Cold extraction process for producing a low-alcohol beer, International Pale Lager style: Evaluation and description of flavors using electronic tongue.

Grains germinate, dry, and then undergo crushing before being combined with hot water to yield a sweet and viscous liquid known as wort. To enhance flavor and aroma compounds while maintaining a lower alcohol content, cold water is utilized during wort production without increasing its density. Recent years have witnessed a surge in demand for beverages with reduced alcohol content, reflecting shifting consumer preferences towards healthier lifestyles. Notably, consumers of low-alcohol beers seek products that closely mimic traditional beers. In response, batches of low-alcohol beer were meticulously crafted using a cold extraction method with room temperature water, resulting in a beer with 1.11% alcohol by volume (ABV). Sensory evaluations yielded a favorable score of 27 out of 50, indicating adherence to style standards and absence of major technical flaws. Furthermore, electronic taste profiling revealed a striking similarity between the low-alcohol beer and the benchmark International Pale Lager style, exemplified by commercial beers (5 and 0.03% ABV). Notably, the reduced-alcohol variant boasted lower caloric content compared to both standard and non-alcoholic counterparts. Consequently, the cold extraction approach emerges as a promising technique for producing low-alcohol beers within the International Pale Lager style, catering to evolving consumer preferences and health-conscious trends.

Investigation of thallium as a contaminant in dietary supplements marketed for weight loss and physical fitness.

Dietary supplements are drastically growing as a category of consumer products all over the world. The abuse of supplements marketed for slimming purposes and physical fitness has been observed worldwide in recent years, which raises concerns in terms of public health. In this study, different types of dietary supplements marketed and delivered through the e-commerce were studied for the determination of thallium as a hazardous inorganic contaminant. The total content of thallium was determined by a sensitive voltammetric method after a microwave-assisted oxidative digestion of the sample. In addition, a comparative spectrometric method was applied for validation of the results in the samples. The maximum concentration found for thallium was found to be 2.89 mg kg-1, which well agree with the comparative measurement. Considering the 32 studied formulations, it can be pointed out that ∼24% of the of dietary supplements presented Tl concentrations at concentrations higher than 1 mg kg-1. The results permitted the assessment of the health risk related to thallium from contaminated samples, based on the calculation of the estimated daily intake (EDI) and the risk quotient (HQ). The highest daily intake of thallium was calculated as 82.0 µg day-1 in a protein-based supplement, which is equivalent to an EDI of 1.17 µg kg-1 day-1. This work highlights the need to develop regulations on the limits of toxic elements such as thallium in widely consumed dietary supplements, as well as an in-depth look at the adverse effects caused by this element in the human body.

A green analytical method for the determination of polyphenols in wine by dispersive pipette extraction and LC-MS/MS.

A simple sample preparation approach employing the dispersive pipette extraction (DPX) technique is proposed to determine twelve polyphenols, including phenolic acids and flavonoids in wines, followed by identification and quantification by LC-MS/MS. The extraction parameters, including sample volume and pH, salting out effect, time and cycles of extraction and desorption, and desorption solvent were optimized using univariate and multivariate designs. The analytical performance was satisfactory, with determination coefficients greater than or equal to 0.9877, precisions with values lower than 20 %, and recoveries ranging from 87 to 114 %. The applicability of the method was evaluated in red wine. The major compounds determined in the sample were (-)-epicatechin (23.5 mg L-1), (+)-catechin (19.2 mg L-1), and myricetin (14.6 mg L-1). The green character of the analytical procedure and the sample preparation step were evaluated by three analytical metrics.

Essential oils from leaves of Vernonanthura montevidensis (Spreng.) H. Rob.: chemical profile and antimollicute potential.

Aiming to valorise the Atlantic Rainforest biodiversity in Santa Catarina, the chemical characterisation of the essential oils (EOs) from leaves of Vernonanthura montevidensis (Spreng.) H. Rob. is described for the first time. Fresh leaves collected in the year 2014 and 2015, were submitted to hydrodistillation to give pale blue EOs in yields of 0.21 and 0.19%, respectively. The EOs were characterised by GC-MS and GC-FID semi- and quantitative methods. The monoterpene ß-pinene was the major constituent in both samples reaching a maximum of 26.3%. The monoterpene α-pinene and the sesquiterpene ß-caryophyllene, were also among the major constituents in both samples. By means of the extracted ion chromatogram procedure, it was possible to detect chamazulene, which was associated with the pale blue colour of the essential oils. In the in vitro antimollicute assays, the essential oil was moderately active against Mycoplasma genitalium and M. pneumoniae with MIC values of 250 µg mL-1.

Recovery of lanthanides from hydrocarbon cracking spent catalyst through chemical and biotechnological strategies.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the rare earth elements (REEs) recovery from fluid catalytic cracking spent catalyst (FCC-SC) by chemical and biochemical strategies while also examining a route for the valorization of biodiesel-derived glycerin (RG), which is presently unprofitable to refine. Recovery tests for REEs were performed with no pretreatment of the FCC-SC. A chemical leaching investigation was carried out using HCl, HNO3, NaOH, CaCl2 and citric acid aqueous solutions (1 mol L-1, at 30, 50, 60 or 70 ± 1 °C). The leaching tests carried out with 1 mol L-1 citric acid at 50 °C provided the best recovery of La (27%). Subsequent bioleaching tests were carried out with four strains of Yarrowia lipolytica to evaluate their potential to produce organic acids using RG as the main carbon source. The FCC-SC contains some REEs, predominantly La. Remarkable biorecovery rates for REEs (namely, La (53%), Ce and Nd (both 99%)) were achieved using the Y. lipolytica IM-UFRJ 50678 fermented medium at 50 °C. Thus, here, a sustainable approach to recovering metals from spent cracking catalyst using RG under low-cost and non-energy-intensive processing conditions is reported.