Medications, youth therapeutic cultures and performance consumptions: a sociological approach

This article analyses performance consumptions among young people. The theme is explored along two main axes. The first concerns the social heterogeneity in this field, considered on two levels: the different purposes for those investments - cognitive/mental and physical performance; and the different social contexts - university and work - where performance practices and dispositions may be fostered. The second axis explores the roles of pharmacological and natural consumptions, and their interrelationship, in the dissemination of these practices. The empirical data for this analysis were drawn from an ongoing research project on performance consumptions among young people (aged 18-29 years) in Portugal, including both university students and young workers without university education. The results correspond to the stage of extensive research, for which a questionnaire was organised at a national level, using non-proportional quota sampling. On the one hand, they show that (a) there is a hierarchy of acceptance of consumptions according to their purposes, with cognitive/mental performance showing higher acceptance and (b) both pharmaceuticals and natural products are consumed for every type of performance investment. On the other, the comparison between students and workers introduces a certain heterogeneity in this general backdrop, both in terms of the purposes for their consumptions and their opting for natural or pharmacological resources. These threads of heterogeneity will prompt a discussion of the dynamics of pharmaceuticalisation within the field of performance, in particular how therapeutic cultures may be changing in terms of the way individuals relate to medications, expanding their uses in social life.

Melhoria da qualidade de jerked beef pela substituição de nitrito de sódio por extratos naturais de própolis e erva mate como agente antioxidante

Jerked beef, an industrial meat product obtained from beef with the addition of sodium chloride and curing salts and subjected to a maturing and drying process is a typical Brazilian product which has been gradually discovered by the consumer. The replacement of synthetic antioxidants by natural substances with antioxidant potential due to possible side effects discovered by lab tests, consumer health, is being implemented by the meat industry. This study aimed to evaluate the lipid oxidation of jerked beef throughout the storage period by replacing the sodium nitrite by natural extracts of propolis and Yerba Mate. For jerked beef processing brisket was used as raw material processed in 6 different formulations: formulation 1 (control - in nature), formulation 2 (sodium nitrite - NO), formulation 3 (Yerba Mate - EM), formulation 4 (propolis extract - PRO), formulation 5 (sodium nitrite + Yerba Mate - MS + NO), formulation 6 (propolis extract + sodium nitrite - PRO + NO). The raw material was subjected to wet salting, dry salting (tombos), drying at 25°C, packaging and storage in BOD 25°C. Samples of each formulation were taken every 7 days for analysis of lipid oxidation by the TBARS method. In all formulations, were carried out analysis of chemical composition at time zero and sixty days of storage. The water activity analysis and color (L *, a *, b *) was monitored at time zero, thirty and sixty days of storage. The Salmonella spp count, Coliform bacteria, Termotolerant coliforms and coagulase positive staphylococci were taken at time zero and sixty days. The activity of natural antioxidants evaluated shows the decline of lipid oxidation up to 2.5 times compared with the product in natura and presented values with no significant differences between treatments NO and EM, confirming the potential in minimize lipid oxidation of Jerked beef throughout the 60 days of storage. The results also showed that yerba mate has a higher antioxidant capacity compared to the propolis except the PRO + NO formulation. When associated with yerba mate with sodium nitrate, TBARS values become close to values obtained only for the control samples with the addition of sodium nitrite. The proximal composition of the formulations remained within the standards required in the IN nº22/2000 for jerked beef. Samples that differ significantly at 5% are directly related to the established type of formulation. The count of microorganisms was within the standards of the DRC nº12/2001 required for matured meat products. The intensity of the red (a*) decreased with storage time and increase the intensity of yellow (b*) indicates a darkening of the product despite L* also have been increased. These results suggest that yerba mate is a good alternative to meat industry in reducing healing addition salts when associated with another antioxidant.

