Avaliação sensorial e da rotulagem de refrigerantes comercializados na cidade de Sobral, Ceará / Sensorial evaluation and labeling of soda drinks comercialized in the city of Sobral, Ceará

O Brasil é o terceiro maior mercado mundial de refrigerantes e, hoje em dia, o sabor guaraná é o quarto mais consumido do mundo. Por isso, surgiu o interesse de realizar uma análise sensorial de preferência-ordenação entre refrigerantes “sabor guaranᔠcomercializados na cidade de Sobral, CE. Nesta análise foram verificadas 3 marcas comerciais em embalagens flexíveis (Pet/2 litros), coletadas aleatoriamente no período de maio de 2006, em uma grande rede de supermercado. A análise consistia em ordenar, conforme a preferência, as marcas comerciais analisadas (A, B e C). Após a análise sensorial realizada, ficou constatado que a amostra C foi preferida quando comparada com a amostra B, ao nível de 5 por cento de significância. Não havendo diferença significativa em relação à preferência entre as amostras A e B e entre A e C. Em relação à avaliação da rotulagem podemos observar que 100 por cento das marcas comerciais analisadas estão em desacordo com os parâmetros exigidos pela Legislação, por não apresentarem todos os atributos de Rotulagem Nutricional Complementar.

The renal effects of alginates isolated from brown seaweed Sargassum vulgare.

Alginates isolated from Sargassum vulgare, present a strong antitumor activity, associated with kidney reversible damage, as analysed by histopathology of treated animals. In the present study, the renal alteration mechanisms of S. vulgare alginates were investigated using the isolated perfused rat kidney and the isolated perfused rat mesenteric blood vessel methods. The results showed that the effects of Sargassum vulgare low viscosity (SVLV) alginate were more potent than those of Sargassum vulgare high viscosity (SVHV) alginate in the isolated rat kidney. The SVLV alginate caused considerable changes in renal physiology, as shown by an increase in parameters such as perfusion pressure, renal vascular resistance, glomerular filtration rate, urinary flow and sodium, potassium and chloride excretion and by reduction of chloride tubular transport. The effects of SVHV were weaker than those of SVLV. The effects of SVLV on kidney could be related to direct vascular action as demonstrated with SVLV alginate on mesenteric blood vessels. In conclusion, the Sargassum vulgare alginate altered the renal function parameters evaluated. S. vulgare low viscosity alginate renal effects were more potent than S. vulgare high viscosity alginate. It is suggested that physicochemical differences between SVHV and SVLV could explain the differences found in the results.

In-vitro and in-vivo antitumour activity of physalins B and D from Physalis angulata.

We have evaluated the in-vitro and in-vivo antitumour activity of physalin B and physalin D isolated from the aerial parts of Physalis angulata. In-vitro, both compounds displayed considerable cytotoxicity against several cancer cell lines, showing IC50 values in the range of 0.58 to 15.18 microg mL(-1) for physalin B, and 0.28 to 2.43 microg mL(-1) for physalin D. The antitumour activity of both compounds was confirmed in-vivo using mice bearing sarcoma 180 tumour cells. The in-vivo antitumour activity was related to the inhibition of tumour proliferation, as observed by the reduction of Ki67 staining in tumours of treated animals. Histopathological examination of the kidney and liver showed that both organs were affected by physalin treatment, but in a reversible manner. These compounds were probably responsible for the previously described antitumour activity of ethanol extracts of P. angulata, and their identification and characterization presented here could explain the ethnopharmacological use of this species in the treatment of cancer.