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Melipona scutellaris (Apidae, Meliponini) is one of the main species of stingless bees used in beekeeping in the Northeast of Brazil. We examined the honey from M. scutellaris as an indicator to evaluate the levels of metals at sampling sites subject to a broad spectrum of environmental pollutants. The collections were carried out in the urban-industrial area of Salvador, Bahia and the metropolitan region. Samples (n= 58) were submitted to the nitroperchloric digestion procedure. We used the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry technique (ICP OES) to determine the concentration of metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the samples. The studied metals were detected among the samples, which presented tolerable levels according to current Brazilian legislation and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), except for Cr, which presented mean values higher than the threshold for all sampling sites. The detection of the analyzed metals indicates that the honey of M. scutellaris is a useful tool to evaluate the presence of environmental contaminants; therefore, it can be considered a good indicator of environmental contamination for monitoring a particular region and preventing issues due to the release of metals into the environment.

Background:The use of pollen grains to establish the geographical and botanical origin of honey samples, and for supplying information concerning to the floral class of a honey produced in a region, has been employed since 1895. Pollen analysis has relevant significance for the quality control of a honey that may include numerous pollen grains and elements of honeydew. The objective of this work was to determine the botanical origin of pollen from plants contributing in the composition of honey from the region of Reconcavo of Bahia, Brazil. Methodology: Form each honey sample, a 10 g subsample was diluted in 20 mL of distilled warm water (40ºC) and centrifuged before the supernatant was drawn out. After centrifugation the pollen sediment was acetolysed following for better observation of the pollen grains. Subsequently, this sediment was mounted in microscopy slides with glycerin jelly for latter pollen grains counting and identification. The identification of the pollen grains found in the samples was determined by comparison with a reference collection from the Palynotheca of the Nucleus of Insect Studies from the Federal University of Reconcavo da Bahia and with descriptions obtained from specialized literature. A total of 70 honey samples of Apis mellifera L. were obtained from beekeepers of 17

RESUMO -O bagaço de cana contendo 55% de matéria seca (MS) foi tratado com cinco níveis de uréia (0; 2,5; 5; 7,5; e 10%) e 5% de soja crua moída como fonte de urease, ambos com base na MS. O material foi armazenado por 97 dias em sacos plásticos (8 kg/saco de 50 L).e, após abertura, amostras foram coletadas em três períodos de aeração (2, 9 e 16 dias). Foi usado delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado com três repetições. Não houve efeito de níveis de uréia para teor de MS; entretanto, a matéria seca elevou-se com o aumento dos períodos de aeração. Houve também aumento dos teores de proteína bruta e nitrogênio insolúvel em detergente ácido com o aumento dos níveis de uréia e redução com o aumento dos períodos de aeração. Não houve efeito para a fibra em detergente ácido, em função de níveis de uréia e períodos de aeração. A fibra em detergente neutro e a hemicelulose diminuíram com adição de uréia, mas elevaramse com o aumentos dos períodos de aeração. A digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca aumentou com a adição de uréia. Os tratamentos com uréia alteraram a composição química, melhorando a qualidade do bagaço.Palavras-chave: amonização, bagaço, cana-de-açúcar, digestibilidade, parede celular, proteína bruta, urease, uréia Treatment of Sugarcane Bagasse with UreaABSTRACT -Sugarcane bagasse with 55% of dry matter (DM) was treated with five levels of urea (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10%) and 5% ground whole soybean as a source of urease both, on a DM basis. The material was stored in plastic bags for 97 days (8 kg/ 50 L plastic bag), and after plastic bag opening, samples were collected at three aeration period (2, 9, and 16 days). A completely randomized design with three replicates was used. There was no effect of urea levels on dry matter content; however, dry matter increased with the increase of the aeration time. There were also increase of crude protein and acid detergent insoluble nitrogen (ADIN) with the increase of urea levels and reduction with the aeration periods increase. There was effect for ADF content as function of the urea levels and aeration periods. The neutral detergent fiber and hemicellulose contents decreased with the urea addition, but increased with the aeration periods. The in vitro dry matter disappearance increased with the addition of urea. The treatment with urea changed the chemical composition and improved the bagasse quality.Key Words: ammoniation, bagasse, sugarcane, digestibility, cellular wall, crude protein, urease, urea Rev. bras. zootec., v.28, n.6, p.1203-1208 IntroduçãoO Brasil tornou-se o maior produtor mundial de álcool, com aproximadamente 12 bilhões de litros/ano e 8.500.000 t/ano de açúcar, devido à implantação do Programa Nacional do Álcool, que se iniciou na década de 1970de (BURGI, 1995.Em decorrência dessa crescente atividade sucroalcooleira, vários pesquisadores têm conduzido diversos estudos de utilização dos subprodutos da cana, como levedura, vinhaça, torta de filtro, ponta de cana e bagaço, sendo que este último, quantitativamente, é o mais import...

