a b s t r a c tWe produced a lipase from Burkholderia cepacia in solid-state fermentation and used it to catalyze the synthesis of biodiesel in a fixed-bed reactor. In the solid-state fermentation step, a 50:50 (by mass) mixture of sugarcane bagasse and sunflower seed meal gave 234 units of pNPP-hydrolyzing activity per gram of dry solids at 96 h. This fermented solid was lyophilized and delipidated, packed into a column and used to catalyze the synthesis of biodiesel through the ethanolysis of soybean oil in a medium free of co-solvents, with the reaction mixture being continuously circulated through the column. The best conversion was 95% after 46 h, which was obtained at 50 • C, with an alcohol:oil molar ratio of 3:1, alcohol addition in two steps and the addition of 1% of (m/m) water to the reaction medium. This system has potential to decrease the costs of enzyme-catalyzed transesterification reactions.

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This work shows prospects of long-period fibre grating applications as transducers for fuel conformity analysis. The proposed long-period grating transducer was employed to assess the gasoline conformity in commercial gas stations. Grating responses were used to train and validate a radial base function topology of an artificial neural network. The obtained results show that fibre optic sensors supervised by artificial neural networks can integrate systems for smart sensing with high applicability in the petrochemical field. The radial base function had reached a correct classification probability of approximately 94%. The device applicability in the analysis of hydrated ethanol fuel was also investigated by measuring the concentration of ethanol in ethanolwater mixtures. The results showed that the developed transducer can be used to infer the ethanol-water concentration with a resolution of up to 0.23%.

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RESUMO:O conteúdo polifenólico e a atividade antioxidante do extrato do fruto de Euterpe edulis Martius foram avaliados. Esta espécie é uma palmeira conhecida como Juçara, nativa da Mata Atlântica e utilizada para a extração de palmito. O processo de extração do palmito acarreta a morte da planta, uma vez que esta apresenta estipe único. A elevada demanda ocasionou a escassez deste recurso natural. Muitas espécies da Mata Atlântica podem ser utilizadas pelo manejo sustentável para a preservação e exploração econômica pelas comunidades locais. O fruto da palmeira Juçara pode ser uma das alternativas de manejo sustentável dos recursos naturais da Mata Atlântica. A capacidade antioxidante do fruto pode ser utilizada como justificativa para a aplicação como alimento nutricional. O conteúdo polifenólico do fruto foi determinado pelo método de Folin-Ciocalteau e os resultados obtidos foram: 10,31 ± 0,25%, 12,42 ± 0,89%, 12,75 ± 0,94%, para o extrato bruto, fração acetato de etila e fração remanescente, respectivamente. A atividade antioxidante foi determinada pelos métodos de redução do complexo fosfomolibdênico e DPPH. O extrato bruto e as frações acetato de etila e remanescente apresentaram atividade antioxidante, sendo que as duas últimas demonstraram maior atividade indicando que o conteúdo polifenólico pode ser responsável por esta atividade. Palavras-chave:Euterpe edulis, Mata Atlântica, manejo sustentável, antioxidante, polifenóis ABSTRACT: Polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity of fruits of Juçara (Euterpe edulis Martius) palm tree. The polyphenolic content and the antioxidant activity of Euterpe edulis Martius fruit extract were assessed. This species is a Palm tree known as Juçara, native to Atlantic Forest and used for palm heart extraction. The process of palm heart extraction leads to the death of the plant since the latter has one single stem. The high demand has resulted in the depletion of this natural resource. Many species from Atlantic Forest can be used by means of sustainable management for the preservation and economic exploration by local communities. The fruit of Juçara palm can be one of the sustainable management alternatives for the Atlantic Forest natural resources. The antioxidant capacity of this fruit can justify its application as nutritional food. The fruit polyphenolic content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and the obtained results were: 10.31 ± 0.25%, 12.42 ± 0.89%, 12.75 ± 0.94% for crude extract, acetyl acetate and remaining fractions, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was determined through the phosphomolybdenium complex and DPPH methods. The crude extract and the acetyl acetate and remaining fractions showed antioxidant activity, and the latter two showed higher activity, indicating that polyphenolic content may be responsible for this activity.

129Rendimento e composição química do óleo essencial da camomila [Chamomilla recutita (L.) ResumoCom o objetivo de avaliar o rendimento e a composição química do óleo essencial de camomila submetida a um sistema de extração por arraste de vapor, em escala comercial, monitorou-se periodicamente o processo realizado, no município de Campo Largo -PR, num modelo utilizado pela "CHAMEL Ind. e Com. de Produtos Naturais Ltda.", na safra de 2005. As determinações analíticas foram realizadas em laboratórios da UFPR, por meio da hidrodestilação e cromatografia gasosa acoplada à espectrometria de massas. Os dados obtidos indicam que o óleo essencial da camomila extraído por meio do modelo de destilador utilizado apresentou qualidade aquém das expectativas. Grande parte do óleo essencial, inclusive seus principais componentes, estava sendo perdida junto ao hidrolato. No processo de destilação o monitoramento periódico de indicadores de qualidade e de eficiência é imprescindível para estabelecer condições adequadas de operacionalização. Palavras-chave: Alfa-bisabolol, camazuleno, CG-EM AbstractThe distillation process was periodically monitored, on Campo Largo-PR, in "CHAMEL Ind. e Com. de Produtos Naturais LTDA.", in the 2005 harvest. The hydrodistillation and GC-MS analyses were done in the UFPR Laboratories. The obtained data indicate that the chamomile essential oil extracted through the distiller model used presented low quality. Great part of the essential oil, besides their main components, it was being lost with the hidrolato. In the distillation process the periodic evaluation of quality and efficiency indicators is indispensable to establish appropriate operational conditions.

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We grew Rhizopus microsporus CPQBA 312-07 DRM in solid-state fermentation on a 1:1 mixture, by mass, of sugarcane bagasse and sunflower seed meal, to produce a fermented solid containing lipases (tricaprylin-hydrolyzing activity of 91 U g −1 ) and then used this fermented solid to catalyze the ethanolysis of corn oil. A 2 3 factorial design was used to optimize the reaction using n-heptane as the solvent. The best conversion was 91% at 48 h, obtained at 44 °C, with a molar ratio of ethanol/oil of 3:1 and the addition of 1.32 g of fermented solids/15 mL of reaction medium. Using these optimized conditions, we studied the effect of increasing the concentration of the reactants in the medium and even the use of a solvent-free system. In these systems, conversions were quite poor when the ethanol was added in a single aliquot at the start of the reaction. However, when the ethanol was added stepwise, with three equal aliquots added at 0, 24, and 48 h, promising conversions were obtained, including an ester yield of 51% at 72 h in the solvent-free medium. An improved fermented solid (tricaprylin-hydrolyzing activity of 183 U g −1 ) was then used to improve the production of ethylic esters in solvent-free medium, with an ester yield of 68% being obtained at 72 h. These results are promising and justify further optimization studies.