Compostos antioxidantes e sua importância nos organismos

A large amount of external factors that can foster the emergence of free radicals in organisms has created a imminent need for understanding and technologies that enables the search of antioxidant componds and extraction of antioxidants from natural sources. These compounds have great potential for kidnapping free radicals which are highly harmful to organisms, being the principal responsible for the decrease in the shelf life of foods, and aging. These free radicals are also related to diseases such as AIDS, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and others. Fruits and vegetables are true mines of compounds with antioxidant potential, its vitamins and phenolic compounds present an essential role in the nutrition of living beings acting as a defense against degradation of lipids and proteins, which indicates the importance of a diet rich in these nutrients, given that part of the antioxidant defenses of the body comes from the diet. This revision study aims to put in evidence the indispensable role of antioxidants in the survival of organisms.

Improved pretreatments applied to the sugarcane bagasse and release of lignin and hemicellulose from the cellulose-enriched fractions by sulfuric acid hydrolysis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Atividade antioxidante e determinação de fenóis totais, carotenoides, betacarotenos, licopeno e zinco em variedades branca, amarela e rosada de Manihot Esculenta Crantz

There are cassava varieties that present compounds as carotenoids, beta-carotene, lycopene and minerals important for human and animal health. The present study evaluated the antioxidant activity of the white, yellow and pinkish varieties of Manihot esculenta, by mean of the DPPH test and by the ferrous ion-chelating activity. Furthermore, the total phenols, carotenoids, beta-carotene, lycopene and zinc contents were also determined. Utilizing the DPPH test it was possible to find that extracts of boiled samples presented higher antioxidant activity (89.53% - pinkish) in comparison to the fresh samples (1.97% - white). For the ferrous ion-chelating test, the highest activity was found for the boiled pinkish variety extract (63.43%) and the lowest was for fresh yellow extract (17.34%) the white sample did not present activity. The highest concentration of total phenols and zinc content was obtained for the boiled pinkish variety extract 136.12 mg EAG/g of extract and 0,811ppm, respectively, in the concentration of 1000 µg/mL. The pinkish variety presented also higher quantity of pigments, including carotenoid (29.40 µg/g), beta-carotene (9.14 µg/100g) and lycopene (68.92%). According to the results obtained in this study it was possible to conclude that the yellow and pinkish varieties of M. esculenta present quantity of phenolic compounds and minerals sufficient to attribute the antioxidant activity and may thus contribute to reduce oxidative damage and be used as nutraceuticals or directly ingested in the diet to maintain good health.

Estudo da compatibilidade de atemoia ((Annona cherimola Mill. X Annona squamosa L. CV. 'THOMOSON') enxertada em araticum-de-terra-fria [Annona emarginata (Schltdl.) H. Rainer variedade terra-fria] e biribá [[Annona mucosa (Bai.) H. Rainer]

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Influência do desponte de panículas de sorgo sacarino sobre a qualidade da matéria-prima e produção de bioetanol

Pós-graduação em Microbiologia Agropecuária - FCAV

Avaliação da citotoxicidade e atividade antioxidante de plantas condimentares

Pós-graduação em Biociências - FCLAS

Não preferência para alimentação e antibiose em genótipos de feijoeiro a Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. SMITH, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Produção Vegetal) - FCAV

Aceitabilidade e qualidade nutricional de beterrabas in natura e pré-processadas submetidas a diferentes métodos de cocção

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Compostos bioativos e atividade sequestrante de radicais livres de quatro cultivares do Coffea arabica L. em diferentes estádios de maturação dos frutos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Capacidade antioxidante e compostos bioativos em hortaliças analisadas em dois períodos de cultivo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Physicochemical characterisation and radical-scavenging activity of Cucurbitaceae seed oils

Oils extracted from Cucurbitaceae seeds were characterised for their fatty acid and tocopherol compositions. In addition, some physicochemical characteristics, total phenolic contents and the radical-scavenging activities were determined. Oil content amounted to 23.9% and 27.1% in melon and watermelon seeds, respectively. Physicochemical characteristics were similar to those of other edible oils and the oils showed significant antioxidant activities. Fatty acid composition showed total unsaturated fatty acid content of 85.2–83.5%, with linoleic acid being the dominant fatty acid (62.4–72.5%), followed by oleic acid (10.8–22.7%) and palmitic acid (9.2–9.8%). The oils, especially watermelon seed oil, showed high total tocopherol and phenolic contents. The γ-tocopherol was the predominant tocopherol in both oils representing 90.9 and 95.6% of the total tocopherols in melon and watermelon seed oils, respectively. The potential utilisation of melon and watermelon seed oils as a raw material for food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries appears to be favourable.

Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus (Gomes) L. R. Landrum (Myrtaceae): stem and leaf anatomy of a medicinal plant

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico(CNPq)

Phytotoxicity of Tagetes erecta L. and Tagetes patula L. on plant germination and growth

This study evaluated the phytotoxic potential and antioxidant activity of Tagetes patula and Tagetes erecta, and total phenols and flavonoids of the extracts were quantified. Laboratory bioassays for both pre- and post-emergence were performed in Lactuca sativa L. seeds and in the Allium cepa seeds test. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging and reducing power of iron, besides total phenols and flavonoids quantification in the extracts. Thus, was observed a reduction in the mitotic index when in compared with the negative control. Was observed also a reduction the germination and development of tested seedlings and was verified a considerable antioxidant potential and presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds in the extracts. According to these results, it is possible to conclude that T. erecta and T. patula have phytotoxic compounds that may enhance and expand their use in the management of organic agriculture, mainly in vegetables.

Seasonal effects and antifungal activity from bark chemical constituents of Sterculia apetala (Malvaceae) at Pantanal of Miranda, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Compostos fenólicos e capacidade antioxidante em frutos de tomateiros mutantes fotomorfogenéticos

Phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity are defense mechanisms of plants against the oxidative stress damage. Phenolic compounds are synthesized through the phenylpropanoid pathway, where the enzyme phenylalanine-ammonia-lyase plays a key role and it is influenced by light and photoreceptors such as phytochromes. The present research aims to evaluate the phenolic compounds content and antioxidant capacity of the wild Micro-Tom (MT) cultivar tomato fruits and its photomorphogenic mutant tomato plants high pigment 1 (hp1), super responsive to events mediated by light, and aurea (au), quantitative phytochrome deficient. Twenty mature fruits of each genotype (MT, hp1, au) were used in triplicate for analyses. To quantify the total phenolic compounds the Folin-Ciocalteu method was used and the antioxidant capacity was analyzed by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods. The hp1 mutant presented the highest total phenolic compounds content and higher antioxidant capacity than wild cultivar (MT) and au mutant, which did not differ significantly from MT cultivar.