A redução de cloreto (NaCl) e/ou de nitrito de sódio (NaNO2) é uma relevante estratégia a ser implementada pela indústria, considerando os problemas de saúde relacionados ao consumo excessivo de sódio. Substituições parciais desses sais por concentrado proteico de soro de leite (WPC), um subproduto da indústria láctea, é uma alternativa a ser investigada visando manter as propriedades tecnológicas dos produtos. Objetivou-se produzir e avaliar a qualidade físico-química de patê de frango com teores reduzidos destes sais, e adicionados de WPC. Elaboraram-se quatro formulações com concentrações variadas dos ingredientes, distribuídos em um delineamento em blocos casualizados com três repetições e em triplicata: P1 - controle (1,3% de NaCl e 0,5% de NaNO2); P2 (0,25% de NaNO2e 0,25% de WPC), P3 (0,65% de NaCl e 0,65% de WPC) e P4 (0,25% de NaNO2, 0,65% de NaCl e 0,9% de WPC). Procedeu-se a caracterização físico-química da massa crua (composição química, teor de proteínas sal-solúveis, estabilidade da emulsão, pH e cor). Os dados obtidos foram submetidos a análise de variância e teste de média por Tukey (p< 0,05). Todas as formulações atenderam aos requisitos legais quanto aos teores de proteínas, de lipídeos e de umidade. As amostras com maiores quantidades de WPC (P3 e P4) apresentaram maior estabilidade da emulsão em relação ao controle (P1). Concluiu-se que foi possível elaborar patê de frango com teores de cloreto e nitrito de sódio reduzidos, obtendo-se produtos com apelos mais saudáveis. Palavras-chave: Cloreto de Sódio. Nitrito de Sódio. Proteínas Lácteas. Produto Cárneo. Aditivos Alimentares.   Abstract Salt (NaCl) and sodium nitrite (NaNO2) are important ingredients in food production, due to technological properties. However, the reduction of these salts is relevant strategy to be implemented by the food industry, being its replacements by whey protein concentrate (WPC), a byproduct of the dairy industry, an alternative to be investigated. In this study, the physicochemical quality of chicken pate with low levels of salts and with addition of WPC was produced and evaluated. Four formulations were prepared with the same ingredients varying only the NaCl and NaNO2 concentrations, namely: P1 - control (1.3% NaCl and 0.5% NaNO2); P2 (0.25% NaNO2 and 0.25% WPC), P3 (0.65% NaCl and 0.65% WPC) and P4 (0.25% NaNO2, 0.65 % NaCl and 0.9% WPC). The physicochemical characterization of the raw batter (chemical composition, in salt-soluble proteins, emulsion stability, pH and color) of the chicken patês were performed. The analysis of variance, in a randomized complete block design, was performed for investigating the significant effects among the treatments (p < 0.05), with Tukey test. Regarding the raw batter, the pâté had the legal requirements for the content of proteins, lipids and moisture. Furthermore, the WPC incorporation increased emulsion stability in some samples (P3 and P4) compared to the control. It was concluded that it was possible to prepare chicken patê with low chloride and sodium nitrite levels, thus obtaining healthier products Keywords: Chloride Sodium. Sodium Nitrite. Milk Proteins. Meat Product. Food Additive.

Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) is an intermediate of trehalose biosynthesis that plays an essential role in plant metabolism and development. Here, we comprehensively analyzed sequences from enzymes of trehalose metabolism in sugarcane, one of the main crops used for bioenergy production. We identified protein domains, phylogeny, and in silico expression levels for all classes of enzymes. However, post-translational modifications and residues involved in catalysis and substrate binding were analyzed only in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) sequences. We retrieved 71 putative full-length TPS, 93 trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP), and 3 trehalase (TRE) of sugarcane, showing all their conserved domains, respectively. Putative TPS (Classes I and II) and TPP sugarcane sequences were categorized into well-known groups reported in the literature. We measured the expression levels of the sequences from one sugarcane leaf transcriptomic dataset. Furthermore, TPS Class I has specific N-glycosylation sites inserted in conserved motifs and carries catalytic and binding residues in its TPS domain. Some of these residues are mutated in TPS Class II members, which implies loss of enzyme activity. Our approach retrieved many homo(eo)logous sequences for genes involved in trehalose metabolism, paving the way to discover the role of T6P signaling in sugarcane.

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The bioethanol derived from sugarcane (Saccharum spp) is a sustainable alternative energy source contributing to the mitigation of carbon emissions.Understanding how sugarcane coordinates the balance among carbon (C) assimilation, allocation, and usage is crucial to increasing crop production without expanding the planted areas. A complex signaling network capable of sensing C and energy levels and integrating them with plant growth and development includes the following players: hexokinase (HXK), trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1), and sucrose-non-fermenting related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1). All these signaling pathways regulate and are regulated by sugars and orchestrate the C flux. However, it remains unclear how this occurs, especially for sugarcane, whose genome is polyploid and highly complex. Thus, the main objective of this thesis was to identify genes of the sugar sensors mentioned above in sugarcane (variety SP80-3280). For this, sequences of HXK, TORC1, SnRK1, and T6P metabolizing enzymes were identified and characterized in silico in sugarcane, for which only incomplete genome assemblies are available. Briefly, sequences of orthologous genes from model species and seven sugarcane genome and transcriptome databases were used for phylogenetic inference and identification of functional protein domains.