L* values, 0.37 and 3.85 a* values, and 15.51 and 18.98 b* values for the white and whole grain breads, respectively. The samples showed an increase in firmness, reduction in moisture and Aw, and no color changes over time. A survey conducted prior to the acceptance test showed that the three most important factors influencing purchase were taste (19.6%), tenderness (16.8%), and expiration date of the product (14.3%). The results showed that 37.2% of the panelists preferred white bread, 62.8% preferred bread with fibers, and 82.6% would probably or definitely buy white bread with fibers.

Cajá-flavored drinks: a proposal for mixed flavor beverages and a study of the consumer profile

Mixed flavor beverages represent a trend that is gaining the allegiance of potential fruit juice consumers. The present study proposed to prepare mixed flavor beverages and verify their consumer acceptance. Cajá beverage (sample A) was used as the standard. The other beverages were prepared by mixing the cajá-flavored product with other flavors: strawberry (B), pineapple (C), jabuticaba (D), mango (E) and cashew (F). The consumer profiles in the two regions studied were similar. Overall beverages B, A and F were the most accepted, with scores of 7.7, 6.4 and 6.2, respectively. Internal Preference Mapping showed that most of the consumers were located near beverages A, B and F, confirming the acceptance results. The consumers indicated appearance and flavor as the most appreciated characteristics in beverages A, B and F. Beverages A, B and F presented higher total soluble solids contents and viscosities than the other beverages. Consumer segmentation did not depend on the different levels of familiarity with the cajá flavor. Thus the preparation of mixed flavor beverages of cajá-strawberry and cajá-cashew is an excellent proposal because it presents flavors with good potential for marketing in different regions of Brazil.

Mapping the Obama administration's response to the Arab Spring

When the Arab Spring broke out, the United States was in a quandary over how to handle the crisis in its attempt to balance its moral obligations and ideals without undercutting its strategic interests and those of its close allies. Flaws in US diplomatic approach have contributed to one of the most serious foreign policy crisis for a US administration to date with consequential upheaval and erosion of the US-built balance of power. The reactions and policy responses of the Obama administration highlight the difficulties in grasping with the new reality in the Middle East and in enunciating a policy platform that could combine American interests and values.

Feeding non-preference by Spodoptera frugiperda and Spodoptera eridania on tomato genotypes

Larvae of the genus Spodoptera spp. are highly polyphagous and can cause economical losses in several agricultural crops. Given their growing importance in the tomato crop, especially for industry, this work aimed to evaluate the feeding non-preference by larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith, 1797) and Spodoptera eridania (Cramer, 1782) on tomato genotypes and classify them by the levels of resistance. The commercial cultivar Santa Clara was set as the susceptible standard and line PI 134417 as the resistant standard to evaluate the lines PI 134418, PI 126931, LA 462 and LA 716. Feeding non-preference tests were performed under non-choice and free-choice conditions to evaluate the genotype attractiveness to larvae at predetermined times after their release, as well as the leaf area consumed. Overall, the genotypes LA 716 and PI 126931 were the least attractive to S. frugiperda, whereas Santa Clara was the most attractive and consumed. For S. eridania, the genotypes PI 126931, LA 462, LA 716 and PI 134418 were the least preferred for feeding, and Santa Clara and PI 134417 were the most attractive and consumed. The genotypes LA 716 and PI 126931 are moderately resistant to S. frugiperda and S. eridania; PI 134418 and LA 462 are moderately resistant to S. eridania; PI 134417 is susceptible to S. frugiperda and S. eridania; and Santa Clara is highly susceptible to both S. frugiperda and S. eridania.

Preference of Biomphalaria tenagophila among macrophytes and their periphytons determined through the degree of attractiveness

In presence of extracts of six flowering plants the Biomphalaria tenagophila was more attracted to four them in the following sequence: Nasturtium pumilum > Polygonum acre > Commelina sp. = Echinochloa crusgalli. The periphyton of these flowering plants attracted in the same way the B. tenagophila but without no preference for either of them. Reporting the results that behavior may be evaluated as a co-evolution between snail and plants.

