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Qualidade física, microbiológica e parasitológica de alfaces (Lactuca sativa) de diferentes sistemas de cultivo

SUMMARY PHYSICAL, MICROBIOLOGICAL AND PARASITOLOGICAL QUALITY OF LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa) FROM DIFFERENT GROWING PROCESSES. The lettuce (Lactuca sativa) has economic importance to the people in Brazil. The aim of this study was to carry out a physical, microbiological and parasitological evaluations in the lettuce samples - crisp variety, according to organic, traditional and hydroponics growing processes, commercialized at the supermarkets of the City of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, collected from September/2003 until June/2004. The hydroponics lettuce samples showed the lowest total and edible part weight; they were inserted into Extra rate quality standard, according to the current legislation, whereas the organic and traditional lettuce samples were inserted into First and Second rate quality standard, respectively. The lettuce samples, independently of the growing process, showed low hygienic conditions, indicated by the presence of parasites of animal or human origin, and high concentration of fecal coliforms; the organic lettuce samples showed the highest frequencies of enteroparasities and fecal coliforms concentration, followed by the traditional and hydroponics lettuce samples. Considering the obtained results, the importance of this kind of food in the transmission of enteroparasities is stressed, as well as the need of actions which improve the sanitary conditions of these products.

Aproveitamento industrial de marisco na produção de lingüiça

It was studied the process and the acceptibility of the vongole (Anomalocardia brasiliana) sausage, beyond to evaluate the stability of the frozen product as to chemical, physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory aspects. The vongole sausage had the following formulation: 48% vongole, 5% soy protein, 15% water, 25% swine fat, 3% albumin, 2% blend of cure salts and NaCl, 1.5% flavouring, 0.5% colouring. The final product was stored during three months at -18oC, and the shelf life study included pH, moisture, proteins, lipids, nitrogen total volatile base, lipid oxidation tests, pathogenic and toxigenic microorganisms analysis, overall appearance, odour, flavour, texture avaliatons. According to sensorial analyses, the vongole sausage reached good score; it acceptibility index (AI) was 78-87% for the all evaluated attributes, specially for flavour and texture. The product was evaluated as ideal vongole flavour and ideal seasoning flavour for 66.67% and 73.33% of the tasters, respectivelly. The results of the purchase intention test showed that 46.67% of the consumers had probable or certain intention to buy the product. The data of microbiological, physico-chemical, chemical and sensory analyses showed that the vongole sausage was stable during three months at -18oC.

Microscopic and Chemical Characterization of Flour of Fruits: An Alternative Source for Supplemental Feeding

The present study aimed to characterization microscopic and chemical of four samples of fruit flours: eggplant (Solanum melongena), banana (Musa spp), passion fruit (Passiflora spp) and grape (Vitis vinifera). For the determination of chemical composition acid digestion was via a microwave-assisted using nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide and subsequently analysed by inductively coupled plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP OES). The validation of method was evaluated by analyzing a certified reference material (CRM), Rice Flour NIST 1568a. The vitamin C contents of the sample flour were determined by the AOAC procedure. The microscopic analyzes were realized with an optical microscope Olympus SZH10 coupled to a digital camera Cannon Power Shot A460. Average mineral concentration in flour samples (in mg/100 g) were: 0.30 to 367 (Ca); 3.38 to 1666 (K); 0.16 to 216 (Mg); 0.023 to 136 (Na); 0.010 to 9.95 (Cu); 0.050 to 27.87 (Fe); 0.052 to 6.55 (Mn); 0,011 to 6,04 (Zn) and 2,9 to 70,4 (Vitamin C). The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the variables vitamin C and Na have negative correlation with Mn and these variables contribute to discrimination of samples of banana and passion fruit flour’s. Characteristic plant tissue components that compose the fruit flours were observed as well as the irregular addition of starch.

Frequencies of atypical serum cholinesterase in a mixed population of northeastern Brazil.

Frequencies of the CHE1*A allele were estimated in 84 Whites and 772 Negroids from a random sample of Salvador, Bahia. The overall frequency of this gene in Negroids was estimated as 0.842 +/- 0.233%. This indicates that this sample presents around 50 +/- 17% of White admixture and that the estimate of the risk of developing prolonged apnoea in individuals submitted to suxamethonium is around 0.035%, that is about 1 out of 2,900.

Classification and compositional characterization of different varieties of cocoa beans by near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analyses

Abstract Effective and fast methods are important for distinguishing cocoa varieties in the field and in the processing industry. This work proposes the application of NIR spectroscopy as a potential analytical method to classify different varieties and predict the chemical composition of cocoa. Chemical composition and colour features were determined by traditional methods and then related with the spectral information by partial least-squares regression. Several mathematical pre-processing methods including first and second derivatives, standard normal variate and multiplicative scatter correction were applied to study the influence of spectral variations. The results of chemical composition analysis and colourimetric measurements show significant differences between varieties. NIR spectra of samples exhibited characteristic profiles for each variety and principal component analysis showed different varieties in according to spectral features.