Lílian Cristina Côcco

Application of a long-period fibre grating-based transducer in the fuel industry

This work shows prospects of long-period fibre grating applications as transducers for fuel conformity analysis. The proposed long-period grating transducer was employed to assess the gasoline conformity in commercial gas stations. Grating responses were used to train and validate a radial base function topology of an artificial neural network. The obtained results show that fibre optic sensors supervised by artificial neural networks can integrate systems for smart sensing with high applicability in the petrochemical field. The radial base function had reached a correct classification probability of approximately 94%. The device applicability in the analysis of hydrated ethanol fuel was also investigated by measuring the concentration of ethanol in ethanol?water mixtures. The results showed that the developed transducer can be used to infer the ethanol?water concentration with a resolution of up to 0.23%.

Genotoxicity of Achillea millefolium essential oil in diploid cells of Aspergillus nidulans

The essential oil of Achillea millefolium is commonly used in folk medicine for the treatment of several diseases and has been demonstrated previously to exert an in vitro antimicrobial activity against human pathogens. Current study investigates the genotoxic activity of A. millefolium oil. The oils major constituents are: chamazulene (42.15%), sabinene (19.72%), terpin‐4‐ol (5.22%), β‐caryophyllene (4.44%) and eucalyptol (3.10%), comprising 74.63% of the total. The oils genotoxic evaluation was performed at concentrations of 0.13 µL/mL, 0.19 µL/mL and 0.25 µL/mL with a heterozygous diploid strain of Aspergillus nidulans, named A757//UT448, with green conidia. A statistically significant increasing number of yellow and white mitotic recombinants, per colony, of the diploid strain was reported after oil treatment with 0.19 µL/mL and 0.25 µL/mL concentrations. The genotoxicity of the oil was associated with the induction of mitotic non‐disjunction or crossing‐over by oil. Copyright

Organic fertilization in the production, yield and chemical composition of basil chemotype eugenol

Este trabalho foi realizado na UFPR, municipio de Pinhais-PR, de outubro de 2005 a junho de 2006. Avaliou-se a resposta do Ocimum gratissimum a adubacao orgânica com composto de esterco de carneiro, verificando a viabilidade dessa pratica para o aumento no rendimento de biomassa, na quantidade e qualidade de seu oleo essencial. As mudas foram plantadas com espacamento de 0,5 m entre plantas dentro das parcelas e 1 m entre as parcelas. Testaram-se 3 doses de adubacao com composto orgânico (4; 8 e 12 kg m-2) e uma testemunha, com 5 repeticoes e 8 plantas por parcela. As colheitas foram realizadas aos 150 e 226 dias apos o plantio, sendo avaliado o rendimento de massa fresca e massa seca total e de folhas, flores e caule, o teor de oleo essencial das folhas e flores e a sua composicao por cromatografo a gas acoplado a um detector de massas (CG-MS). Houve diferenca entre os tratamentos, quanto ao rendimento de biomassa na primeira colheita, onde o tratamento com 8 kg m-2 de composto orgânico foi superior a testemunha sem adubacao, para a massa fresca de flores por planta e massa seca total e de flores por planta, mas nao diferiu dos outros niveis de adubacao. Na segunda colheita nao houve diferenca entre os tratamentos. Quanto ao rendimento de oleo essencial nao houve diferenca entre os tratamentos nas duas colheitas. Tambem nao foram observadas grandes variacoes nos componentes do oleo essencial decorrente dos tratamentos aplicados. Entretanto, ocorreram variacoes na composicao do oleo essencial quando extraido das folhas e das flores, sendo o teor medio de eugenol de 90,4% nas folhas e 80,8% nas flores, na colheita em marco. Ja na colheita em junho, houve uma reducao do teor de eugenol nas folhas e uma elevacao dos teores, principalmente de alfa trans trans farneseno, beta bisaboleno, beta cariofileno, germacrene D e alfa selineno.

