Synbiotic Sapota-do-Solimões (Quararibea cordata Vischer) Juice Improves Gut Microbiota and Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production in an In Vitro Model.

Sapota-do-Solimões (Quararibea cordata Vischer) is Amazon South América fruit found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The orange-yellow fruit is usually eaten out of hand or as juice. Despite being a source of carotenoids and dietary fibers (pectin) that can reach the colon and act as an energy source for intestinal microbiota, the fruit is rarely known outside of South America. The symbiotic juice was prepared by fermenting the fruit juice with Lacticaseibacillus casei B-442 and adding prebiotic fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 7% w/v). This study evaluated the functional juice immediately after L. casei fermentation (SSJ0) and after 30 days of cold storage (SSJ30) regarding its effect on human colonic microbiota composition after in vitro fermentation. Fecal samples were collected from two healthy female volunteers, and the 16s rRNA gene sequencing analyzed the fecal microbiota composition. In vitro, colonic fermentation was performed using a batch bioreactor to simulate gastrointestinal conditions. The L. casei viability did not change significantly after 30 days of the synbiotic juice cold storage (4 °C). After the colonic fermentation, the relative abundance of Firmicutes decreased while Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria increased. Regarding short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production by fecal colonic microbiota, the butyric acid was higher after sample SSJ0 fecal fermentation. In contrast, propionic, isobutyric, and acetic acids were higher after SSJ30 sample fecal fermentation. This study contributes to understanding the interactions between specific foods and the gut microbiota, which can affect human health and well-being.

Ozone and plasma processing effect on green coconut water.

In this study, the effect of plasma and ozone processing on the quality of coconut water was evaluated. For ozone processing, the samples were submitted to different ozone loads and temperatures. For atmospheric cold plasma processing (ACP), samples were exposed to plasma under different frequencies and voltages. The coconut water pH, soluble solids, titratable acidity, color, total phenolic content, and enzymatic activity were determined before and after treatments. The main compounds were also determined by NMR spectroscopy and chemometric analysis. Both processes did not change the pH values, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and color. Chemometrics analysis of 1H NMR dataset showed no relevant changes after the processing. All ozone treatments promoted complete inactivation of POD activity and did not affect the content of phenolic compounds. After ACP, the smallest POD residual activity was observed when higher frequencies were applied, and slight changes in phenolic compounds content were observed.

An integrated analytical approach based on NMR, LC-MS and GC-MS to evaluate thermal and non-thermal processing of cashew apple juice.

Innovative chemometric approaches by NMR and LC-MS data fusion (multiblock analysis) and decomposition of the GC-MS raw data by PARADISe were applied to evaluate the influence of thermal and non-thermal processing on the composition of cashew apple juices. Comparative investigations by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) highlighted pronounced effect of thermal processing on juice compared to non-thermal processing, as decreases of anacardic acids, sucrose, malic acid, tyrosine, phenylalanine, and important flavor compounds (esters, aldehydes, and ketones). Ultrasound presented relevant influence on increase of anacardic acids concentration. Non-thermal processing carried out at more intense conditions (10 min of ultrasound, 5 min of ozone, and pulsed light at 10 V) showed pronounced effect compared to other non-thermal processing. Although individual PCA enables to detect the influence of different processing technologies, data fusion and PARADISe presented advantages, since a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship among chemical changes from different analytical techniques were established.

Ultrasound processing to enhance drying of cashew apple bagasse puree: Influence on antioxidant properties and in vitro bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds.

