Sanyelle Sousa

Obtenção de suco de caju atomizado através do controle das condições de secagem

Cashew juice is a product that is widely consumed in Brazil, mainly in northeast Brazil. Dehydrating this juice by spray-drying is an important alternative to use the production excess. Given the above, this study aimed to establishing the best spray-drying operational conditions to obtain the powder cashew, by means of a rotational center composite design. The physicochemical characterization of both the integral juice and the powder juice, obtained from the best operational conditions was also carried out. The experimental design used did not show any significant difference at 0.05 level of probability, which highlighted that the model was not adjusted to the data. However, it was possible to observe a qualitative optimum in the process. The main results for physical and physicochemical parameters for both the integral cashew juice and the powder juice, concerning humidity, pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids, vitamin C were, respectively: 90.02-1.04%; 3.92-3.88%; 0.31- 0.40%; 10.60-98.67 oBrix; 1592.71-282.67 mg 100g-1.

Parasite control in Miranda Donkeys as a way of keeping animal welfare

In Portugal, donkeys (Equus asinus) are important in rural areas, like Tras-os-Montes region, where they play a significant role in agriculture and are also companion animals of old-aged people. Leisure activities as ecotourism, races and parades, promoted a sustainable development of the region and have renewed the interest in a local donkey breed, Miranda do Douro Donkey Breed (MDDB). In order to preserve the MDDB in Tras-os-Montes, the Association for the Study and Protection of Donkeys (AEPGA) was created. Field data show that MDDB gastrointestinal parasites have a negative impact on health and animal welfare and their control is important to improve body condition, work capacity, reproductive function as well as life expectancy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence rate (PR), the parasitic intensity (PI) and parasite biodiversity (PBD) of donkeys from MDDB. Between July 2005 and February 2010, 62 adults of MDDB of AEPGA’s rehabilitation centers were dewormed every six months (spring and autumn) with ivermectin 2% (1 ml/50 kg BW subcutaneous). Faecal tests were performed before and after each deworming. During this period we observed a decrease of PR (87% to 32%), a decrease of PI [In 2005, 70.4% with strong PI (>1000 EPG) and 29.6% with medium to weak PI (0–1000 EPG); in 2010, 25% with medium PI and 75% with weak PI], and also a decrease in PBD (15 genera in 2005 to Cyathostomum sense latum in 2010). These results showed that a constant monitoring of MDDB parasitism is needed in order to adjust therapeutic measures and reduce the negative impact of parasitism on health and animal welfare. This will allow a better performance of their activities, contributing for an improvement of the owners households and to a sustainable development of this less favored region of Portugal.