RESUMOA batata de yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), uma raiz tuberosa, está sendo considerada como alimento funcional e de grande enriquecimento nutricional a saúde humana. Devido a elevada reserva de prebióticos, bioativos e retenção de água na yacon o incentivo a tecnologia deste alimento está crescendo gradativamente. Esta revisão tem como objetivo abordar a funcionalidade e benefícios da adição da batata yacon, que contém o frutano, a inulina e o frutooligossacarídeos na rotina alimentar das pessoas, mostrando ganhos no tratamento de doenças, por exemplo a diabetes, e uma melhoria na alimentação do cotidiano da população brasileira. ABSTRACTThe Potato de Yacon (Smallanthus Sonchifolius), a tuberous root, is being regarded as functional food and of great nutritional enrichment to human health. Due to the high reserve of prebiotics, bio-actives and water retention in the Yacon the incentive the technology of this food is gradually growing. This revision aims to address the functionality and benefits of the addition of the Yacon potato, which contains the Frutano, Inulin and fructooligosaccharides in the food routine of people, showing gains in treating diseases, e.g. diabetes, and an improvement in feeding The everyday life of the Brazilian population.

Spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times are one of the most attractive tools in the solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to evaluate the level of clay dispersion in the nanocomposite matrices. The efficiency of the relaxation processes can be used to evaluate the nanoparticles intermolecular interactions and, consequently, the dispersion of them in the polymer matrix, the molecular dynamic of the hybrid compounds, as well as the molecular domains formation in an organic material. The determination of relaxation parameters was carried out to evaluate the organoclay exfoliation and intercalation process in the polymeric matrix, in addition to their dispersion and distribution in the matrix. The proton NMR relaxation data showed that the polymeric nanomaterials investigated presented good intermolecular interaction that promoted good nanoparticles dispersion and distribution in the hybrid materials. The proportion of 2% clay promoted a greater heterogeneity in the matrix compared to other ratios; 1% clay influenced only to the higher molecular rigidity phase; and 3% clay had a decrease in heterogeneity compared to 2% though still influenced the matrix as a whole. These results prove the efficiency of NMR technique in the evaluation of nanofillers interaction with polymer matrices, as well as their dispersion and distribution.

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NMR relaxometry is one of the techniques that allow observing changes in the molecular mobility that come from materials' morphology. T 1 H has been used to monitor food and polymer sciences. However, T 2 H, although being a revealing as T 1 H, is rarely used to analyze changes in thermoplastic systems it is more sensitive to the mobile region. High Impact Polystyrene nanomaterials were prepared through solution casting and were exposed for different times to UV light in the air. The samples, removed after each exposure interval, were characterized by T 2 H, focusing on the changes in the relaxation data. The results for this parameter showed that the changes in the relaxation data come from the competition of chain scission and chain recombination processes, which occurs due to the UV light influence with increased time. The T 2 H data indicated that the clay ratio can influence the chain degradation processes, acting to inhibit or accelerate the aging process [1] [2].

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The development of new materials for obtaining ophthalmic lenses is a subject of great interest due to the great necessity of corrective lenses uses. The application of the lenses based on polymeric material that guarantees greater lightness and less risk of breakage, ensuring greater comfort to users of glasses. The use of nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposites can generate different properties in the final material, mainly when used in hybrid systems in which synergistic effects can be produced. Thus, the present work aimed to evaluate the optical properties of systems with poly(methyl methacrylate) and oxide nanoparticles (silica, zinc, zirconium, and titanium). The systems were characterized in terms of their optical behaviors (refractive index, transmittance, and color change) and mechanical behaviors (nanoindentation, and tensile strength). The results showed that silica-based systems tended to have greater transparency but generate lower refractive indexes. Systems containing zirconia, titanium, and zinc have a higher refractive index and smaller transparency than systems containing silica. Besides, the use of zirconia and titanium increases the nano-hardness and elastic modulus. The results showed that the use of these nanoparticles in binary systems leads to obtaining materials with higher refractive index, greater transparency, and best mechanical behavior. The combination of the nanoparticles also led to a better dispersion, reducing the impact on the color system and improve transparency. In this way, the materials developed using small amounts of fillers and present highly promising for the development of thinner, more resistant to scratching due to high hardness and higher transparent lenses.

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