BackgroundAn experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of feed restriction (FR) and sex on the quantitative and qualitative carcass traits of Morada Nova lambs. Thirty-five animals with an initial body weight of 14.5 ± 0.89 kg and age of 120 d were used in a completely randomized study with a 3 × 3 factorial scheme consisting of three sexes (11 entire males, 12 castrated males and 12 females) and three levels of feeding (ad libitum – AL and 30% and 60% FR).ResultsEntire males presented greater hot and cold carcass weights (P < 0.05), followed by castrated males and females. However, the hot carcass yield was higher for females and castrated males than for entire males. Luminosity values were influenced (P < 0.05) by sex, with entire males presenting higher values than castrated males and females. Females showed higher (P < 0.05) concentrations of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid in the meat of the longissimus thoracis muscle. The meat of animals submitted to AL intake and 30% FR showed similar (P > 0.05) concentrations, and the concentrations of palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid were higher (P < 0.05) than those of animals with 60% FR. The meat of females had a higher ω6/ω3 ratio and lower h/H ratio, and females had greater levels of feeding. The meat of animals on the 60% FR diet had a greater ω6/ω3 ratio, lower h/H ratio and lower concentration of desirable fatty acids in addition to a greater atherogenicity index (AI) and thrombogenicity index (TI).ConclusionLambs of different sexes had carcasses with different quantitative traits without total influence on the chemical and physical meat characteristics. The lipid profile of the meat was less favorable to consumer health when the animals were female or submitted to 60% feed restriction.

The increased incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazil is due to a lack of effective disease control measures. In addition to that, no effective treatment exists for canine VL in response to synthetic drugs. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the essential oils of Coriandrum sativum and Lippia sidoides, and oleoresin from Copaifera reticulata, on Leishmania chagasi promastigotes and amastigotes. We also examined the toxicity of these treatments on the murine monocyte cell line RAW 264.7. To determine the IC50 a MTT test (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) was performed on promastigotes, and an in situ ELISA assay was conducted on amastigotes. Here, we demonstrate that oleoresin from C. reticulata was effective against both promastigotes (IC50 of 7.88 µg.mL -1 ) and amastigotes (IC50 of 0.52 µg.mL -1 ), and neither of the two treatments differed significantly (p > 0.05) from pentamidine (IC50 of 2.149 µg.mL -1 ) and amphotericin B (IC50 of 9.754 µg.mL -1 ). Of the three plant oils tested, only oleoresin showed no toxicity toward monocyte, with 78.45% viability after treatment. Inhibition of promastigote and amastigote growth and the lack of cytotoxicity by C. reticulata demonstrate that oleoresin may be a viable option for analyzing the in vivo therapeutic effects of leishmanicidal plants Keywords: Leishmanicidal plants, oils, cytotoxicity, amastigotes, promastigotes, Leishmania chagasi. ResumoO aumento na incidência da Leishmaníase Visceral (LV) no Brasil deve-se à ineficácia das medidas de controle da doença. Além disso, não há tratamento efetivo para LV canina com drogas sintéticas. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito dos óleos essenciais de Coriandrum sativum e de Lippia sidoides e do óleo-resina de Copaifera reticulata sobre promastigotas e amastigotas de Leishmania chagasi e analisar o grau de toxicidade sobre células monocíticas murinas RAW 264.7. Para determinar a CI50 sobre promastigotas foi usado teste MTT (brometo de 3-[4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il]-2,5-difeniltetrazólio) e sobre amastigotas foi realizado imunoensaio in situ pela técnica de ELISA. Os resultados obtidos comprovaram que o óleo-resina de C. reticulata foi o mais eficaz contra as formas promastigotas (CI50 de 7,88 µg.mL -1 ) e amastigotas (CI50 de 0,52 µg.mL -1 ) e em nenhum dos dois testes diferiu do controle pentamidina que obteve CI50 de 2,149 µg.mL -1 , no teste sobre promastigotas, e anfotericina B que obteve CI50 de 9,754 µg.mL -1 , nos testes com amastigotas (p > 0.05). Quanto à citotoxicidade apenas o óleo-resina não apresentou toxicidade com 78,45% de monócitos viáveis. Os resultados obtidos sobre promastigotas e amastigotas e a ausência de citotoxicidade do óleo-resina de C. reticulata evidenciam que este óleo-resina pode ser viável para a análise de seus efeitos terapêuticos em testes in vivo.

Methyl jasmonate hormone can stimulate the production of several metabolites responsible for improving fruit quality and nutritional attributes related to human health. In this context, efforts to manipulate tomatoes, such as using hormonal treatment to increase metabolite levels essential to plant growth and human nutrition, have received considerable attention. The aim of this study was to show the impact of metabolic profile on fruit quality and nutritional properties under exogenous methyl jasmonate during fruit ripening. The treatments were performed using 100 ppm of methyl jasmonate and 100 ppm of gaseous ethylene over 24 h. Ethylene emission, fruit surface color and metabolomics analysis were measured at 4, 10, and 21 days after harvest, considering the untreated fruits as control group. Methyl jasmonate induced the production of amino acids—mainly glutamine, glutamic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid (at least 14-fold higher)—and fatty acids—mainly oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids (at least three-fold higher than untreated fruits); while exogenous ethylene predominantly affected sugar metabolism, increasing the levels of fructose, mannose and glucose to at least two-fold that levels in the untreated fruits. Additionally, methyl jasmonate significantly affected secondary metabolites, inducing by at least 80% the accumulation of α-tocopherol and β-sitosterol in fully ripe fruits. Our results suggest that the postharvest application of the hormone methyl jasmonate can contribute to the sensory characteristics and increase the nutritional value of the fruits since important changes related to the tomato metabolome were associated with compounds responsible for the fruit quality and health benefits.

The seed by-products of pequi pulp processing have a kernel in its core which is not used due to the difficulty of its extraction from the spinous endocarp. However, this kernel has high quality oil which can be used for human consumption. Thus, the kernel and the oil composition as well as the conditions to obtain the kernel oil by hydraulic pressing were evaluated in this study. The kernel showed high lipid content (55.76%), therefore being a good source for obtaining oil. The oil extraction by hydraulic pressing presented a higher yield at 5.5 tons to 6.0 tons of force and 9% to 10% moisture. Oil recovery was 75%. The pequi kernel oil showed low acid (0.17 mg KOH/g) and peroxide (1.22 mEq O2/kg) values. The kernel oil also presented high levels of oleic acid (42.47%). The results indicate that the kernel oil extraction is an alternative form for using seeds to increase the producer/processor income and to decrease residue volumes in the pequi processing industry.

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