Antioxidant properties of three aromatic herbs (rosemary, thyme and lavender) in oil-in-water emulsions

Lipid oxidation is the major form of deterioration in foods because it decreases food quality and nutritional value, and may have negative health implications. Selected aromatic plant extracts from leaves, flowers and stems of rosemary, thyme and lavender were investigated for their antioxidant activity. The total polyphenol content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and the antioxidant capacity was determined by the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, oxygen radical absorbance capacity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assays. For all four antioxidant assays, the extracts from thyme flowers, lavender leaves and thyme leaves had the highest antioxidant activity, followed by rosemary stems, rosemary leaves, and lavender stems, and the lavender flowers and thyme stems had the lowest antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity was correlated with the polyphenol content, although minor deviations were observed. In oil-in-water emulsion, extracts from rosemary leaves and thyme leaves were most effective at retarding oxidation followed by the rosemary stems and thyme flowers. Extracts from thyme flowers and lavender leaves were less effective in the emulsion than predicted by the homogeneous antioxidant assays. This study demonstrated the potential use of plants extract as substitutes for synthetic antioxidants.

Bioactive Compounds in Some Culinary Aromatic Herbs and Their Effects on Human Health

Culinary herbs are herbaceous (leafy) plants that add flavour and colour to all types of meals. There is a wide variety of herbs that are used for culinary purposes worldwide, which are also recognized for their beneficial health effects, and thus have also been used in folk medicine. Besides their nutritional value herbs are rich in many phytochemical components with bioactive effects, thus improving human health. The aim of the present work was to make a general overview of some of these herbs, including their gastronomic usage, their chemical composition in bioactive components and their reported health effects. This work showed that the health effects are very diverse and differ according to the herb in question. However, some of the most frequently citted biological activities include antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects.

"Sancho" [ [Material gráfico]: ajos morados - producto de España : primera 37/45 : :Antonio Ferrer Sancho: Walnuts - chestnust - aromatic hebs - pulses - garlics : La Roda - Albacete - España.

Tit. en la etiqueta:"Ajos morados - producto de España / Antonio Ferrer Sancho / walnuts - chestnuts - aromatic herbs - pulses - garlics / La Rota - Albacete - España / Sancho / Primera 37/45 "

Estudo preliminar sobre a ação antimicrobiana de óleos essenciais sobre agentes etiológicos de mastite em ovelhas

The control of mastitis is currently reliant on antibiotic utilization. Nevertheless antibiotics overuse and use without criteria leads to the development of resistant strains with negative consequences both in animal and public health. Essential oils (EOs) are classified as GRAS (generally recognized as safe), are provided with antimicrobial properties and no resistance has been reported after use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of EOs of aromatic herbs, growing wild in Alentejo region and widely used in Mediterranean food, against microorganisms isolated from ovine mastitic milk.

Estrategias de supervivencia campesina: alternativas organizativas para mercados especializados. El caso del municipio El Colegio, Cundinamarca

La monografía es un estudio de la organización campesina en algunos mercados especializados en el municipio de El Colegio (Cundinamarca), donde existe una red de cooperación entre organizaciones públicas y privadas que han desarrollado una experiencia valiosa de trabajo asociativo campesino. Se tomaron en cuenta los casos de organizaciones como la ANUC municipal y Aromacol (organización de base campesina que produce tomate y aromáticas orgánicas) que están vinculadas a la producción para mercados de exportación, mercados orgánicos ó para programas distritales como Bogotá Sin Hambre. En el contexto de estos nuevos mercados, indago por las estrategias que desarrollan los campesinos para vincularse y permanecer en estos escenarios que presentan situaciones económicas y políticas específicas. Presento un análisis crítico de las políticas públicas y privadas que promueven el modelo agroexportador, que condicionan el rol del campesinado y también doy cuenta de la forma como las organizaciones campesinas responden a este marco institucional.

Efeito do alecrim na defumação da carne de rã (Rana catesbeiana): características sensoriais, composição e rendimento

Este trabalho avaliou o efeito do alecrim na qualidade da carne de rã (Rana catesbeiana) defumada, por meio da análise das características sensoriais, da composição centesimal e do rendimento. Após o abate e a evisceração, as carcaças foram imersas em solução de salmoura (20%) numa proporção de 2:1 (volume da salmoura/peso). Posteriormente, elas foram banhadas em azeite e defumadas a uma temperatura de 50 a 90 °C. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com 2 tratamentos (T1 = Carcaça de rã defumada com alecrim; T2 = Carcaça de rã defumada sem alecrim) com 16 repetições. Na análise estatística, foi utilizado o programa SAEG 2004, com 5% de significância. As carcaças defumadas apresentaram valores médios de proteína bruta (28,39%), lipídios totais (5,13%) e cinzas (2,79%) superiores comparados aos das carcaças in natura (23,41; 2,29 e 0,85%). Não houve efeito significativo do alecrim na composição centesimal. A carcaça de rã defumada com alecrim apresentou melhor aceitação quanto ao aroma. Nas demais características sensoriais, a presença do alecrim não interferiu nos resultados. A carne de rã pode ser defumada com e sem alecrim, sem interferir na aceitabilidade do produto.

