Non-destructive determination of photosynthetic pigments in the leaves of castor oil plants

Objetivou-se com o presente trabalho, estabelecer a relação entre os pigmentos fotossintéticos extraídos em DMSO e as leituras obtidas no clorofilômetro portátil ClorofiLOG® 1030, gerando modelos matemáticos capazes de predizer os teores de clorofila e de carotenóides em folhas de mamoneira. O trabalho foi conduzido na Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) Algodão, situada em Campina Grande, Estado da Paraíba, em outubro de 2010. Para a análise indireta, foi utilizado um equipamento portátil, sendo realizada a leitura em discos foliares com diferentes tonalidades de verde, sendo feita, nesses mesmos discos, a determinação da clorofila pelo método clássico. Para a extração da clorofila, utilizaram-se 5 mL de dimetilsulfóxido (DMSO), a qual foi mantida em banho-maria a 70ºC, por 30 minutos, e retirou-se 3 mL da alíquota para leitura em espectrofotômetro nos comprimentos de onda de 470, 646 e 663 nm. Os dados foram submetidos à análise da variância e regressão polinomial. A leitura obtida no clorofilômetro portátil foi a variável dependente, e os pigmentos fotossintéticos determinados pelo método clássico foi a variável independente. Os resultados indicaram que o clorofilômetro portátil ClorofiLOG® 1030, associado a modelos matemáticos, permitiu estimar a concentração dos pigmentos fotossintéticos, exceto a clorofila b, com alta precisão, com economia de tempo e com reagentes normalmente utilizados nos procedimentos convencionais.

Effect of brushwood transposition on the leaf litter arthropod fauna in a cerrado area

The results of ecological restoration techniques can be monitored through biological indicators of soil quality such as the leaf litter arthropod fauna. This study aimed to determine the immediate effect of brushwood transposition transferred from an area of native vegetation to a disturbed area, on the leaf litter arthropod fauna in a degraded cerrado area. The arthropod fauna of four areas was compared: a degraded area with signal grass, two experimental brushwood transposition areas, with and without castor oil plants, and an area of native cerrado. In total, 7,660 individuals belonging to 23 taxa were sampled. Acari and Collembola were the most abundant taxa in all studied areas, followed by Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, and Symphyla. The brushwood transposition area without castor oil plants had the lowest abundance and dominance and the highest diversity of all areas, providing evidence of changes in the soil community. Conversely, the results showed that the presence of castor oil plants hampered early succession, negatively affecting ecological restoration in this area.

COMPOSITION OF SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE EXTRACTS OF PITANGA (EUGENIA UNIFLORA L.) LEAVES

The leaves of the Pitanga bush (Eugenia uniflora L.) are considered to be effective against many diseases. Extracts from Pitanga leaves have been found to show pronounced anti-inflammatory action and to have antimicrobial and antifungal activities, among other properties. In this work, extracts from Pitanga leaves were obtained by hydrodistillation and by extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO(2)) at three conditions of temperature and pressure. In the SC-CO(2) extractions also were collected the components that are lost with the CO(2) in the exit of the system using Porapak-Q polymer trap. All extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty-nine compounds were found in the extracts and twenty-six were identified. The main components identified in the extracts in decreasing quantitative order were: curzerene, germacrene B, C(15)H(20)O(2) and beta-elemene for hydrodistillation; C(15)H(20)O(2) and curzerene for SC-CO(2) extracts and 3-hexen-1-ol, curzerene, C(15)H(20)O(2), beta-elemene and germacrene B for SC-CO(2) extracts captured in Porapak-Q. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The natural extracts are a potential source of compounds possessing biological activities. They can be used in foods, pharmaceutics and cosmetics. Pitanga is an exotic fruit from Brazil and extracts from its leaves have been used against many diseases in Brazilian folk medicine. Supercritical extraction is an interesting process for the production of natural extracts because it is a clean process and the knowledge of composition of extracts is crucial for the identification of the probable active components.

Ecological niche modeling and principal component analysis of Krameria Loefl. (Krameriaceae)

Krameria plants are found in arid regions of the Americas and present a floral system that attracts oil-collecting bees. Niche modeling and multivariate tools were applied to examine ecological and geographical aspects of the 18 species of this genus, using occurrence data obtained from herbaria and literature. Niche modeling showed the potential areas of occurrence for each species and the analysis of climatic variables suggested that North American species occur mostly in deserted or xeric ecoregions with monthly precipitation below 140 mm and large temperature ranges. South American species are mainly found in deserted ecoregions and subtropical savannas where monthly precipitation often exceeds 150 mm and temperature ranges are smaller. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) performed with values of temperature and precipitation showed that the distribution limits of Krameria species are primarily associated with maximum and minimum temperatures. Modeling of Krameria species proved to be a useful tool for analyzing the influence of the ecological niche variables in the geographical distribution of species, providing new information to guide future investigations. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estudo das características físico-químicas dos óleos da amêndoa e polpa da macaúba [Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Mart]

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Níveis de fósforo no desenvolvimento e produção de óleo essencial de Mentha piperita L. cultivada em solução nutritiva

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effect of brushwood transposition on the leaf litter arthropod fauna in a cerrado area

The results of ecological restoration techniques can be monitored through biological indicators of soil quality such as the leaf litter arthropod fauna. This study aimed to determine the immediate effect of brushwood transposition transferred from an area of native vegetation to a disturbed area, on the leaf litter arthropod fauna in a degraded cerrado area. The arthropod fauna of four areas was compared: a degraded area with signal grass, two experimental brushwood transposition areas, with and without castor oil plants, and an area of native cerrado. In total, 7,660 individuals belonging to 23 taxa were sampled. Acari and Collembola were the most abundant taxa in all studied areas, followed by Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, and Symphyla. The brushwood transposition area without castor oil plants had the lowest abundance and dominance and the highest diversity of all areas, providing evidence of changes in the soil community. Conversely, the results showed that the presence of castor oil plants hampered early succession, negatively affecting ecological restoration in this area.

