Small Brazilian wild fruits: Nutrients, bioactive compounds, health-promotion properties and commercial interest.

Brazilian berries present great nutritional, functional and economic characteristics comparable to temperate berries. They constitute an important innovation domain for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, due to their positive health effects and market potential. The main objective of this review was to describe the physicochemical, nutritional and biological aspects of six Brazilian small native wild fruits from the Arecaceae (açaí, buriti and pupunha), Mirtaceae (camu-camu and jaboticaba) and Malpighiaceae (murici) families, highlighting their antioxidant, anti-lipidaemic, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antigenotoxic potential among others. It also discussed some relevant topics for new studies that could be of benefit to industry and improve the local economy where these fruits are found. Thus, the dissemination of the works already carried out with these fruits strategically relevant can stimulate new lines of research to consolidate this new field for the food industries.

Amorimia exotropica poisoning as a presumptive cause of myocardial fibrosis in cattle.

The current study reports the investigation on the cause of sudden deaths associated with cardiac fibrosis in cattle in northern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The exclusion of known causes of bovine cardiac fibrosis as well as the absence of the plants in that region whose consumption has already been linked to the disorder motivated this investigation. The condition, which was attributed to the consumption of Amorimia exotropica, affected draft oxen, most of which died suddenly without showing any clinical signs during usual management or work. Globular hearts with white foci at their cut surfaces were the main gross findings, which corresponded microscopically from multifocal to coalescent areas of myocardial fibrosis. To confirm the condition, A. exotropica from the ranches where cattle died from the disease was dosed to rabbits, which showed similar lesions to those seen in dead cattle after receiving 10 doses of 3.6 g/kg at 4-day intervals. Electron microscopy on rabbit tissues revealed severe tumefaction of the cardiomyocytes associated with mitochondrial swelling, displacement, and rupture of the mitochondrial crests, and of the bundles of myofibrils, apart from large glycogen deposits within the sarcoplasm. It is suggested that mitochondrial changes triggered alterations that lead to cardiac fibrosis and that all of these changes were induced by A. exotropica cardiotoxicity.

Intoxicação experimental com extratos de Mascagnia rigida (Malpighiaceae) em camundongos / Experimental intoxication in mice with extracts of Mascagnia rigida (Malpighiaceae)

Foi realizado o fracionamento químico do extrato aquoso da Mascagnia rigida Griseb., uma importante planta tóxica no Brasil, para se obter cinco substratos ricos em diferentes grupos químicos - alcalóides, flavanóides, taninos, saponinas e açúcares, ácidos orgânicos e aminoácidos -, e investigar a toxicidade dessas frações, exceto a última, em 75 camundongos. Os animais, distribuídos aleatoriamente em cinco grupos, receberam: grupo I - alcalóides; grupo II - flavanóides; grupo III - taninos; grupo IV - saponinas e grupo V - placebo, este último funcionando como controle negativo. Todos os grupos, com exceção do grupo-controle, redistribuídos em três subgrupos, A, B e C, com cinco animais cada, receberam, respectivamente, 9g/kg, 18g/kg e 27g/kg de cada substrato. As frações foram fornecidas via oral, diariamente, por sete dias; no sétimo dia, foi coletado sangue para o estudo do perfil sangüíneo e dosagem de enzimas musculares. As frações de alcalóides e taninos foram capazes de causar alteração no perfil enzimático-muscular, com aumento significativo da enzima miocárdica. Observou-se, também, aumento significativo na porcentagem da CK-MB após a administração das frações de saponinas e taninos, comprovando a ação tóxica da M. rigida sobre a fibra muscular cardíaca.

A study was carried out to examine the toxic effects of Mascagnia rigida Griseb. Four classes of compounds were extracted from the plant by phytochemistry study and the individual effect of each one on mice was examined as follows: group I - alkaloids; group II- flavones; group III - tannins; group IV - saponins; and group V - water (control). Each group was further divided in three subgroups, A (9g/kg), B (18g/kg), and C (27g/kg), with five mice orally receiving a particular dose, once per day for one week. On the 7th day, blood was collected and hematological exams and levels of muscle enzymes were analyzed. The results showed that both alkaloids and tannins caused a significant increase in myocardial enzyme. Administration of either saponins or tannins fractions caused an increase of CK-MB enzyme. This study showed that Mascagnia rigida Griseb has the ability to cause damage to myocardial fibers.