Effect of process variables on the osmotic dehydration of star-fruit slices

The objective of this work was to study the effect of blanching and the influence of temperature, solution concentration, and the initial fruit:solution ratio on the osmotic dehydration of star-fruit slices. For blanching, different concentrations of citric and ascorbic acids were studied. The samples immersed in 0.75% citric acid presented little variation in color in relation to the fresh star-fruit. Osmotic dehydration was carried out in an incubator with orbital shaking, controlled temperature, and constant shaking at 120 rpm. The influence of process variables was studied in trials defined by a complete 23 central composite design. In general, water loss and solids gain were positively influenced by temperature and by solution concentration. Nevertheless, lower temperatures reduced water loss throughout the osmotic dehydration process. An increase in the amount of dehydrating solution (initial fruit:solution ratio) slightly influenced the evaluated responses. The process carried out at 50 ºC with a solution concentration of 50% resulted in a product with lower solids gain and greater water loss. Under these conditions, blanching minimized the effect of the osmotic treatment on star-fruit browning, and therefore the blanched fruits showed little variation in color in relation to the fresh fruit.

Application of Doehlert experimental design in the optimization of experimental variables for the Pseudozyma sp. (CCMB 306) and Pseudozyma sp. (CCMB 300) cell lysis

This study aimed to verify the influence of pH and temperature on the lysis of yeast using experimental design. In this study, the enzymatic extract containing β-1,3-glucanase and chitinase, obtained from the micro-organism Moniliophthora perniciosa, was used. The experiment showed that the best conditions for lysis of Pseudozyma sp. (CCMB 306) and Pseudozyma sp. (CCMB 300) by lytic enzyme were pH 4.9 at 37 ºC and pH 3.9 at 26.7 ºC, respectively. The lytic enzyme may be used for obtaining various biotechnology products from yeast.

Optimization of extrusion variables for the production of snacks from by-products of rice and soybean

This study aimed to define the process conditions to obtain snacks from the by-products of rice and soybean with physical characteristics suitable for marketing. Therefore, the effects of moisture and extrusion temperature on the expansion and color of the products obtained experimentally obtained were evaluated, and the proximate composition of the by-products and that of the snack with greater desirability were determined. Response surface methodology and rotational central composite design were used, and desirability test based on the regression models adjusted was applied. The most desirable snack, with the highest expansion index (3.39), specific volume (13.5 mL.g-1), and the chromaticity coordinate a* (2.79), was obtained under 12 g.100 g-1 moisture and 85ºC of temperature in the third zone of the extruder. The snack produced under these conditions attained content of protein and lipid content 41 and 64% higher than that of the traditional corn snack. It can be concluded that producing extruded snack made form a mixture of broken grains, rice bran, and soybean okara (81:9:10) is technologically feasible, enabling the development of a new product with good nutritional value that can improve the diet of children, the main consumers of this type of food.

Evaluation of the influence of seasonality and landscape on the physicochemical characteristics of propolis

This study aimed at verifying the influence of the seasonality and landscape of the place of apiaries in the production and physicochemical quality of propolis produced in Cáceres-MT. Within August/2006 and July/2007 twenty-three propolis samples were collected monthly. The physicochemical quality of propolis was determined by the characteristic: loss by drying, wax, mechanical mass, oxidation activity, dry extract, flavonoids and total phenolics. The production of propolis was analyzed through correlation with seasonality (dry and wet). The same statistic model was used to correlate the production with the landscape (highland and flood plain). For each physicochemical characteristic were used statistic model of correlation described for the production of propolis. The seasonality did not influence on propolis production and on physicochemical quality. The landscape did not influence on propolis production and physicochemical quality loss by drying and mechanical mass, however, it determined the physicochemical quality for wax (x=22.44%), oxidation activity (x=9.73''), dry extract (x=22.31%), flavonoids (x=1.94%) and total phenolics (x=0.02%) in the highland of the Pantanal of Cáceres. This way it concludes that the production and physicochemical quality of propolis were not influenced by seasonality. The landscape influenced positively on physicochemical quality of propolis in the highland of the Pantanal of Cáceres.