Desempenho de fosfitos de potássio no manejo de mofo branco em soja

Soybean plays an important role in the Brazilian agriculture being one of the products most exported by the country. Its yield may be affected by diseases such as white mold, caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Lib. de Bary, which, under favorable field conditions prevents the crop of expressing all its productive potential. The fungus is cosmopolitan and infects more than 400 species of plants. This disease is difficult to control, and the use of chemicals has not been sufficient to avoid significant losses, thus, this products are expensive and may cause environmental damage. Alternative methods, such as foliar fertilizers based on potassium phosphite, can also be used in the management of this disease. In this context, this work aimed to study different sources of potassium phosphite and its effects in the control of white mold in soybeans, as well as the time of application in culture, its action in inducing plants defense responses and/or its influence over the seeds quality. The effect of phosphites, over the pathogen, was evaluated in vitro, on mycelial inhibition, the mass of dry mycelium and germination of sclerotia. In all tests, the following phosphites were utilized: Phosphite A (P2O5-40%; K2O-20% - 1 L/ha); Phosphite B (P2O5-40%; K2O-28% - 1 L/ha); Phosphite C (P2O5-40%; K2O-20% - 1 L/ha) e Phosphite D (P2O5-30%; K2O-20% - 2,4 L/ha). At the induction of resistance tests were evaluated the synthesis of phytoalexin in soybean cotyledons and the enzymes FAL and POX evaluated in seedlings in growing chamber, sprayed with phosphites and the fungicide fluazinam. Field experiment was carried out at Coronel Domingos Soares-PR, in the 2012/2013 season, in an area with natural infestation of the pathogen. Soybean cultivar BMX Active was no-till seeded with 0,5m between rows. The experimental was laid out as a factorial 5 x 4 scheme (treatment x application time). Phosphites sources were used, as described above, and water was sprayed in the control treatment. Treatments were applied at four different growth stages: V4, V4 + R1, R1 and R2 at the rates recommended by the manufacturer. Soybean yield components and seeds and health and physiological quality were evaluated after harvesting. None of the tested phosphites affected mycelial growth and sclerotia germination or influenced phytoalexin synthesis. Phosphites C and D stood out due to an increasing in the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity 48 hours after its inoculation. These same products also induced the synthesis and peroxidases and phosphite C kept the levels of this enzyme elevated up to 72 hours after inoculation. At the field trials, phosphites C and D stood out in the control of white mold. There was no significant interaction of potassium phosphite on physiological and sanitary quality of the seeds.

Professional exposure to fungal pathogens: an update to exposure conditions and exposure measurement

In many occupational settings an exposure to fungi occurs. Fungal exposure may occur for instance in the form of dermatocytes, yeasts or mold. Associated to the fungi themselves an exposure to cell wall components like ß(1 ? 3)-D-glucans, to mycotoxins or to microbial volatile compounds can occur. Health hazards may differ across species because fungi may produce different allergens and mycotoxins, and some species can infect humans. Occupational settings are often characterized by special exposure conditions with respect to duration, frequency and especially to the level of exposure resulting at least sometimes to high or very high fungal exposure. Because of these special conditions occupational settings are suitable for epidemiologic studies. However, the knowledge about occupational exposure to fungi and associated compounds like mycotoxins is still fragmentary and not well disseminated. An indication for a high fungal exposure is for instance the handling of dry natural products like grain, hay or herbal plants with a high specific surface and the tendency to release dust during handling. The fungal components often form the determinative part of such dusts and might be a vehicle to respiratory airways. The authors will present results of exposure measurements of occupational settings and exposure conditions which are only rarely investigated.

LUNG CANCER IN NEPAL: THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND COMBUSTION RELATED HOUSEHOLD AIR POLLUTION