Mapping of a Leishmania major gene/locus that confers pentamidine resistance by deletion and insertion of transposable element

Pentamidine (PEN) is an alternative compound to treat antimony-resistant leishmaniasis patients, which cellular target remains unclear. One approach to the identification of prospective targets is to identify genes able to mediate PEN resistance following overexpression. Starting from a genomic library of transfected parasites bearing a multicopy episomal cosmid vector containing wild-type Leishmania major DNA, we isolated one locus capable to render PEN resistance to wild type cells after DNA transfection. In order to map this Leishmania locus, cosmid insert was deleted by two successive sets of partial digestion with restriction enzymes, followed by transfection into wild type cells, overexpression, induction and functional tests in the presence of PEN. To determine the Leishmania gene related to PEN resistance, nucleotide sequencing experiments were done through insertion of the transposon Mariner element of Drosophila melanogaster (mosK) into the deleted insert to work as primer island. Using general molecular techniques, we described here this method that permits a quickly identification of a functional gene facilitating nucleotide sequence experiments from large DNA fragments. Followed experiments revealed the presence of a P-Glycoprotein gene in this locus which role in Leishmania metabolism has now been analyzed.

Mapping of Chagas disease research: analysis of publications in the period between 1940 and 2009

INTRODUCTION: Publications are often used as a measure of success in research work. Chagas disease occurs in Central and Southern America. However, during the past years, the disease has been occurring outside Latin America due to migration from endemic zones. This article describes a bibliometric review of the literature on Chagas disease research indexed in PubMed during a 70-year period. METHODS: Medline was used via the PubMed online service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine from 1940 to 2009. The search strategy was: Chagas disease [MeSH] OR Trypanosoma cruzi [MeSH]. RESULTS: A total of 13,989 references were retrieved. The number of publications increased steadily over time from 1,361 (1940-1969) to 5,430 (2000-2009) (coefficient of determination for linear fit, R²=0.910). Eight journals contained 25% of the Chagas disease literature. Of the publications, 64.2% came from endemic countries. Brazil was the predominant country (37%), followed by the United States (17.6%) and Argentina (14%). The ranking in production changed when the number of publications was normalized by estimated cases of Chagas disease (Panama and Uruguay), population (Argentina and Uruguay), and gross domestic product (Bolivia and Brazil). CONCLUSIONS: Several Latin American countries, where the prevalence of T. cruzi infection was not very high, were the main producers of the Chagas disease literature, after adjusting for economic and population indexes. The countries with more estimated cases of Chagas disease produced less research on Chagas disease than some developed countries.

Characteristics and identification of sites of chagasic ventricular tachycardia by endocardial mapping

OBJECTIVE: To study electrophysiological characteristics that enable the identification and ablation of sites of chagasic tachycardia. METHODS: Thirty-one patients with chronic Chagas' heart disease and sustained ventricular tachycardia (SVT) underwent electrophysiological study to map and ablate that arrhythmia. Fifteen patients had hemodinamically stable SVT reproducible by programmed ventricular stimulation, 9 men and 6 women with ages ranging from 37 to 67 years and ejection fraction varying from 0.17 to 0.64. Endocardial mapping was performed during SVT in all patients. Radiofrequency (RF) current was applied to sites of presystolic activity of at least 30 ms. Entrainment was used to identify reentrant circuits. In both successful and unsuccessful sites of RF current application, electrogram and entrainment were analyzed. RESULTS: Entrainment was obtained during all mapped SVT. In 70.5% of the sites we observed concealed entrainment and ventricular tachycardia termination in the first 15 seconds of RF current application. In the unsuccessful sites, significantly earlier electrical activity was seen than in the successful ones. Concealed entrainment was significantly associated with ventricular tachycardia termination. Bystander areas were not observed. CONCLUSION: The reentrant mechanism was responsible for the genesis of all tachycardias. In 70.5% of the studied sites, the endocardial participation of the slow conducting zone of reentrant circuits was shown. Concealed entrainment was the main electrophysiological parameter associated with successful RF current application. There was no electrophysiological evidence of bystander regions in the mapped circuits of SVT.