Propagação in vitro e caracterização química do óleo essencial de Lavandula angustifolia cultivada no Sul do Brasil

Lavandula angustifolia Mill. e uma importante planta produtora de oleos essenciais, que apresenta dificuldade de propagacao pelo enraizamento de estacas, sendo a producao de mudas realizada nesse trabalho pela tecnica de micropropagacao, em que foram avaliadas algumas condicoes do cultivo in vitro. As mudas produzidas pela micropropagacao foram cultivadas em Sao Joaquim (SC). O oleo essencial das inflorescencias foi extraido por hidrodestilacao, e analisado quanto a sua composicao por GC/MS, em dois anos de colheita. O meio de cultura LS apresentou melhor resposta no desenvolvimento das brotacoes, nao sendo observadas brotacoes com necrose apical. Meios de cultura mais diluidos como o ½ MS e o WPM, apresentaram altas taxas de hiperidricidade e necrose apical das brotacoes. A citocinina BAP influenciou a multiplicacao das brotacoes, sendo a qualidade mantida com 1,0µM ao longo de quatro subcultivos. A sobrevivencia das plantas na aclimatizacao foi de 80%. Os teores de oleo essencial foram de 4,0% e 5,25%, na primeira e segunda colheita, respectivamente. Os compostos majoritarios foram o linalol (46,88% e 37,25%) e acetato de linalila (10,09% e 12,24%).

Chemical Composition of Essential Oils from Ripe and Unripe Fruits of Piper amalago L. var. medium (Jacq.) Yunck and Piper hispidum Sw.

Abstract The chemical composition of essential oils from unripe and ripe fruits of Piper amalago L. var. medium (Jacq.) Yunck and Piper hispidum Sw. was examined using GC/MS analysis. The analysis of oils from P. amalago revealed a predominance of oxygenated sesquiterpenes and 65 compounds were identified; their main constituents are: (E)- nerolidol (14.2% and 19.9%), germacrene-D-4-ol (10.3% and 12.7%), α-cadinol (11.1% and 8.2%) in 99.6% and 98.7% of the compounds for unripe and ripe fruits, respectively. Piper hispidum revealed a predominance of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, from which we identified 53 compounds including: α-copaene (28.7% and 36.2%), α-pinene (13.9% and 7.1%), α-pinene (13.3% and 7.5%), and (E)-nerolidol (2.9% and 7.0%) which represented 97.8% and 98.1% of the compound constituents for unripe and ripe fruits, respectively. The essential oils of fruits of P. amalago and P. hispidum are reported for the first time.

Conteúdo polifenólico e atividade antioxidante dos frutos da palmeira Juçara (Euterpe edulis Martius)

The polyphenolic content and the antioxidant activity of Euterpe edulis Martius fruit extract were assessed. This species is a Palm tree known as Jucara, native to Atlantic Forest and used for palm heart extraction. The process of palm heart extraction leads to the death of the plant since the latter has one single stem. The high demand has resulted in the depletion of this natural resource. Many species from Atlantic Forest can be used by means of sustainable management for the preservation and economic exploration by local communities. The fruit of Jucara palm can be one of the sustainable management alternatives for the Atlantic Forest natural resources. The antioxidant capacity of this fruit can justify its application as nutritional food. The fruit polyphenolic content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and the obtained results were: 10.31 ± 0.25%, 12.42 ± 0.89%, 12.75 ± 0.94% for crude extract, acetyl acetate and remaining fractions, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was determined through the phosphomolybdenium complex and DPPH methods. The crude extract and the acetyl acetate and remaining fractions showed antioxidant activity, and the latter two showed higher activity, indicating that polyphenolic content may be responsible for this activity.

Genotoxic activity of Eucalyptus globulus essential oil in Aspergillus nidulans diploid cells.

Eucalyptus globulus essential oil was evaluated for its genotoxic potential using a somatic segregation assay and a diploid strain of the fungus Aspergillus nidulans, heterozygous for nutritional and conidia color markers. The main compounds of the current essential oil sample were eucalyptol (49.0 %), α-pinene (8.9), β-pinene (1.5), globulol (6.9), α-eudesmol (1.12), spathulenol (1.42), γ-cadinene (1.45), trans-β-elemenone (1.23) and aromandendrene (2.3), totaling 74 % of oil. Oil at 0.12 and 0.25 μL/mL was found to increase the mitotic instability of the original diploid strain and the number of diploid mitotic recombinants of A. nidulans. The genotoxicity of the oil was associated with the induction of mitotic crossing-over or with oil-broken chromosomes.