The burden of chronic diseases such as cancer is increasing in low and middle income countries around the globe. Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, is no exception to this trend, with lung cancer as the leading causes of cancer deaths. Despite this, limited data is available on the environmental and behavioral risk factors that contribute to the lung cancer etiology in Nepal. The objectives of this dissertation are to: 1) investigate the ethnic differences in consumption of local tobacco products and their role in lung cancer risk in Nepal; 2) evaluate urinary metabolite of 1,3-butadiene as a biomarker of exposure to combustion related household air pollution (CRHAP); 3) investigate the association between CRHAP exposure and lung cancer risk using urinary metabolite of 1,3-butadiene as a biomarker of exposure; 4) investigate the association between CRHAP exposure and lung cancer risk using questionnaire based measure of exposure. Lung cancer cases (n=606) and frequency matched controls (N=606) were recruited from B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital. We obtained biological samples and information on lifestyles including cooking habits and type of fuels used. We used liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) to quantify urinary metabolites of 1,3-butadiene in urine samples. We employed a combination of logistic and linear regression models to detect any exposure-disease associations while controlling for known confounding variables. Overall, we found that ethnic groups in Nepal use different tobacco products that have different differing cancer potency -we observed the highest odds ratios for the traditional tobacco products. The biomarker analysis showed strong evidence that monohydroxybutyl mercapturic acid is associated with biomass fuel use among participants. However, we did not find significant association between urinary MHMBA and lung cancer risk. When we used questionnaire based measure of exposure to household air pollution, we observed significant, dose-response associations between CRHAP exposure and lung cancer risk, particularly among never-smokers. Our results show that important role of local tobacco products in lung cancer risk in Nepal. Furthermore, we demonstrate that CRHAP exposure is a risk factor for lung cancer risk, independent of tobacco smoking.

Application of GIS in potential beekeeping assessment: Case study of Montesinho Natural Park (Portugal)

Planners require solutions that address routine work needs and seems essential to improving efficiency and productivity. There are a great number of different factors related to beekeeper activity as well the quality and productivity of different bee products. The spatial analysis is a powerful tool for overlap and relates various levels of information on a map, and consequently a very useful for beekeeping activity planning. This work proposes and applies a methodology to potential beekeeping assessment in Montesinho Natural Park, a region in the northwest of Portugal. The beekeeping potential maps were developed with the following data sources: legal standards, vegetation, land use, topography, water resources, roads, electromagnetic fields, and some honey physico-chemical analysis. The design and implementation of spatial analysis model based on Geographic Information System (GIS) to beekeeping planning activities has already been described by Anjos et al (2014). Spatial analysis techniques allows to define the potential beekeeper map supporting the beekeeper management in this region. Anjos O, Silva G, Roque N, Fernandez P, 2014. GIS based analysis to support the beekeeping planning. Book of abstracts of the International Symposium on Bee Products 3rd edition – Annual meeting of the International Honey Commission (IHC), Faculty of medicine, University of Rijeka, p:61

Utilização de bagaço de maçã como ingrediente alimentar em iogurte com potencial efeito benéfico para a saúde