Resposta do manjericão (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivado em solos corrigidos com calcário e escória silicatada: Caracterí sticas agronômicas e produção de matéria seca

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Humatos de vermicompost como mitigador de la salinidad en albahaca (Ocimum basilicum L.)

Los bioestimulantes del crecimiento son sustancias que actúan como activadores fisiológicos, absorción de nutrientes y mitigan el estrés salino. El objetivo fue evaluar humatos de vermicompost como atenuantes del efecto de la salinidad en la emergencia y crecimiento de albahaca (Ocimum basilicum L.). El diseño experimental fue completamente al azar con arreglo factorial, cuyos factores fueron variedades de albahaca (Napoletano y Sweet Genovese), concentraciones de NaCl (0, 50 y 100 mM) y humatos de vermicompost (0 y 1/60 v/v) con seis repeticiones. Se realizaron análisis de varianza y comparaciones independientes de medias (p ≤ 0,05). El experimento se realizó en 2013 en La Paz, México. Se midió el porcentaje y tasa de emergencia, longitud de radícula, altura de plántula, biomasa fresca y seca de radícula y de parte aérea. Se encontraron diferencias significativas para todas las variables (p ≤ 0 ,05), mostrando respuesta diferencial entre variedades para tasa, porcentaje de emergencia y variables morfométricas, destacando la variedad Napoletano con aplicación del bioestimulante como el tratamiento con mejores resultados. El uso de humatos estimuló todas las variables en condiciones de salinidad, permitiendo que la variedad tolerante mejore su emergencia y crecimiento y la variedad sensible incremente su tolerancia al estrés salino.

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.

Antioxidant activity and cholinesterase inhibition studies if four flavoring herb from Alentejo.

In Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, the loss of cholinergic neurons leads to the progressive reduction of acetylcholine in the brain, resulting cognitive impairment. Inhibition of the hydrolysis of acetylcholine by blocking acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) has been considered as a potential target in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Essential oils and extracts of aromatic plants may have an important role in the oxidative stress protection. Traditionally, in Alentejo (Portugal), aromatic herbs Calamintha nepeta, Foeniculum vulgare, Mentha spicata and Thymus mastichina are often used by local population as condiments in food preparations. In this study, essential oils (EOs) and aqueous extracts (decoction waters) of these flavouring herbs were selected in order to evaluate its antioxidant potential and ability to inhibit AChE and BChE activities. Results suggest the potential use of EOs and extracts as nutraceutical or pharmaceutical preparations in the prevention of the oxidative stress and degenerative diseases.

Hierbas Aromáticas, medicinales y condimentarias en Colombia : análisis del caso C.I. Organic Aromatic S.A. desde la perspectiva de la nueva economía institucional

Las hierbas aromáticas han tenido en la última década un auge mundial y su demanda cada vez se incrementa más. En Colombia la producción y exportación de estas hierbas viene en aumento. En los últimos 4 años la exportación colombiana creció en 142 por ciento y el principal país de destino fue Estados Unidos a donde se exporto el 74 por ciento de las hierbas aromáticas. En este momento la tendencia del mercado mundial, es hacia los productos orgánicos o limpios, así que algunos productores se han dedicado a buscar los mecanismos para generar producciones y procesos con certificados orgánicos, para acceder a los mercados demandantes. Estas certificaciones son bastante exigentes y requieren un cambio y adaptación de las organizaciones, además de una fuerte inversión económica. El objetivo general de este trabajo es estudiar por medio del caso de la empresa colombiana C.I. Organic Aromatic S.A. la forma de adaptación a la demanda creciente del nuevo mercado internacional de hierbas aromáticas. Se realiza un análisis estructural discreto para el sector y de estar forma comprender el marco general donde se mueve la empresa. Al igual, se describe la empresa y su funcionamiento, los puntos críticos de la misma y de las transacciones que realiza. La cadena del sector esta descrita en el trabajo, los principales actores son: los proveedores, los productores donde se diferencian los pequeños de los medianos y grandes (los grandes productores son los exportadores de la cadena), los importadores o mayoristas, los transformadores, los minoristas, supermercados o tiendas especializadas y por último el cliente final, que cada vez más busca este tipo de productos por salud. C.I. Organic Aromatic S.A., es una empresa dedicada a la producción 100 por ciento orgánica y exportación de hierbas aromáticas y culinarias. La empresa tiene certificación de producto 100 por orgánico, buenas prácticas de manejo y certificación ISO entre otros. Llevan 7 años de funcionamiento, pero con esta razón social trabajan desde 2012 cuando decidieron exportar directamente a Estados Unidos y convertirse en C.I. (comercializadora internacional). Para disminuir la incertidumbre se integran verticalmente hacia adelante, bajo la marca Exotic Organic Herbs, quienes están ubicados en Miami, para manejar la logística de la importación en Estados Unidos.

