Research has shown that chitosan induces plant stress tolerance and protection, but few studies have explored chemical modifications of chitosan and their effects on plants under water stress. Chitosan and its derivatives were applied (isolated or in mixture) to maize hybrids sensitive to water deficit under greenhouse conditions through foliar spraying at the pre-flowering stage. After the application, water deficit was induced for 15 days. Analyses of leaves and biochemical gas exchange in the ear leaf were performed on the first and fifteenth days of the stress period. Production attributes were also analysed at the end of the experiment. In general, the application of the two chitosan derivatives or their mixture potentiated the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and guaiacol peroxidase at the beginning of the stress period, in addition to reducing lipid peroxidation (malonaldehyde content) and increasing gas exchange and proline contents at the end of the stress period. The derivatives also increased the content of phenolic compounds and the activity of enzymes involved in their production (phenylalanine ammonia lyase and tyrosine ammonia lyase). Dehydroascorbate reductase and compounds such as total soluble sugars, total amino acids, starch, grain yield and harvest index increased for both the derivatives and chitosan. However, the mixture of derivatives was the treatment that led to the higher increase in grain yield and harvest index compared to the other treatments. The application of semisynthetic molecules derived from chitosan yielded greater leaf gas exchange and a higher incidence of the biochemical conditions that relieve plant stress.

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SUMMARYThe aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of processing and roasting on the antioxidant activity of coffee brews. Brews prepared with light, medium and dark roasted coffees were analyzed. The pH, total solids content, polyphenols content, reducing substances and chlorogenic acids content were determined. The antioxidant activity of aqueous extracts, the guaicol decolorizing and the capacity to inhibit lipid peroxidation were also analyzed. The antioxidant activity of coffee brews were concentrationdependent. A progressive antioxidant activity and polyphenols content was observed decreasing with roasting. The light roasted coffee showed the highest antioxidant activity and dark roasted coffee showed the lowest antioxidant activity. The results indicate that the ingestion of coffee brews prepared with light and medium roasted coffees might protect cells from oxidative stress damages.beverage; antioxidant activity; roasting; coffee; processing. Keywords: RESUMO EFEITO DO PROCESSAMENTO E DA TORRAÇÃO SOBRE A ATIVIDADE ANTIOXIDANTE DA BEBIDA DE CAFÉ. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do processamento e grau de torração sobre a atividade antioxidante da bebida de café. Foram analisadas bebidas preparadas com café nos graus de torração claro, médio e escuro. Foram determinados o pH, o conteúdo de sólidos totais, o conteúdo de polifenóis, o conteúdo de substâncias redutoras e o conteúdo de ácidos clorogênicos. Além disto, foram analisadas a atividade antioxidante dos extratos aquosos, a descoloração do guaiacol e a capacidade de inibição da formação de peróxi-dos lipídicos. A atividade antioxidante mostrou ser dependente da concentração da bebida de café. Foi observada redução progressiva da atividade antioxidante e de compostos fenólicos com o grau de torração. O café submetido à torra clara apresentou atividade antioxidante máxima e o café com maior grau de torra apresentou a menor atividade antioxidante. Os resultados indicam que a ingestão de bebidas preparadas com cafés de torras clara e média pode proteger a célula contra os efeitos do estresse oxidativo.bebida; atividade antioxidante, torração; café; processamento. Palavras-chave:

Nelore heifers usually begin their reproductive life at ⩾24 months of age mainly due to suboptimal nutritional conditions and genetics. This study aimed to determine the effect of expected progeny difference (EPD) for age at first calving and average daily gain (ADG) on puberty in Nelore (Bos taurus indicus) heifers. A total of 58 weaned heifers (initial BW=174±6 kg; age=9±1 months) were allocated into 28 feedlot pens. Heifers were born from four sires, of which two had low EPD for age at first calving (L; n=33) and two had high EPD for age at first calving (H; n=25). Then, heifers of each EPD were randomly assigned to high ADG (HG; 0.7 kg) or low ADG (LG; 0.3 kg), resulting in four treatments: heifers from L sires were submitted to either HG (LHG; n=17) or LG (LLG; n=16), and heifers from H sires were submitted to either HG (HHG; n=12), or LG (HLG; n=13). The HG heifers were fed a 75% grain diet, whereas the LG heifers received 93% of forage in their diet. Blood samples were collected at 9, 14, 18, 24 and 28 months of age for IGF1 and leptin determination. There was a treatment effect (P<0.01) on the proportion of heifers that attained puberty by 18 (62%, 0%, 0% and 0%), 24 (100%, 6%, 54% and 0%) or 36 (100%, 100%, 100% and 38%) months of age for LHG, LLG, HHG and HLG treatments, respectively. In addition, mean age at puberty was different across treatments (P<0.01). Heifers from the LHG achieved puberty at the earliest age when compared with cohorts from other treatments (18.1, 28.9, 23.9 and 34.5 months for LHG, LLG, HHG and HLG, respectively). Serum IGF1 concentrations were higher for L heifers compared with H cohorts at 9, 14, 18, 24 and 28 months of age (P<0.01; treatment×age interaction), whereas circulating leptin concentrations were higher (P<0.01; age effect) as heifers became older, regardless of the treatments. In conclusion, only Nelore heifers with favorable genetic merit for age at first calving were able to attain puberty by 18 months of age. In heifers with unfavorable genetic merit for age at first calving, supplementary feeding to achieve high ADG was unable to shift the age at puberty below 24 months.