O desenvolvimento de alimentos funcionais evoluiu consideravelmente ao longo dos anos e a capacidade tecnológica para produzir um alimento com compostos fisiologicamente ativos tem crescido significativamente. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo criar um novo alimento, utilizando um subproduto proveniente da indústria agroalimentar. O alimento seleccionado foi o iogurte natural, o qual foi enriquecido com um extrato de bagaço de maçã. O bagaço de maçã contém compostos fenólicos e fibra, mostrando atividade antioxidante significativa e por conseguinte apresenta um potencial efeito positivo na saúde. Avaliaram-se características químicas do bagaço de maçã e das farinhas obtidas a partir deste subproduto, designadamente: acidez, teor em açúcares totais e redutores, cinza, matéria gorda, humidade, proteína bruta, fibra dietética insolúvel e solúvel. O extrato aquoso obtido a partir do subproduto foi também caracterizado quanto ao seu conteúdo fenólico e atividade antioxidante. O iogurte produzido com incorporação do extrato de bagaço de maçã foi estudado do ponto de vista de parâmetros químicos tais como acidez, açúcares totais, cinza, humidade, proteína bruta, pH e fibra bruta, conteúdo em fenólicos totais e atividade antioxidante. O subproduto, os extratos e o iogurte foram também avaliados quanto à sua carga microbiológica. Na caracterização química do bagaço foram obtidos os seguintes valores, expressos em base seca: 2,0±0,01% de acidez (expressa em equivalentes de ácido málico); 15,96±1,53% de açúcares totais; 13,35±1,91% de açúcares redutores; 1,88±0,07% de cinza, 2,49±0,5% de matéria gorda, 81,17±1,98% de humidade e 5,01±0,01% de proteína bruta. Quanto ao seu conteúdo em fibra dietética, o bagaço contém na sua composição 65,80% de fibra dietética insolúvel e 4,90% de fibra dietética solúvel. A farinha obtida após secagem a 60 °C do bagaço de maçã apresentou, na base seca, 1,9±0,04% de acidez, 10,57±1,31% de açúcares totais; 8,50±1,00% de açúcares redutores; 2,22±0,04%de cinza, 4,73±0,11% de matéria gorda, 6,34±0,62% de humidade e 5,40±0,26% de proteína. A atividade antioxidante do extrato aquoso, (AQ_6X10) obtido do bagaço de maçã, utilizado para incorporação no iogurte, determinada através do método ABTS foi de 5,00±1,28µmol TE/g amostra e apresentou um teor em compostos fenólicos de 221,42±0,734 mg EAG/ 100g de extrato, na base seca. Ao nível microbiológico o extrato revelou parâmetros aceitáveis, de acordo com a tabela 13 (anexos 3), para utilização como ingrediente alimentar. Os iogurtes produzidos foram analisados quimicamente. O iogurte, com extrato aquoso de bagaço de maçã incorporado, apresentou 89,64±0,00% de humidade, 0,93±0,00% de acidez (expressa em equivalentes de ácido láctico); 6,42±0,26% de açúcares totais; 0,74%±0,00% de cinza, 3,83±0,00% de proteína bruta e 0,2±0,00% de fibra bruta. O seu conteúdo em compostos fenólicos foi de 12,41±1,69mg EAG/ 100g de iogurte, e a sua atividade antioxidante foi 54,84±4,40 µmol TE/g iogurte. Avaliou-se ainda o iogurte no que diz respeito ao crescimento de bactérias lácticas e constatou-se, por comparação com o iogurte de controlo, que estas se desenvolveram normalmente ao longo do processo de fabrico. A análise microbiológica revelou ainda que o iogurte é seguro do ponto de vista alimentar de acordo com a Tabela 15 (anexos 3). A análise sensorial realizada aos iogurtes demonstrou que o iogurte fortificado apresentou uma aceitação muito boa pelo painel de provadores. O presente estudo demonstrou que o bagaço de maçã, um subproduto das indústrias agroalimentares, é seguro do ponto de vista microbiológico, podendo ser utilizado na preparação de ingredientes alimentares para serem incorporados, por exemplo em iogurte, conferindo-lhe características que se destacam pelo maior teor em fibra e atividade antioxidante em relação ao iogurte não enriquecido, e atributos sensoriais apelativos em termos de textura e sabor.

Chemical characterization and in vitro cyto- and genotoxicity of ‘legal high’ products containing Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa)

Kratom is a popular ‘legal high’ mainly constituted by alkaloids extracted from the Mitragyna speciosa plant with mitragynine (MG) as the dominant active substance. The increasing use of Kratom for recreational purposes has alerted risk assessment bodies of the lack of information on the real composition and its potential health risks. The present study aimed to determine and compare the MG composition of 13 commercial products of Kratom sold online and in “smartshops”, by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. For the first time, the cytotoxicity induced by pure MG and Kratom, extracts was evaluated in in vitro models of human intestinal (Caco-2) and neuronal (SH-SY5Y) cells after 6 and 24 h. Genotoxicity was also evaluated in intestinal Caco-2 cells following 24 h of exposure to subtoxic concentrations using the comet assay. The obtained results revealed an inconsistency between the information (‘power’) provided in labels and the MG content. Cytotoxicity tests revealed a concentration-dependent decrease in cell viability in both cellular models, with the SH-SY5Y cells being more sensitive to the Kratom extracts. The resin and the ‘powered extracts’ were the most cytotoxic samples, with IC50 values significantly lower than the leaf extracts and pure MG (P < 0.0001 vs. leaf extracts and MG). In addition, significant DNA damage was observed in Caco-2 cells exposed to these extracts but not to pure MG, which suggests that other substances present in the extracts or interactions involving Kratom components might be responsible for the observed effects.