Treatment of atrial fibrillation with radiofrequency ablation and simultaneous multipolar mapping of the pulmonary veins

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility and safety of simultaneous catheterization and mapping of the 4 pulmonary veins for ablation of atrial fibrillation. METHODS: Ten patients, 8 with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and 2 with persistent atrial fibrillation, refractory to at least 2 antiarrhythmic drugs and without structural cardiopathy, were consecutively studied. Through the transseptal insertion of 2 long sheaths, 4 pulmonary veins were simultaneously catheterized with octapolar microcatheters. After identification of arrhythmogenic foci radiofrequency was applied under angiographic or ultrasonographic control. RESULTS: During 17 procedures, 40 pulmonary veins were mapped, 16 of which had local ectopic activity, related or not with the triggering of atrial fibrillation paroxysms. At the end of each procedure, suppression of arrhythmias was obtained in 8 patients, and elimination of pulmonary vein potentials was accomplished in 4. During the clinical follow-up of 9.6±3 months, 7 patients remained in sinus rhythm, 5 of whom were using antiarrhythmic drugs that had previously been ineffective. None of the patients had pulmonary hypertension or evidence of stenosis in the pulmonary veins. CONCLUSION: Selective and simultaneous catheterization of the 4 pulmonary veins with microcatheters for simultaneous recording of their electrical activity is a feasible and safe procedure that may help ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Useful clinical features for the selection of ideal patients with strial fibrillation for mapping and catheter ablation

OBJECTIVE: To identify useful clinical characteristics for selecting patients eligible for mapping and ablation of atrial fibrillation. METHODS: We studied 9 patients with atrial fibrillation, without structural heart disease, associated with: 1) antiarrhythmic drugs, 2) symptoms of low cardiac output, and 3) intention to treat. Seven patients had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and 2 had recurrent atrial fibrillation. RESULTS: In the 6 patients who underwent mapping (all had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation), catheter ablation was successfully carried out in superior pulmonary veins in 5 patients (the first 3 in the left superior pulmonary vein and the last 2 in the right superior pulmonary vein). One patient experienced a recurrence of atrial fibrillation after 10 days. We observed that patients who had short episodes of atrial fibrillation on 24-hour Holter monitoring before the procedure were those in whom mapping the focus of tachycardia was possible. Tachycardia was successfully suppressed in 4 of 6 patients. The cause of failure was due to the impossibility of maintaining sinus rhythm long enough for efficient mapping. CONCLUSION: Patients experiencing short episodes of atrial fibrillation during 24-hour Holter monitoring were the most eligible for mapping and ablation, with a final success rate of 66%, versus the global success rate of 44%. Patients with persistent atrial fibrillation were not good candidates for focal ablation.

Oviposition preference hierarchy in Ceratitis capitata (Diptera, Tephritidae): influence of female age and experience

The influence of two factors, age and previous experience, on the oviposition hierarchy preference of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) females was studied. Two populations were analyzed: one reared in laboratory during 17 years and the other captured in nature. In the first experiment the oviposition preference for four fruits, papaya, orange, banana and apple was tested at the beginning of oviposition period and 20 days past. The results showed that the wild females as much the laboratory ones had an oviposition preference hierarchy at the beginning of peak period of oviposition. However this hierarchic preference disappeared in a later phase of life. In the second experiment the females were previously exposed to fruits of different hierarchic positions and afterwards their choice was tested in respect to the oviposition preference for those fruits. The results showed that there was an influence of the previous experience on the posterior choice of fruits to oviposition when the females were exposed to fruits of lower hierarchic position.