Artisanal beer added of Solanum sessiliflorum pulp: total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity / Cerveja artesanal adicionada de polpa de Solanum sessiliflorum: compostos fenólicos totais e atividade antioxidante

Brazilian beer market presented remarkable increasement last years. Despite of this, Brazilian Amazon states presented discrete growth, with decreasement in some important states as Amazonas. Cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum) is a fruiting plant which has been used traditionally by people of the upper Amazon and Orinoco basin as artisanal medicine because of its bioactive molecules' richness. Because of world trend of innovative brewing products as fruit-beers, the aim of this work was to evaluate the composition and antioxidant activity of an artisanal beer added of cubiu. A total of 28 g/L of cubiu's pulp were added to the beer in maturation's phase, incubated at 4 °C for 10 days. Compared to a control assay, the resulting beer presented higher turbidity and soluble protein concentration. Total phenolic compounds concentration (435,93 µgGAE/mL) and antioxidant activity (66,36% of free radicals scavenged) were significantly greater than control assay (p <0,001). The results indicates that a low amount of cubiu's pulp is sufficient to makes the beer functionally antioxidant. The subsequent efforts must to evaluate the acceptance of a beer added of S. sessiliflorum pulp to assessing its market potential.

O mercado brasileiro de cerveja apresentou notável crescimento nos últimos anos. Apesar disso, os estados amazônicos brasileiros apresentaram crescimento discreto, com queda em alguns estados importantes como o Amazonas. Cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum) é uma planta frutífera que tem sido tradicionalmente utilizada pelos povos do alto Amazonas e da bacia do Orinoco como medicamento artesanal devido à sua riqueza em moléculas bioativas. Devido à tendência mundial de produtos cervejeiros inovadores, como as cervejas de frutas, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a composição e atividade antioxidante de uma cerveja artesanal adicionada de cubiu. Um total de 28 g/L de polpa de cubiu foram adicionados à cerveja em fase de maturação, incubada a 4 °C por 10 dias. Comparada a um ensaio controle, a cerveja resultante apresentou maior turbidez e concentração de proteína solúvel. A concentração total de compostos fenólicos (435,93 µgGAE/mL) e a atividade antioxidante (66,36% dos radicais livres neutralizados) foram significativamente superiores ao ensaio controle (p <0,001). Os resultados indicam que uma pequena quantidade de polpa de cubiu é suficiente para tornar a cerveja funcionalmente antioxidante. Os esforços subsequentes devem avaliar a aceitação de uma cerveja adicionada de polpa de S. sessiliflorum para avaliar seu potencial de mercado.

Xylitol production and furfural consumption by a wild type Geotrichum sp

Background: Xylitol is a five carbons polyol with promising medical applications. It can be obtained from chemical D-xylose reduction or by microbial fermentation of Sugarcane Bagasse Hemicellulosic Hydrolysate. For this last process, some microbial inhibitors, as furfural, constitute severe bottleneck. In this case, the use of strains able to produce xylitol simultaneously to furfural neutralization is an interesting alternative. A wild-type strain of Geotrichum sp. was detected with this ability, and its performance in xylitol production and furfural consumption was evaluated. Furthermore, were analyzed its degradation products. Results: Geotrichum sp. produced xylitol from D-xylose fermentation with a yield of 0.44 g-g-1. Furfural was fully consumed in fermentation assay and when provided in the medium until concentration of 6 g-L-1. The furfural degradation product is not an identified molecule, presenting a molecular weight of 161 g-mol-1, an uncommon feature for the microbial metabolism of this product. Conclusion: This strain presents most remarkable potential in performing furfural consumption simultaneous to xylitol production. Subsequent efforts must be employed to establish bioprocess to simultaneous detoxification and xylitol production by Geotrichum sp.

Karyoevolution in Potamorhina (Cope, 1878) (Ostariophysi, Curimatidae): Using Repetitive DNA for the Elucidation of Genome Organization.

Some families of Characiformes present the tendency toward stability of the karyotypic macrostructure as Curimatidae, which contains species with a 2n = 54 karyotype and metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes, however, some Potamorhina species contradict to this tendency. Some species of the central Amazon exhibit different diploid number and show intraspecific variation in the location of heterochromatin. By performing cytogenetic characterization by localization of heterochromatin and the nucleolus organizer region, as well as physical chromosome mapping using probes targeting 5S and 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), retroelement of Xiphophorus 1 (Rex1), Rex3, telomeres, and tropomyosin 1 (TPM1), we attempted to understand the evolutionary mechanisms involved in the differentiation of the Potamorhina species. The analyses showed that the heterochromatic regions of the examined species are distinct and transposable elements are involved in this evolutionary process, considering that the dynamic regions of the genome appear to include the terminal regions and particularly the heterochromatin-rich centromeric regions, which are involved in fission and fusion processes and promote the differentiation of chromosome pairs that bear ribosomal sites; these pairs were similar in the central Amazon species. Thus, we propose a phylogeny for this genus.