Valorisation of fish-cannery by-products targeting the recovery of ω3 lipids

Over the past years, ω3 fatty acids, namely EPA and DHA, have been recognized as presenting multiple health benefits. Several studies consider fish oil as the most important source of EPA and DHA. Nowadays, canned fish industry plays a very important role in Portuguese economy. However, expansion of this business brought some environmental concerns due to the high amount of by-products generated. Nevertheless, this problem can be substantially reduced by the recovery of some of the by-product components, diminishing its contamination load and simultaneously obtaining value-added products. This study was born from the growing interest in obtaining new sources of lipids rich in ω3 fatty acids, combined with environmental concerns related to the production of wastes from the fish canning industries, rich in these compounds. It thus intends to evaluate lipid extraction methods in liquid by-products from the fish canning industry, aiming to obtain fractions rich in ω3 fatty acids. Additionally, in a biorefining concept, the protein content of the remaining aqueous fractions was also quantified.

The broad spectrum of bioactive properties of phenolic extracts: a prospective study in three different plants

Natural resources like plants are currently used all over developed and under developed countries of the world as traditional home remedies and are promising agents for drug discovery as they play crucial role in traditional medicine. The use of plants for medicinal purpose usually varies from country to country and region to region because their use depends on the history, culture, philosophy and personal attitudes of the users (Ahmad et al., 2015). The use of plants and plant products as drugs predates the written human history (Hayta et al., 2014). Plants are a very important resource for traditional drugs and around 80% of the population of the planet use plants for the treatment of many diseases and traditional herbal medicine accounts for 30-50% of the total medicinal consumption in China. In North America, Europe and other well-developed regions over 50% of the population have used traditional preparations at least once (Dos Santos Reinaldo et al., 2015). Medicinal plants have been used over years for multiple purposes, and have increasingly attract the interest of researchers in order to evaluate their contribution to health maintenance and disease’s prevention (Murray, 2004). Recently between 50,000 and 70,000 species of plants are known and are being used in the development of modern drugs. Plants were the main therapeutic agents used by humans from the 19th century, and their role in medicine is always topical (Hayta et al., 2014). The studies of medicinal plants are rapidly increasing due to the search for new active molecules, and to improve the production of plants or bioactive molecules for the pharmaceutical industries (Rates, 2001). Several studies have been reported, but numerous active compounds directly responsible for the observed bioactive properties remain unknown, while in other cases the mechanism of action is not fully understood. According to the WHO 25% of all modern medicines including both western and traditional medicine have been extracted from plants, while 75% of new drugs against infective diseases that have arrived between 1981 and 2002 originated from natural sources, it was reported that the world market for herbal medicines stood at over US $60 billion per year and is growing steadily (Bedoya et al., 2009). Traditional medicine has an important economic impact in the 21st century as it is used worldwide, taking advantage on the low cost, accessibility, flexibility and diversity of medicinal plants (Balunas & Kinghorn, 2005).

An ecosystem of products and systems for ambient intelligence – the AAL4ALL users perspective

