Fluorescent characteristics of bee honey constituents: A brief review.

The eligible articles were obtained from databases such as ScienceDirect, SciELO, PubMed and Springer. The searches were performed using the terms "honey", "vitamins", "fluorescence" and their combinations. The titles and abstracts of the articles found were read and revised to verify their relevance to the review. From the selected titles, it was possible to elaborate the systematic review, based on scientific studies and sources considered faithful and true. The systematic review presented confirms the necessity for studies to identify compounds using fluorescence techniques, using cheaper and more accessible techniques. Few studies are covered in this theme, when treated about Apis mellifera honey, and it has been observed that in the last 12 years, the few researches have only tried to show the viability of using the technique without quantifying the present compounds, while others demonstrate the fluorescent aspects, but performing through techniques considered more expensive.

Spectrofluorimetric analyzes of thiamine and riboflavin in monofloral honey varieties of africanized bees (Apis mellifera).

This research aimed to study the validation of a viable and low-cost spectrofluorimetric method, capable of detecting and quantifying B vitamins in floral varieties of bee honey. The analyzes were performed using chemical and operational methods of pre-defined solutions and standards, performed in triplicate and the results expressed as mean ± standard deviation. The data were recorded in a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet (version 2013) and studied using the statistical program Bioestatic version 3.0. The calibration curves of the vitamins showed the linearity and precision of the method. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis of the data was performed, being considered normal in the Lilliefors normality tests. Finally, the data were subjected to Pearson's correlation test, showing positive and strong correlations, with r (Pearson) ranging from 0.7619 to 1. Honey had positive results regarding the detection and quantification of vitamins B1 and B2 through the spectrofluorimetric method.

Copper and lead ion removal from wastewater using fava d'anta fodder (Dimorphandra gardneriana Tulasne).

The contamination of bodies of water by potentially hazardous elements has in recent decades become an environmental problem that poses serious risks to humans, fauna, flora and microbiota, compromising the quality of life of the present ecosystem. Therefore, effluents must be properly treated in a legally acceptable manner before their disposal in the environment. With this in mind, adsorption presents itself as an inexpensive efficient technique for the removal of potentially hazardous elements from effluents with excellent adsorption capacities when natural adsorbents are used. In this study, fava d'anta fodder was used in its crude and alkalinized form to remove Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions. Equilibrium studies were carried out using adsorption isotherms in batch systems with mono- and multi-elementary systems containing the two ions. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied to the isotherm studies, with the ions being better suited to the Langmuir model, with maximum adsorption capacities of 24.45 mg g-1 and 68.49 mg g-1 (crude form) and 11.12 mg g-1 and 35.34 mg g-1 (alkalinized form) in the mono-elementary system for Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions, respectively.

A socio-environmental perspective on pesticide use and food production.

Pesticides are part of a large group of organic compounds with different physicochemical characteristics, designed to control and prevent pests in various crops and plantations, improving productivity. This works provides a perspective on pesticide use in current agriculture with the aim of identifying the influence of pesticides on food production and their impact on the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight the importance of determining pesticide residues in food, aiming to ensure food safety, since these compounds can represent risks to human health and the environment. The effects of pesticides on humans range from headaches, nausea and skin and eye irritation to chronic problems such as cancer and neurological disorders, and extend to other non-target organisms such as birds, fish and bees, contaminating water, soil, and plants, as opposed to the benefits of increased production, consequently other measures for pesticide consumption need to be evaluate to ensure human health, food safety and environmental protection. It is important to note that chromatographic techniques and mass spectrometry assist in the determination of pesticide residues and evaluate the quality of the food that reaches the consumer, and together with the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), established by the legislation of each country, these instrumentation act to control the exposure of population to pesticides. Although the MRL is used as a parameter for food quality, the global differences in pesticide legislation do not guarantee the consumer safety. In this sense, a brief analysis of MRL inefficiency is also present in this paper.

Evaluating the presence of pesticides in bananas: An integrative review.

INTRODUCTION: Pesticides are organic compounds widely used in modern agriculture, being relevant for helping plantations and increasing food production. The banana, a fruit with oriental origin, stands out for being widely produced in tropical and subtropical regions which, like other matrices, is susceptible to pest action. This review aims to evaluate the presence of pesticides in bananas according to Brazilian, European and Codex legislation. METHODS: Four databases, ScienceDirect, SciELO, PubMed and Springer, were used to find relevant articles in the literature addressing methods for the determination of pesticide residues in bananas using the terms "banana", "chromatography", "pesticides" and "determination". The search stages included reading abstracts and titles, reading the full text, extracting data and analyzing data from eligible articles. The search was restricted to original research articles published in English from 2008 to 2018. RESULTS: 404 articles were found from the initial research, with only 15 studies being considered eligible for this review. Mass spectrometry is the most widely used detection technique. 5 articles were seen to use a multiresidue method to analyze only bananas (pulp), and from these, only 2 studies used methods to analyze the pulp and peel. The articles analyzed 172 samples, with 59.3% of these being conducted in Europe, 32.5% being conducted in Asia and only 8.1% in South America. A total of 79.1%, 32.4% and 42.6% of samples were unsatisfactory according to the Brazilian, European and Codex legislation, respectively, with these samples being contaminated with pesticide residues. CONCLUSION: This review presents the scarcity of articles aimed at identifying pesticide residues in bananas and the urgency of checking the quality of the fruit that reaches the population. The MRLs allowed by different legislations have clear divergences that do not ensure the lowest concentration values that guarantee consumer safety.