Recebido em 26/4/06; aceito em 9/8/06; publicado na web em 22/7/07 INFLUENCE OF PROCESSING AND ROASTING ON THE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF COFFEE (Coffea arabica). The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of processing (semi-dry and dry) and roasting (light, medium and dark) on the antioxidant activity of coffee brews, using tests to determine the reducing power and the DPPH scavenging, Fe +2 chelating and lipid peroxidation inhibition activities. All of the coffee brews presented concentration-dependent antioxidant activity. The light coffee samples presented the higher reducing power and DPPH scavenging activity. Its ion chelating capacity was similar to the medium samples, but was less than the green coffee chelating capacity. The semi-dry processing was more efficient than the dry processing only for the reducing power. All of the samples presented high lipid peroxidation inhibition activity. Based on the results the degree of coffee roasting seems to be more important than the processing to determine the antioxidant activity of brews.Keywords: coffee processing; coffee roasting; antioxidant activity. INTRODUÇÃOOs radicais livres e outras espécies reativas de oxigênio e nitrogênio (ERO e ERN), derivados do metabolismo normal ou de origem externa, podem danificar vários tipos de macromoléculas celulares como lipídios, proteínas e DNA, que poderiam causar algumas doenças degenerativas, cardiovasculares e certos tipos de câncer 1,2 . Os compostos antioxidantes protegem os sistemas biológicos contra os efeitos potencialmente danosos das ERO e ERN a diversos alvos celulares. O consumo de alimentos ricos em antioxidantes pode conferir proteção auxiliar contra o estresse oxidativo, além de fornecer co-fatores para enzimas antioxidantes endógenas 3 . Entre os compostos vegetais com atividade antioxidante, destacam-se os fenóis 4 . A principal classe de compostos fenólicos é representada por ácidos hidroxicinâmicos, encontrados em quase todas as plantas, sendo o principal representante o ácido caféico, que ocorre, em muitos alimentos, esterificado ao ácido quínico, sendo chamado de ácido clorogênico 5,6 . Além destes compostos destacam-se ainda os tocoferóis, tocotrienóis, carotenóides, ácido ascórbico e minerais, dentre eles Al, Ba, Ca, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, P e Zn 3,7 . O café, uma das bebidas mais consumidas, é a prinicipal fonte de ácido clorogênico da dieta humana 8 . Assim, a atividade antioxidante da bebida de café pode ser determinada pela contribuição de substâncias antioxidantes de ocorrência natural e induzidas pela torrefação e processamento do café 9 . A torrefação pode levar à perda de polifenóis, devido à degradação térmica progressiva. Contudo, este efeito pode ser minimizado pela formação de produtos antioxidantes da reação de Maillard 9-12 . Outro fator a ser considerado é o processamento do café após a colheita 13 . O processamento por via seca, o mais antigo e mais usado no Brasil, consiste de um estágio de secagem natural (ao sol) ou artificial (em estufa) do fruto, que em seguida é des...

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Disease stage is the most relevant factor influencing mortality. Unfortunately, most patients are still diagnosed at an advanced stage and their five-year survival rate is only 4%. Thus, it is relevant to identify novel drugs that can improve the treatment options for lung cancer. Natural products have been an important source for the discovery of new compounds with pharmacological potential including antineoplastic agents. We have previously isolated a prenylated benzophenone (7-epiclusianone) from Garcinia brasiliensis (Clusiaceae) that has several biological properties including antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines. OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2015, 20 12805In continuation with our studies, the present work aimed to investigate the mechanisms involved with antiproliferative activity of 7-epiclusianone in A549 cells. Our data showed that 7-epiclusianone reduced the viability of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 of 16.13 ± 1.12 μM). Cells were arrested in G1/S transition and apoptosis was induced. In addition, we observed morphological changes with cytoskeleton disorganization in consequence of the treatment. Taken together, the results showed that cell cycle arrest in G1/S transition is the main mechanism involved with antiproliferative activity of 7-epiclusianone. Our results are promising and open up the prospect of using this compound in further anticancer in vivo studies.