Texto completo em atas de encontros científicos internacionais com arbitragem

Quantification of air quality in space and time and its effects on health

The long-term adverse effects on health associated with air pollution exposure can be estimated using either cohort or spatio-temporal ecological designs. In a cohort study, the health status of a cohort of people are assessed periodically over a number of years, and then related to estimated ambient pollution concentrations in the cities in which they live. However, such cohort studies are expensive and time consuming to implement, due to the long-term follow up required for the cohort. Therefore, spatio-temporal ecological studies are also being used to estimate the long-term health effects of air pollution as they are easy to implement due to the routine availability of the required data. Spatio-temporal ecological studies estimate the health impact of air pollution by utilising geographical and temporal contrasts in air pollution and disease risk across $n$ contiguous small-areas, such as census tracts or electoral wards, for multiple time periods. The disease data are counts of the numbers of disease cases occurring in each areal unit and time period, and thus Poisson log-linear models are typically used for the analysis. The linear predictor includes pollutant concentrations and known confounders such as socio-economic deprivation. However, as the disease data typically contain residual spatial or spatio-temporal autocorrelation after the covariate effects have been accounted for, these known covariates are augmented by a set of random effects. One key problem in these studies is estimating spatially representative pollution concentrations in each areal which are typically estimated by applying Kriging to data from a sparse monitoring network, or by computing averages over modelled concentrations (grid level) from an atmospheric dispersion model. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the health effects of long-term exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particular matter (PM10) in mainland Scotland, UK. In order to have an initial impression about the air pollution health effects in mainland Scotland, chapter 3 presents a standard epidemiological study using a benchmark method. The remaining main chapters (4, 5, 6) cover the main methodological focus in this thesis which has been threefold: (i) how to better estimate pollution by developing a multivariate spatio-temporal fusion model that relates monitored and modelled pollution data over space, time and pollutant; (ii) how to simultaneously estimate the joint effects of multiple pollutants; and (iii) how to allow for the uncertainty in the estimated pollution concentrations when estimating their health effects. Specifically, chapters 4 and 5 are developed to achieve (i), while chapter 6 focuses on (ii) and (iii). In chapter 4, I propose an integrated model for estimating the long-term health effects of NO2, that fuses modelled and measured pollution data to provide improved predictions of areal level pollution concentrations and hence health effects. The air pollution fusion model proposed is a Bayesian space-time linear regression model for relating the measured concentrations to the modelled concentrations for a single pollutant, whilst allowing for additional covariate information such as site type (e.g. roadside, rural, etc) and temperature. However, it is known that some pollutants might be correlated because they may be generated by common processes or be driven by similar factors such as meteorology. The correlation between pollutants can help to predict one pollutant by borrowing strength from the others. Therefore, in chapter 5, I propose a multi-pollutant model which is a multivariate spatio-temporal fusion model that extends the single pollutant model in chapter 4, which relates monitored and modelled pollution data over space, time and pollutant to predict pollution across mainland Scotland. Considering that we are exposed to multiple pollutants simultaneously because the air we breathe contains a complex mixture of particle and gas phase pollutants, the health effects of exposure to multiple pollutants have been investigated in chapter 6. Therefore, this is a natural extension to the single pollutant health effects in chapter 4. Given NO2 and PM10 are highly correlated (multicollinearity issue) in my data, I first propose a temporally-varying linear model to regress one pollutant (e.g. NO2) against another (e.g. PM10) and then use the residuals in the disease model as well as PM10, thus investigating the health effects of exposure to both pollutants simultaneously. Another issue considered in chapter 6 is to allow for the uncertainty in the estimated pollution concentrations when estimating their health effects. There are in total four approaches being developed to adjust the exposure uncertainty. Finally, chapter 7 summarises the work contained within this thesis and discusses the implications for future research.

Comparative study of bioactive potential of Fueniculum vulgare Mill. and Matricaria recutita L. phenolic rich extracts to functionalize cottage chesse

Synthetic additives used in a wide variety of food products have been associated to some toxic effects. This conducted to an increasing interest of consumers for natural additives, including food preservers [1]. Many aromatic herbs have been used to prepare bioactive extracts with benefits to the consumer's health. Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel) and Matricaria recutita L. (chamomile) are examples of popular herbs rich in phenolic compounds with documented antioxidant and antimicrobial properties [2,3]. The present work confirms the antioxidant (DPPH scavenging activity, reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition) and antimicrobial (against bacteria such as Bacillus cereus and Salmonella Typhimurium and fungi such as Aspergillus niger, A. versicolor and PenicilliumfimicuJosum) activities of fennel and chamomile extracts, obtained by decoction. The chemical characterization of the extracts, performed by HPLC-DAD-ESIIMS, revealed the presence of five flavonoids (mainly qercetin-3-0- glucoside) and twelve phenolic acids (mainly 5-0-caffeolyquinic acid) for fennel extract and the presence of nine flavonoids (mainly luteolin-0-glucuronide) and ten phenolic acids (mainly di-caffeoyl-2,7- anhydro-3-deoxy-2-octulopyranosonic acid) for chamomile extract. Due to their high antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, both extracts were then incorporated (at DPPH scavenging activity EC25 value: 0.35 mg/mL and 0.165 mg/mL for fennel and chamomile, respectively) in cottage cheeses (prepared by Queijos Casa Matias Lda) as natural additives with two objectives: to increase the shelf-life of the cottage cheeses and to provide bioactive properties to the final products. The results showed that the use of these natural extracts did not alter significantly the nutritional characteristics of the cottage cheese in comparison with control samples (cottage cheese without extracts), but improved its antioxidant potential (more evident in the samples with chamomile extract). After 14 days of storage, only the control samples showed signs of degradation. Overall, the present study highlights the preservation potential of fennel and chamomile extracts in cottage cheeses, improving also their bioactivity.