Teor e composição de óleo essencial de rizomas de gengibre (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) após diferentes períodos de secagem

A producao de gengibre no Parana concentra-se no municipio de Morretes, ocupando uma area de plantio de aproximadamente 300 ha. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o teor e a composicao do oleo essencial de rizomas de gengibre produzidos em Morretes e submetidos a diferentes periodos de secagem em temperatura ambiente. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, em esquema fatorial 5 x 5, com quatro repeticoes (quatro plantas por repeticao), avaliando cinco procedencias e cinco periodos de secagem a temperatura ambiente (0, 15, 30, 45 e 60 dias). As extracoes de oleo essencial foram realizadas por hidrodestilacao em aparelho graduado Clevenger durante tres horas e a analise dos constituintes foi realizada por meio de cromatografia em fase gasosa acoplada a espectrometria de massas. A secagem de rizomas de gengibre em temperatura ambiente por ate 60 dias resultou na diminuicao de teores de oleo essencial na maioria das procedencias. Os constituintes geranial e o neral apresentaram maior concentracao em todas as procedencias e tiveram teores superiores com o aumento nos periodos de secagem. Os teores de geraniol e acetato de geranila foram inferiores apos a secagem em todas as procedencias, assim como eucaliptol, canfeno, zingibereno e β-bisaboleno na maioria das procedencias.

Desenvolvimento da camomila, rendimento e qualidade do óleo essencial em diferentes idades de colheita

Chamomile is an aromatic herb with many medicinal properties. In Brazil, it is cultivated on an extensive area in the Southern region mainly because of its climatic conditions for this culture. Chamomile harvesting is done by several cuttings of the entire plant, but the ideal starting point of this activity to obtain high production of flower heads has not been determined. This work investigated the effect of the harvesting period of chamomile on flower head development and essential oil accumulation. The experiment was carried out at field conditions in Piraquara, Parana, Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized with five treatments (85, 92, 99, 106 and 113 days after emergency) and five replications. After each harvest, dry mass accumulation and essential oil yield and quality were evaluated. Essential oil extraction was performed by hydrodistillation, and the sample was analyzed by gas chromatography. When harvested 85 days after emergency, the flower heads presented the highest essential oil content, but three weeks later the highest flower head dry mass was obtained, which resulted on great essential oil productivity. From 113 days after emergency, there is a reduction in essential oil yield and production.

Desenvolvimento vegetativo e produção de óleo essencial de patchouli (Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.) após a aplicação de ácido giberélico e extrato de alga marinha

Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth., comumente conhecido como patchouli, e uma especie aromatica utilizada pela industria de perfumes devido a fragrância amadeirada e propriedade fixadora do oleo essencial. Fatores que afetam o teor dos constituintes do oleo essencial devem ser avaliados visando obter materia prima de melhor qualidade. O experimento foi conduzido em casa de vegetacao com delineamento inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 2x3 e 4 repeticoes, sendo dois niveis de giberelina (0 e 200 mg L-1) e tres niveis de extrato de alga marinha (0, 15 e 30 mg L-1). A aplicacao dos reguladores vegetais foi realizada 30 dias apos o plantio das mudas, e a avaliacao do experimento deu-se 45 dias apos a aplicacao dos tratamentos. Nao houve diferenca significativa para a altura das plantas, a concentracao de extrato de alga marinha de 15 mg L-1 promoveu aumento no numero de folhas em relacao a testemunha e a concentracao de 30 mg L-1 promoveu decrescimo. Em relacao a area foliar e ao numero de folhas houve relacao inversa para os niveis de extrato de alga marinha, onde o tratamento com maior concentracao do regulador resultou em aumento da area foliar e reducao do numero de folhas. O teor de oleo essencial foi superior apos a aplicacao de 15 mg L-1 de extrato alga marinha isoladamente ou combinado com GA3. A produtividade do oleo essencial tambem aumentou com a aplicacao 15 mg L-1 de extrato de alga marinha e quando utilizado somente GA3. A utilizacao de extrato de alga marinha aumentou a concentracao de patchoulol no oleo essencial.