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Na produção da fécula de mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz), é gerado o bagaço de mandioca, que é o resíduo fibroso da raiz. Frente à importância econômica, físico-química, tecnológica e nutricional deste resíduo, objetivou-se desenvolver uma farinha, a partir do bagaço de mandioca, avaliar suas propriedades e compará-las com as da fécula, a fim de fomentar o seu uso e fornecer informações, tanto para as indústrias produtoras quanto aos consumidores. Foram realizadas análises de composição centesimal, valor energético total, granulometria, atividade de água, cor, microscopia e índice de absorção de água (IAA), solubilidade em água (ISA) e absorção de óleo (IAO). Em relação à fécula de mandioca, a farinha de bagaço apresentou teores muito mais elevados de fibra alimentar total [63,95 g (100g)-1], solúvel [3,51 g (100 g)-1] e insolúvel [56,84 g (100 g)-1], bem como valores de proteínas [1,97 g (100 g)-1], teor de cinzas [1,81 g (100 g)-1] e lipídios [2,35 g (100 g)-1]. A farinha de bagaço de mandioca apresenta baixo custo e propriedades tecnológicas desejáveis, como IAA [6,73 g de gel (g de matéria seca)-1] e ISA (1,23%), sendo, também, uma matéria-prima alternativa, com características tecnológicas diferenciadas. Sugere-se sua aplicação em mingaus, cremes, alimentos infantis e, principalmente, em alimentos diet ou light.

Vascular disease is a serious public health problem in the industrialized world, and is a frequent cause of death among the adult population of Brazil. Mild hyperhomocysteinemia has been identified as a risk factor for arterial disease, venous thrombosis, and neural tube defects. Individuals homozygous for the thermolabile variant of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR-T) are found in 5-15% of the general population and have significantly elevated plasma homocysteine levels which represent one of the genetic risk factors for vascular diseases. We have analyzed the prevalence of individuals homozygous for the MTHFR-T in 327 subjects representing the three distinct ethnic groups in Brazil. The prevalence of homozygotes for the mutated allele MTHFR-T was high among persons of Caucasian descent (10%) and considerably lower among Black (1.45%) and Indians persons populations (1.2%). These data suggest that screening for the MTHFR-T allele should help in identifying individuals with a high risk of vascular disease among populations with a heterogeneous background.

RESUMO - CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BARU ALMONDS (Dipteryx alata Vog.) FROM THE SAVANNAH OF GOIÁS, BRAZILABSTRACT -Aiming to broaden the knowledge about the nutritional content of baru fruits, a tree species from the Brazilian Savannah, in order to subsidize its economic management, it was determined the chemical characteristics of baru almonds from different geographical regions. In the state of Goiás eleven sites were chosen for their abundance of baru trees, and at each site twelve trees in full production were randomly selected. Approximately sixty fruits were collected and, after selection, twenty fruits per tree were sampled. The almonds were extracted from the fruits and crushed, constituting a composite sample. Moisture content, protein, ether extract, minerals and fatty acid profiles were determined and submitted to analysis of variance and the means were compared by the Tukey test at 5% of probability. The almonds average moisture contents varied from 2.93 to 5.07g (100g 79.19g (100g) -1 . The most common fatty acids were oleic and linoleic, followed by palmitic, lignoceric, estearic, behenic gadoleic and araquitic. The most common mineral macronutrients were potassium, phosphorus and sulfur. Among the mineral micronutrients, iron had the highest concentration.

HBV strains harbouring resistance mutations can comprise the major population of HBV quasispecies in treatment-naive patients. In Brazil, there is a very low frequency of untreated patients who are infected with these strains. These findings suggest that the spread and natural selection of drug-resistant HBV is an uncommon event and/or most of these strains remain unstable in the absence of NA selective pressure.

Background Several mechanisms regulating gene expression contribute to restore and reestablish cellular homeostasis so that plants can adapt and survive in adverse situations. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play roles important in the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression, emerging as a regulatory molecule key in the responses to plant stress, such as cold, heat, drought, and salt. This work is a comprehensive and large-scale miRNA analysis performed to characterize the miRNA population present in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) exposed to a high level of salt stress, to identify miRNA-putative target genes in the oil palm genome, and to perform an in silico comparison of the expression profile of the miRNAs and their putative target genes. Results A group of 79 miRNAs was found in oil palm, been 52 known miRNAs and 27 new ones. The known miRNAs found belonged to 28 families. Those miRNAs led to 229 distinct miRNA-putative target genes identified in the genome of oil palm. miRNAs and putative target genes differentially expressed under salinity stress were then selected for functional annotation analysis. The regulation of transcription, DNA-templated, and the oxidation-reduction process were the biological processes with the highest number of hits to the putative target genes, while protein binding and DNA binding were the molecular functions with the highest number of hits. Finally, the nucleus was the cellular component with the highest number of hits. The functional annotation of the putative target genes differentially expressed under salinity stress showed several ones coding for transcription factors which have already proven able to result in tolerance to salinity stress by overexpression or knockout in other plant species. Conclusions Our findings provide new insights into the early response of young oil palm plants to salinity stress and confirm an expected preponderant role of transcription factors - such as NF-YA3, HOX32, and GRF1 - in this response. Besides, it points out potential salt-responsive miRNAs and miRNA-putative target genes that one can utilize to develop oil palm plants tolerant to salinity stress.

Physicochemical parameters of pasta enriched with tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) flour were investigated. Five formulations were prepared with different concentrations of tilapia flour as partial substitute of wheat flour: pasta without tilapia flour (PTF0%), pasta with 6% (PTF6%), 12% (PTF12%), 17% (PTF17%), and 23% (PTF23%) of tilapia flour. The formulations were assessed for proximate composition, fatty acid and amino acid profile on day 1 whereas, instrumental color parameters (L*, a* and b* values), pH, water activity (aw), and lipid and protein oxidation were evaluated on days 1, 7, 14, and 21 of storage at 25°C. Fortification with tilapia flour increased (p < 0.05) protein, lipid, ash, total essential amino acids, and total polyunsaturated fatty acids contents. In addition, supplementation of pasta with tilapia flour decreased (p < 0.05) lightness and water activity while redness, yellowness, pH values, and lipid oxidation were increased (p < 0.05) in a level-dependent manner. Nevertheless, all formulations were exhibited storage stability at 25°C. In general, protein oxidation was greater (p < 0.05) in the pasta containing 12%, 17%, and 23% of tilapia flour than their counterparts, and the storage promoted an increase (p < 0.05) on the carbonyl content in all formulations. Thus, pasta with 6% of tilapia flour has the potential to be a technological alternative to food industry for the nutritional enrichment of traditional pasta with negligible negative effects on the chemical stability of the final product during 21 days at 25°C.

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