Miriam Solange Fernandes Caruso

Caracterização físico-química do suco de açaí de Euterpe precatoria Mart. oriundo de diferentes ecossistemas amazônicos

The fruit of acai (Euterpe precatoria Mart.) from different Amazon ecosystems were processed to obtain the juice. The juice obtained from each ecosystem was evaluated for proximate composition (moisture, ash, lipids, protein, carbohydrates and dietary fiber), minerals, fatty acids and anthocyanins. The fruits prior to processing were compared in terms of weight, having noticed a significant variation from 1.1 to 2.0 g. Concerning to the juice, there was a low concentration of protein and high in energy, mainly due to the presence of lipids with a range from 4.24 to 9.74%. Among the minerals, potassium was the most abundant ranging from 73.78 to 376.69 mg 100 g-1 (per of juice), followed by calcium (from 15.99 to 57.85 mg 100g-1.). Iron presented minority concentrations from 0.43 to 1.2 mg 100g-1. With regard to functional ingredients, the acai juice showed significant concentrations of dietary fiber (2.37 to 7.8%), anthocyanins, ranging from 128.4 mg 100 g-1 in fruits of green color coming from Parintins to 868.9 mg 100 g-1 in samples of Manaquiri (dry basis). The lipid fraction showed high quantities of oleic fatty acid (18:1), with average percentage of 68.2% in total fatty acids, followed by palmitic acid (16:0) with 17.5%. These results reinforce the potential of acai as a source of energy, fat, dietary fiber, anthocyanins, monounsaturated fatty acid and mineral elements. The present study will contribute to the expansion of table food composition and to aid in the genetic improvement program, market and social inclusion.

Ácidos graxos trans em óleos vegetais refinados poli-insaturados comercializados no estado de São Paulo, Brasil

This paper describes the results of fatty acids composition, mainly trans, in refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils, commercialized in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil during the years 2005 and 2007. The following samples were analyzed: 34 of soybean oil, 7 of sunflower oil, 2 of canola, and 6 of corn oil. The fatty acids were transesterified in a cold process and analyzed with optimized conditions by gas chromatography in a 100 m capillary column (SP 2560). Sixteen samples of soybean, two of canola, and four of sunflower oil showed levels of trans fatty acids higher than 2.0% (w/w methyl ester). In accordance with RDC 360/2003 of the Brazilian Sanitary Survey Agency (ANVISA), the trans fatty acid content must be on the nutrition facts label all food labels. Samples with less than 0.2 g of trans fatty acids per serving are considered free of them. The serving for vegetable oil is 13 mL. Therefore, the label of several vegetable oil samples analyzed should contain levels of trans fatty acids higher than zero. The vegetable oil refining process improvement, like the controlling of deodorization temperature, could contribute to meet the recommendations of the World Health Organization to minimize the trans fatty acids levels in food and to preserve the population health.

Optimization of the benzo(a)pyrene determination procedure in cachaça.

The present study evaluated and optimized a routine method to quantify and confirm BaP in Brazilian sugar cane spirit (cachaca). Three extraction procedures were tested, one using SPE for extraction and clean-up, while two others were liquid-liquid partition extraction followed by silica gel chromatography clean-up. BaP was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. HPLC detection and quantification limits were 0.03 and 0.10 µg L-1, respectively. The recovery results ranged from 82.9 to 97.0% with coefficients of variation (CV) ranging from 0.5 to 4.9% at concentration levels of 0.1, 1.0 and 3.0 µg L-1, which are in accordance with those described by other authors. The three procedures were appropriated to quantify BaP in cachaca, although SPE extraction is the cheapest, fastest and the least solvent-consuming. The levels of BaP contamination on twenty cachaca samples ranged from no detected (LOD < 0.03 µg L-1) to 0.49 µg L-1.