Assessing health risk associated with airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by chemometrics and toxic equivalency factors

Some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in air and have been implicated as carcinogenic materials. Therefore, literature is replete with studies that are focused on their occurrence and profiles in indoor and outdoor air samples. However, because the relative potency of individual PAHs vary widely, health risks associated with the presence of PAHs in a particular environment cannot be extrapolated directly from the concentrations of individual PAHs in that environment. In addition, database on the potency of PAH mixtures is currently limited. In this paper, we have utilized multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDMs) to simultaneously correlate PAH-related health risk in some microenvironments to the concentration levels, ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity induction equivalency factors and toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) of PAHs found in those microenvironments. The results showed that the relative risk associated with PAHs in different air samples depends on the index used. Nevertheless, this approach offers a promising tool that could help identify microenvironments of concern and assist the prioritisation of control strategies.

Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban stormwater in Queensland, Australia

This paper reports the distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wash-off in urban stormwater in Gold Coast, Australia. Runoff samples collected from residential, industrial and commercial sites were separated into a dissolved fraction (<0.45µm), and three particulate fractions (0.45-75µm, 75-150µm and >150µm). Patterns in the distribution of PAHs in the fractions were investigated using Principal Component Analysis. Regardless of the land use and particle size fraction characteristics, the presence of organic carbon plays a dominant role in the distribution of PAHs. The PAHs concentrations were also found to decrease with rainfall duration. Generally, the 1- and 2-year average recurrence interval rainfall events were associated with the majority of the PAHs and the wash-off was a source limiting process. In the context of stormwater quality mitigation, targeting the initial part of the rainfall event is the most effective treatment strategy. The implications of the study results for urban stormwater quality management are also discussed.

Biological monitoring of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in prebake smelting

In 1984, the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that working in the primary aluminium production process was associated with exposure to certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are probably carcinogenic to humans. Key sources of PAH exposure within the occupational environment of a prebake aluminium smelter are processes associated with use of coal-tar pitch. Despite the potential for exposure via inhalation, ingestion and dermal adsorption, to date occupational exposure limits exist only for airborne contaminants. This study, based at a prebake aluminium smelter in Queensland, Australia, compares exposures of workers who came in contact with PAHs from coal-tar pitch in the smelter’s anode plant (n = 69) and cell-reconstruction area (n = 28), and a non-production control group (n = 17). Literature relevant to PAH exposures in industry and methods of monitoring and assessing occupational hazards associated with these compounds are reviewed, and methods relevant to PAH exposure are discussed in the context of the study site. The study utilises air monitoring of PAHs to quantify exposure via the inhalation route and biological monitoring of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in urine of workers to assess total body burden from all routes of entry. Exposures determined for similar exposure groups, sampled over three years, are compared with published occupational PAH exposure limits and/or guidelines. Results of paired personal air monitoring samples and samples collected for 1-OHP in urine monitoring do not correlate. Predictive ability of the benzene-soluble fraction (BSF) in personal air monitoring in relation to the 1-OHP levels in urine is poor (adjusted R2 < 1%) even after adjustment for potential confounders of smoking status and use of personal protective equipment. For static air BSF levels in the anode plant, the median was 0.023 mg/m3 (range 0.002–0.250), almost twice as high as in the cell-reconstruction area (median = 0.013 mg/m3, range 0.003–0.154). In contrast, median BSF personal exposure in the anode plant was 0.036 mg/m3 (range 0.003–0.563), significantly lower than the median measured in the reconstruction area (0.054 mg/m3, range 0.003–0.371) (p = 0.041). The observation that median 1-OHP levels in urine were significantly higher in the anode plant than in the reconstruction area (6.62 µmol/mol creatinine, range 0.09–33.44 and 0.17 µmol/mol creatinine, range 0.001–2.47, respectively) parallels the static air measurements of BSF rather than the personal air monitoring results (p < 0.001). Results of air measurements and biological monitoring show that tasks associated with paste mixing and anode forming in the forming area of the anode plant resulted in higher PAH exposure than tasks in the non-forming areas; median 1-OHP levels in urine from workers in the forming area (14.20 µmol/mol creatinine, range 2.02–33.44) were almost four times higher than those obtained from workers in the non-forming area (4.11 µmol/mol creatinine, range 0.09–26.99; p < 0.001). Results justify use of biological monitoring as an important adjunct to existing measures of PAH exposure in the aluminium industry. Although monitoring of 1-OHP in urine may not be an accurate measure of biological effect on an individual, it is a better indicator of total PAH exposure than BSF in air. In January 2005, interim study results prompted a plant management decision to modify control measures to reduce skin exposure. Comparison of 1-OHP in urine from workers pre- and post-modifications showed substantial downward trends. Exposure via the dermal route was identified as a contributor to overall dose. Reduction in 1-OHP urine concentrations achieved by reducing skin exposure demonstrate the importance of exposure via this alternative pathway. Finally, control measures are recommended to ameliorate risk associated with PAH exposure in the primary aluminium production process, and suggestions for future research include development of methods capable of more specifically monitoring carcinogenic constituents of PAH mixtures, such as benzo[a]pyrene.