Interdependence of Macroeconomics Variables, Stock Market Returns and Stock Market Volatility in Latin America

This thesis examines the interdependence of macroeconomic variables, stock market returns and stock market volatility in Latin America between 2000 and 2015. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru were chosen as the sample markets, while inflation, interest rate, exchange rate, money supply, oil and gold were chosen as the sample macroeconomic variables. Bivariate VAR (1) model was applied to examine the mean return spillovers between the variables, whereas GARCH (1, 1) – BEKK model was applied to capture the volatility spillovers. The sample was divided into two smaller sub-periods, where the first sub-period covers from 2000 to 2007, and the second sub-period covers from 2007 to 2015. The empirical results report significant shock transmissions and volatility spillovers between inflation, interest rate, exchange rate, money supply, gold, oil and the selected markets, which suggests interdependence between the variables.

Effects of orange winemaking variables on antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds

AbstractAscorbic acid, carotenoids and polyphenols stand out among the orange juice natural antioxidants. The winemaking process affects their bioavailability and bioactivity. Antioxidant activities (AA) were estimated in different process conditions to asses those properties. The AA and their correlation with ascorbic acid, total phenolics and carotenoids content were calculated. The variables and levels analyzed were: pasteurized and natural must (PJ and NJ), pH 3.5 and 4.0 and fermentation temperatures at 10°C and 20°C. Statistically significant differences (α=0.05) were found among bioactive compounds concentrations. Antioxidant compounds concentration was higher in raw material than in orange wine. Juice pasteurization caused the major losses while subsequent vinification affects them to a lesser extent. Highest antioxidants retention was measured in wines from JN fermented at pH 3.5 and 10 °C (JN-3.5-10) followed by wines from JP and fermented at the same conditions (JP-3.5-10). AA determined by DPPH showed a positive and close correlation with FRAP, while ABTS showed a low correlation with former assays. Juice pasteurization process and fermentation temperature influenced bioactive compound reduction which correlates with the AA variation.

Modelling ecological values in heterogeneous and dynamic landscapes with geospatial data

Our surrounding landscape is in a constantly dynamic state, but recently the rate of changes and their effects on the environment have considerably increased. In terms of the impact on nature, this development has not been entirely positive, but has rather caused a decline in valuable species, habitats, and general biodiversity. Regardless of recognizing the problem and its high importance, plans and actions of how to stop the detrimental development are largely lacking. This partly originates from a lack of genuine will, but is also due to difficulties in detecting many valuable landscape components and their consequent neglect. To support knowledge extraction, various digital environmental data sources may be of substantial help, but only if all the relevant background factors are known and the data is processed in a suitable way. This dissertation concentrates on detecting ecologically valuable landscape components by using geospatial data sources, and applies this knowledge to support spatial planning and management activities. In other words, the focus is on observing regionally valuable species, habitats, and biotopes with GIS and remote sensing data, using suitable methods for their analysis. Primary emphasis is given to the hemiboreal vegetation zone and the drastic decline in its semi-natural grasslands, which were created by a long trajectory of traditional grazing and management activities. However, the applied perspective is largely methodological, and allows for the application of the obtained results in various contexts. Models based on statistical dependencies and correlations of multiple variables, which are able to extract desired properties from a large mass of initial data, are emphasized in the dissertation. In addition, the papers included combine several data sets from different sources and dates together, with the aim of detecting a wider range of environmental characteristics, as well as pointing out their temporal dynamics. The results of the dissertation emphasise the multidimensionality and dynamics of landscapes, which need to be understood in order to be able to recognise their ecologically valuable components. This not only requires knowledge about the emergence of these components and an understanding of the used data, but also the need to focus the observations on minute details that are able to indicate the existence of fragmented and partly overlapping landscape targets. In addition, this pinpoints the fact that most of the existing classifications are too generalised as such to provide all the required details, but they can be utilized at various steps along a longer processing chain. The dissertation also emphases the importance of landscape history as an important factor, which both creates and preserves ecological values, and which sets an essential standpoint for understanding the present landscape characteristics. The obtained results are significant both in terms of preserving semi-natural grasslands, as well as general methodological development, giving support to science-based framework in order to evaluate ecological values and guide spatial planning.

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1912/06/16 (A1,N3).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1913/02/02 (A2,N36).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1894/07/22 (A1,N3).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1912/10/06 (A1,N19).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1895/09/15 (A2,N23).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1912/09/01 (A1,N14).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1912/08/11 (A1,N11).

Paramé mondain : Echo des plages de Paramé et de Rothéneuf, programme hebdomadaire du casino de Paramé, "puis sous-titre variables"

1912/09/08 (A1,N15).