Monitoramento da autenticidade de amostras de bebidas alcoólicas enviadas ao Instituto Adolfo Lutz em São Paulo

Este trabalho teve como objetivo verificar a autenticidade de bebidas alcoolicas (whisky, vodka, conhaque de gengibre, etc.) enviadas para analise ao Instituto Adolfo Lutz no periodo de 1993 a agosto de 1999. Devido a presenca no mercado nacional de bebidas alcoolicas clandestinas, principalmente aquelas com alto valor agregado, foi realizado o monitoramento atraves da analise de composicao quimica destas bebidas. Normalmente estes produtos sao elaborados com alcool, agua, aroma e corante caramelo e que por falta de controle dessas materias-primas, podem oferecer risco potencial a saude humana pela presenca de metanol. A tecnica empregada na analise dos componentes secundarios e metanol das amostras foi realizada atraves da cromatografia em fase gasosa com detector de ionizacao de chama. Observou-se que em 608 amostras de bebidas alcoolicas analisadas, 391 eram falsificadas e dentre estas 2 apresentaram teores de metanol acima do limite tolerado (200mg/100mL de alcool anidro) pela legislacao em vigor. Os resultados obtidos sugerem uma grande persistencia em se produzir bebidas alcoolicas falsificadas. Desta forma, e muito importante estar sempre monitorando estes produtos e identificando os diferentes tipos de falsificacoes existentes no pais.

Benzo(a)pireno, carbamato de etila e metanol em cachaças

The objective of this work was to evaluate the presence of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), ethyl carbamate (EC) and methanol in 61 samples of cachaca. The quantification of BaP was carried out using HPLC with fluorescence detection, EC concentrations was determined by GC/MS and that of methanol, by GC/FID. In all samples, the concentration of methanol remained below 5 mg 100 mL-1 absolute alcohol. The results of BaP varied from <0.03 to 0.86 μg L-1; the values of EC exceeded the limit established by Brazilian legislation (150 μg L-1) in 53% of the samples.

Comparação de diferentes métodos estatísticos utilizados para avaliar o desempenho de participantes em um programa de ensaio de proficiência

Five statistical approaches were applied for assessing the performance of participants in 19 rounds (2007-2011) of the Proficiency Testing Program for lead in blood determination (PEP-Pbs), conducted by Instituto Adolfo Lutz. The performance evaluation was provided by using the z-score. The following statistical approaches were tested: 1 – mean and standard deviation, after rejecting outliers; 2 – median and normalized inter-quartile range; 3 – robust mean and robust standard deviation; 4 – robust mean and standard deviation for proficiency assessment of 3 μg/100 mL (for concentrations up to 40 μg/100 mL and a standard deviation for proficiency assessment of 7.5 % of the assigned value (for concentrations above 40 μg/100 mL); 5 – robust mean and standard deviation for proficiency assessment of 2 μg/100 mL (for concentration up to 40 μg/100 mL) or 5 % of the assigned value (for concentrations above 40 μg/100 mL). The approach 4 showed to be the most adequate statistical methodology to assess the performance of participating laboratories in the PEP-Pbs.Five statistical approaches were applied for assessing the performance of participants in 19 rounds (2007-2011) of the Proficiency Testing Program for lead in blood determination (PEP-Pbs), conducted by Instituto Adolfo Lutz. The performance evaluation was provided by using the z-score. The following statistical approaches were tested: 1 – mean and standard deviation, after rejecting outliers; 2 – median and normalized inter-quartile range; 3 – robust mean and robust standard deviation; 4 – robust mean and standard deviation for proficiency assessment of 3 μg/100 mL (for concentrations up to 40 μg/100 mL and a standard deviation for proficiency assessment of 7.5 % of the assigned value (for concentrations above 40 μg/100 mL); 5 – robust mean and standard deviation for proficiency assessment of 2 μg/100 mL (for concentration up to 40 μg/100 mL) or 5 % of the assigned value (for concentrations above 40 μg/100 mL). The approach 4 showed to be the most adequate statistical methodology to assess the performance of participating laboratories in the PEP-Pbs.