Nutritional and chemical characterization of food products enriched with biological produced fruits of Vaccinum myrtillus L

Vaccinum myrtillus L. belongs to Ericaceae family, being commonly known for its sweet small fruits: the blueberries. Widely consumed in fresh, these fruits are also used in jams and marmalades due to their digestive and hypoglycemic properties and also due to the presence of several bioactive compounds [!]. Therefore, it has become a very appealing matrix in the development of functional products that, beyond their nutritional properties, will add a long-term beneficial physiological/health effect [2]. In the present work, three novel blueberry based products developed by RBR Foods Company (Portugal), were characterized in terms of their nutritional and chemical properties: carbohydrates, ash, proteins, fat and energetic value (following official methods of food analysis), fatty acids profile (by CG-FID), soluble sugars (by HPLCRI), organic acids (by HPLC-DAD) and tocopherols (by HPLC-fluorescence). The products result from a mixture of the fruits with rose petals (PI), marigold petals (P2) and apple and goji berries (P3). The blueberry fruits were used as control sample. The nutritional profile of the novel products was very similar to the control sample: the carbohydrates were the most abundant macronutrient, followed by proteins and total fat. Regarding sugars, fructose, glucose and sucrose were identified in all the samples. P 1 and P2 didn't show significant differences in comparison to the control, however, P3 revealed a lower concentration of sugars. In terms of fatty acids composition, all the studied samples presented higher contents in polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially due to the contribution of linoleic and alinolenic acids. The results of tocopherols revealed that the control sample only presented two isoforrns of tocopherols, a- and y-tocopherol, being the same observed in P3. However, P 1 revealed the presence of all the isoforrns of tocopherols, while P2 was lacking otocopherol; which is related with the contribution of rose and marigold petals, respectively. The a-tocopherol isoforrn was the most abundant in all the studied samples. Overall, this work contributed to the nutritional characterization of novel blueberry based products and is a part of a wider project that aims the detailed study of these products, namely their potential to be used as functional foods.

Natural fibers based composites - Technical and social issues

Brazil is the only country in South America to have an automotive supplier sector based on natural fibers. New opportunities are arising due to an increase demand by the car makers in applying natural fibers in their parts. Several crop fibers have been developed in Brazil. Among them can be listed caroa, piacava, pupunha, mutum and others of regional application. For the automotive industry, which requires large quantities with uniform quality, the alternatives are sisal (170,000 ton/yr), curaua (150 ton/yr in 2003), malva, 200 ton/yr; Brazil is the single largest producer country of sisal, and commercially, the only one in curaua. For South America, the alternatives are fique in Colombia, abaca in equator, flax in Argentina and curaua in Venezuela. It must be understood by the target countries of drugs, is that crop fiber can be an economic alternative to coca in the Andes region, therefore an instrument of land reform and drug reduction plantations. Several companies have a strong program of apply natural fibers based components in their products: Volkswagen do Brazil, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors do Brazil. Among their suppliers can be listed companies such Pematec (curaua), Toro (sisal, coir and jute), Incomer (sisal and jute), Ober (jute, curaua), Indaru (jute and sisal), Antolin (imported kenaf,) Tapetes Sao Carlos (sisal), Poematec (coir) and Art-Gore, with Woodstock'' wood and natural fibers). Figures about production and demand are discussed in the paper.