Rogério Marcos de Souza

Nutritional properties of cherry tomatoes harvested at different times and grown in an organic cropping

The physicochemical characteristics of the cherry tomato cultivated in organic and conventional production systems and harvested at either 30 or 45 days of cropping were evaluated using a randomized, 2x2 factorial design (2 cropping systems x 2 harvesting times) with five repetitions. The parameters analyzed were color, centesimal composition, total energetic value, carotenoids and bioactive amine content. Tomatoes harvested at 30 days had higher total soluble solid (TSS) content when grown conventionally, but when harvested at 45 days, both conventional and organic tomatoes had similar TSS values, probably due to increased N availability in the soil. Organic cherry tomatoes had higher contents of β-carotene, lycopene and bioactive amine. On the other hand, tomatoes from conventional cropping were more alkaline and brighter. In conclusion, organic tomatoes are more nutritious than conventional varieties, and if allowed to ripen for up to 45 days, contain higher levels of TSS, carotenoids and total bioactive amines.

Control of Haematobia irritans in the Minas Gerais Semiarid

Background: Beef cattle is considered to be one of the most important economic activities, however, it presents problems in the production chain such as the occurrence of parasites that reduce the growth, performance, productivity and may cause mortalities occasionally. The chemical control is the most used alternative to reduce ectoparasites. Nevertheless, inappropriate management of insecticides has contributed to the selection of population resistant to the products available on the market. This paper aimed to evaluate the practices of management and the application of insecticides used to control horn flies in farms of dairy cattle in the North of the state of Minas Gerais. Materials, Methods & Results: It was visited 62 rural properties, which produce milk. Semi-structured questionnaires were applied in order to obtain information on the characteristics of the properties (location, size and type of the cattle), on the knowledge about the epidemiology of the horn flies, and on the practices adopted to the control of those parasites. The practices adopted include the moment of application of the insecticides, frequency of the cattle treatment, used products, method of application, number of animals treated, and choice and substitution criteria of insecticides. The data collected were tabulated in contingency tables, and they were analyzed using the chi-square test, considering a significance of 5%. The racial composition of the cattle in the farms was mainly mixed-race of unknown origin, representing 77% of the animals evaluated. In this research, it was reported a greater incidence of horn flies infestation on adult beef herd, and 23.6% of the producers reported occurrences of infestation in the whole herd, not differing by categories. The infestation peaks of the fly occurred from November to March. It was also found a greater frequency of pyrethroid use in the region (P < 0.001), where 43.1% of the producers used associations of pyrethroid or organophosphate to control the flies, high efficiency being reported. From the properties assessed, 92% presented inadequacy in the practices of control of horn flies, for instance, the lack of using cattle manure tank, the accumulation of open waste, the lack of rotation of insecticides, which can favor the selection of resistant flies. Discussion: In this paper, it was reported 77.19% of predominance of Haematobia irritans infestation from November to March mainly in animals with a higher percentage of European or mixed-race genetics. Such results corroborate with the literature, because it was verified the influence of race and hair color in the level of infestation in the animals, although, in the same race, each individual presents different susceptibilities. Taurine beef cattle are more susceptible to infestation by horn flies than zebu cattle. Thus, the lower the proportion of zebu cattle genetics in the herd, the greater the infestation. Taurine beef cattle are more infested because shows a greater number of sebaceous glands and greater concentration of testosterone being attractive before the calves castrated, cows, and after, young animals. Cypermethrin was predominant in most part of the commercial insecticides used in the properties to control this ectoparasite, which could be justified by the large number of products available on the market with such compound in the formulations. The high efficiency of the associations of the insecticides reported by the producers could justify itself by the presence of active ingredients with different mechanisms of action. However, the limitation on the use of these associations is that not always the chemical compounds contained in the drug act simultaneously, being able to favor the selection of parasites resistant to different insecticides present in these formulations.

The Effect of Solar Radiation in the Treatment of Swine Biofertilizer from Anaerobic Reactor

The intensive process of creating confined pigs generates large amounts of waste, character‐ ized as polluters of great impact to the environment. According to the Brazilian environ‐ mental legislation, Law No. 9.605/98, the amount of effluent produced by swine requires appropriate destination, and the producer may be held criminally responsible for damage caused to the environment, human health and animals.

Use of macaúba cake replacing corn on carcass characteristics and body measurements of Santa Inês lambs

This experiment evaluated the effect of adding macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) cake replacing corn on body measurements and carcass characteristics of Santa Ines lambs. Twenty four 5-month-old uncastrated male lambs were tested using a randomized blocks design. Lambs were distributed into four experimental groups, receiving diets with 0, 100, 200 and 300 g/kg of macauba cake. After 60 days in feedlot, measurements of body length, thoracic perimeter, height at the anterior and rump height were taken. The lambs were slaughtered, skinned and eviscerated. Carcass were weighed hot and chilled at 2 oC during 24 h. Cooling losses, hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, hot carcass yield, cold carcass yield, half carcass weight, fat thickness, final weight, slaughter weight, empty body weight, thorax depth, croup width, perimeter of the croup, carcass length, internal carcass length, hindlimb length, hindlimb width and hindlimb conformation score were evaluated. Only hindlimb width was inversely correlated to adding macauba cake in the diet. Macauba cake can be included in diets for lamb in feedlot up to 300 g/kg without affecting body measurements in vivo or carcass characteristics.