RESUMO: A urease é a enzima responsável pela hidrólise da uréia em amônia. A utilização de fonte de urease no tratamento de bagaço de cana-de-açúcar com uréia pode melhorar o processo da decomposição da uréia em amônia, beneficiando o tratamento de amonização e, conseqüentemente, o valor nutritivo do material. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de níveis de soja crua, como fonte de urease, na amonização do bagaço de cana através da uréia. Utilizaram-se quatro níveis de soja crua (0; 2,5; 3,75; e 7,5% da matéria seca) em bagaço de cana-de-açúcar tratado com 7,5% de uréia (da matéria seca), armazenados por um período de 96 dias, em sacos de polietileno com capacidade de 50 litros. Foi utilizado o delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro níveis de soja crua e três repetições. Os teores de matéria seca, proteína bruta e hemicelulose não foram afetados pelos níveis de urease; entretanto, verificou-se efeito quadrático positivo para digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca e linear negativo para o teor de fibra detergente neutro. A utilização de até 3,75% de soja crua na amonização com uréia propiciou melhoria na digestibilidade da matéria seca do bagaço de cana. Palavras-chave: amonização, bagaço de cana-de-açúcar, valor nutritivo, urease, uréia SOYBEAN GRAIN AS UREASE SOURCE FOR THE SUGARCANE BAGASSE AMMONIATION WITH UREAABSTRACT: The urease is the responsible enzyme for hidrolisis of urea into ammonia. The use of a urease source for the treatment of sugarcane bagasse with urea can improve the urea decomposition process into ammonia, improving the nutritious value of the material. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the level of ground whole soybean as a urease source for sugarcane bagasse ammoniation through urea. Four levels of whole soybean (0, 2.5, 3.75 and 7.5% on dry matter basis), were added to sugarcane bagasse treated with 7.5% of urea (on dry matter basis) and stored during 96 days in plastic bags (50 L). A complete randomized design with four treatments and three replicates was used. Dry matter, crude protein and hemicellulose contents were not affected by urease levels, there was, however, a positive quadratic effect for in vitro dry matter disappearance and a negative linear effect for neutral detergent fiber disappearance. The use of 3.75% of whole soybean in the ammoniation through urea was beneficial for the improvement of the dry matter digestibility of sugarcane bagasse.

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Pollen in honey reflects its botanical origin and melissopalynology is used to identify origin, type, and quantities of pollen grains of the botanical species visited by bees. This study aimed to identify the pollen spectrum of honeys from Apis mellifera and stingless bees produced in the semi-arid region of Bahia, Brazil. We analysed 78 honey samples, which were submitted to the acetolysis process for identification and quantification of pollen types. Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most predominant families in pollen types. For Fabaceae, the most representative pollen types were Chamaecrista 1, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, Mimosa pudica, Mimosa tenuiflora, Prosopis and Senna. The results indicate that the flora explored by the bees to collect nectar is diverse in the semi-arid region of Bahia and the honeys analysed were classified as multifloral.