Extraction of volatile oil from aromatic plants with supercritical carbon dioxide: experiments and modeling

An overview of the studies carried out in our laboratories on supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of volatile oils from seven aromatic plants: pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.), fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), savory (Satureja fruticosa Beguinot), winter savory (Satureja montana L.), cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparisus) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris), is presented. A flow apparatus with a 1 L extractor and two 0.27 L separators was built to perform studies at temperatures ranging from 298 to 353 K and pressures up to 30.0 MPa. The best compromise between yield and composition compared with hydrodistillation (HD) was achieved selecting the optimum experimental conditions of extraction and fractionation. The major differences between HD and SFE oils is the presence of a small percentage of cuticular waxes and the relative amount of thymoquinone, an oxygenated monoterpene with important biological properties, which is present in the oils from thyme and winter savory. On the other hand, the modeling of our data on supercritical extraction of volatile oil from pennyroyal is discussed using Sovova's models. These models have been applied successfully to the other volatile oil extractions. Furthermore, other experimental studies involving supercritical CO2 carried out in our laboratories are also mentioned.

Audel's Gas engine manual : a practical treatise relating to the theory and management of gas, gasoline and oil engines, including chapters on producer gas plants, marine motors and automobile engines.

Mode of access: Internet.

Localization and movement of mineral oil in plants by fluorescence and confocal microscopy

Fluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy were explored to investigate the movement and localization of mineral oils in citrus. In a laboratory experiment, fluorescence microscopy observation indicated that when a 'narrow' distillation fraction of an nC23 horticultural mineral oil was applied to adaxial and opposing abaxial leaf surfaces of potted orange [Citrus x aurantium L. (Sapindales: Rutaceae)] trees, oil penetrated steadily into treated leaves and, subsequently, moved to untreated petioles of the leaves and adjacent untreated stems. In another experiment, confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to visualize the penetration into, and the subsequent cellular distribution of, an nC24 agricultural mineral oil in C. trifoliata L. seedlings. Oil droplets penetrated or diffused into plants via both stomata and the cuticle of leaves and stems, and then moved within intercellular spaces and into various cells including phloem and xylem. Oil accumulated in droplets in intercellular spaces and within cells near the cell membrane. Oil entered cells without visibly damaging membranes or causing cell death. In a field experiment with mature orange trees, droplets of an nC23 horticultural mineral oil were observed, by fluorescence microscopy, in phloem sieve elements in spring flush growth produced 4-5 months and 16-17 months after the trees were sprayed with oil. These results suggest that movement of mineral oil in plants is both apoplastic via intercellular spaces and symplastic via plasmodesmata. The putative pattern of the translocation of mineral oil in plants and its relevance to oil-induced chronic phytotoxicity are discussed.

Noninvasive localization of petroleum-derived spray oil in plants with chemical shift selective magnetic resonance imaging

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to detect petroleum-derived spray oils (PDSOs) in citrus seedlings and trees. The NMR spectrum of the phantom containing 10% (v/v) of a nC24 agricultural mineral oil (AMO) showed the resonance of the water protons at delta = 5 ppm, while the resonance of the oil protons at delta = 1.3 to 1.7 ppm. The peak resolution and the chemical shift difference of more than 3.3 ppm between water and oil protons effectively differentiated water and the oil. Chemical shift selective imaging (CSSI) was performed to localize the AMO within the stems of Citrus trifoliata L. seedlings after the application of a 4% (v/v) spray. The chemical shift selective images of the oil were acquired by excitation at delta = 1.5 ppm by averaging over 400 transients in each phase-encoding step. Oil was mainly detected in the outer cortex of stems within 10 d of spray application; some oil was also observed in the inner vascular bundle and pith of the stems at this point. CSSI was also applied to investigate the persistence of oil deposits in sprayed mature Washington navel orange (Citrus x aurantium L.) trees in an orchard. The trees were treated with either fourteen 0.25%, fourteen 0.5%, four 1.75%, or single 7% sprays of a nC23 horticultural mineral oil (HMO) 12 to 16 months before examination of plant tissues by CSSI, and were still showing symptoms of chronic phytotoxicity largely manifested as reduced yield. The oil deposits were detected in stems of sprayed flushes and unsprayed flushes produced 4 to 5 months after the last spray was applied, suggesting a potential movement of the oil via phloem and a correlation of the persistence of oil deposit in plants and the phytotoxicity. The results demonstrate that MRI is an effective method to probe the uptake and localization of PDSOs and other xenobiotics in vivo in plants noninvasively and nondestructively.

Male sleeping aggregations of solitary oil-collecting bees in Brazil (Centridini, Tapinotaspidini, and Tetrapediini; Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Males of solitary bees usually spend the night in clusters on small branches of plants, cavities and flowers. The individuals usually return to the same location each evening during their life, exhibiting site fidelity to a particular plant. We report on the sleeping roosts of the males of some oil-collecting bees of the genera Centris, Paratetrapedia, Lanthanomelissa, Monoeca, and Tetrapedia, as well as the host plants. We discuss the role of the male clusters to the associated plants.