The present study has evaluated the effects of power ultrasound pre-treatment on air-drying and bioactive compounds of cashew apple bagasse. The sonication induced the disruption of cashew bagasse parenchyma, which resulted in lower resistance to water diffusion, less hysteresis, and increased rehydration rate. The processing did not affect the lignocellulose fibers or the sclerenchyma cells. For sonicated samples, water activity reached values below 0.4, after 2h of drying, which is appropriate to prevent bacterial and fungi growth. The sorption isotherms of cashew apple bagasse presented sigmoid-shape for all samples and followed the type II according to BET classification. Sonicated cashew apple bagasse showed higher antioxidant activity, higher total phenolic compounds (TPC) and higher vitamin C content when compared to the non-sonicated sample. The increase in TPC and vitamin C contributed to the product antioxidant activity. A slight reduction on Vitamin C bioaccessibility was observed, but the TPC bioaccessibility has increased. Sonication reduced the quality loss of conventional drying treatments improving the quality of the dried product.

Sonicated pineapple juice as substrate for L. casei cultivation for probiotic beverage development: process optimisation and product stability.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of sonicated pineapple juice as substrate for producing a probiotic beverage by Lactobacillus casei NRRL B442. Maximal microbial viability was found by cultivating L. casei at 31°C and pH 5.8 (optimised conditions). After fermentation, samples of sweetened and non-sweetened juice were stored. After 42 days of storage under refrigeration (4°C), the microbial viability was 6.03 Log CFU/mL in the non-sweetened sample and 4.77 Log CFU/mL in the sweetened sample. The pH of both samples decreased during storage due to lactic acid production (post acidification). The characteristic colour of the juice was maintained throughout the shelf life and no browning was observed. Sonicated pineapple juice was shown to be a suitable substrate for L. casei cultivation and for the development of an alternative non-dairy probiotic beverage.

Perfil de resistência de cepas de Staphylococcus coagulase positiva isoladas de manipuladores de alimentos / Profile resistance of positive coagulase Staphylococcus Strains isolated from food handlers

No presente trabalho, cepas de Staphylococcus coagulase positiva (SCP) de mãos de manipuladores de alimentos foram isoladas com o objetivo de avaliar o perfil de resistência dessas frentes a diferentes quimioterápicos. Participaram deste estudo 100 manipuladores de uma indústria de processamento de alimentos, localizada em Fortaleza-CE. As colônias isoladas em Ágar Baird-Parker foram identificadas morfológica e bioquimicamente como sendo características do gênero Staphylococcus. Para a verificação da resistência a quimioterápicos utilizou-se o método de difusão em Ágar. Os resultados mostraram a presença de SCP em 24 por cento dos manipuladores. A taxa de positividade foi mais elevada para o sexo feminino, com 79,17 por centoo das amostras analisadas. Verificou-se que 89 por cento dos isolados foram resistentes à ampicilina e 86,6 por cento à penicilina. Com relação à sensibilidade, 100 por cento foram sensíveis ao sulfazotrim, 98,8 por cento a nitrofurantoína, 97,6 por cento à vanvomicina, 96,3 por cento à cloranfenicol e 90,3 por cento à ofloxacina. Observou-se resist~encia múltipla em 76 por cento dos isolados, sendo que uma cepa foi resistente a oito antibióticos. A elevada ocorrência de resistência múltipla representa risco potencial para a saúde pública e pode dificultar o tratamento de doenças humanas e de animais, agravando quadros clínicos potencialmente curáveis.

Avaliação microbiológica de equipamentos, utensílios e manipuladores de alimentos, em Unidades de Alimentação e Nutrição da Universidade Federal do Ceará / Microbiological evaluation of equipment, utensils and food handlers, in Units of Food and Nutrition, Federal University of Ceará

Registros epidemiológicos revelam que a maioria dos surtos de doenças de origem alimentar é atribuída a patógenos veiculados em alimentos preparados em Unidades de Alimentação e Nutrição (UAN). Nas UAN as etapas de preparação dos alimentos mudam constantemente e o risco de contaminações cruzadas, sejam elas em superfícies ou por manipulação humana incorreta, é elevado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar uma UAN localizada no Campus do PICI da Universidade Federal do Ceará(UFC) em relação as condições higiênico-sanitárias no preparo e distribuição de alimentos...