Nutritional intervention with antioxidants rich foods has been considered a strategy to minimize the effects of overtraining in athletes. This experimental, randomized, and placebo-controlled study evaluated the effects of consumption of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) on muscle damage markers, oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and aerobic performance in male semi-professional soccer players. Twenty athletes were randomly assigned to groups that received 40 g (two tablespoons) per day of sesame or a placebo during 28 days of regular training (exposed to routine training that includes loads of heavy training in the final half of the season). Before and after intervention, creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and aerobic capacity were evaluated. Before intervention, a physiologic imbalance was noted in both groups related to CK and LDH levels. Sesame intake caused a reduction of CK (19%, p < 0.05), LDH (37%, p < 0.05), MDA (55%, p < 0.05) and hs-CRP (53%, p < 0.05) and increased SOD (14%, p < 0.05), vitamin A (25%, p < 0.05), and vitamin E (65%, p < 0.05) in the experimental group. These phenomena were accompanied by increased aerobic capacity (17%, p < 0.05). The placebo group showed an increase in CK (5%, p < 0.05) and no significant change in LDH, SOD or vitamin A. MDA levels decreased (21%, p < 0.05) and vitamin E increased (14%, p < 0.05) in the placebo group, but to a much lesser extent than in the experimental group. These results show that sesame consumption may reduce muscle damage and oxidative stress while improving the aerobic capacity in soccer players.

Although carvacrol (CAR) is considered an alternative antimicrobial for use in food, few is known about the influence of food-related parameters on its inhibitory effects against pathogens. This study assessed the influence of different amounts of proteins, using beef extract (BE) as a protein-rich source, lipids (LIP), using sunflower oil as a LIP-rich source, and pH values or their interaction on the inhibitory effects of CAR against Salmonella Typhimurium PT4 (ST) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EC). The specific maximum growth rate (μmax) and lag phase duration (λ) of the test pathogens when exposed to CAR in media with different amounts of BE (4, 6, and 8 g/100 mL), LIP (3.75, 5, and 6.25 mL/100 mL), and pH values (5, 5.5, and 6) were determined. The viable counts of the tested pathogens in media that promoted the highest and lowest μmax in the presence of CAR were monitored during 24 h. The lowest μmax of ST and EC exposed to 2.4 μL/mL (-1.29 and -0.82 log CFU/mL/h, respectively) or 4.8 μL/mL CAR (-1.44 and -2.17 log CFU/mL/h, respectively) were observed in media with the highest LIP amount (6.25 mL/100 mL) and pH value (pH 6). For both SE and EC, the longest λ (> 2 h) was verified in media where these pathogens showed the lowest μmax. These data indicate that the concomitant increase in LIP amounts and pH values affected positively the CAR inhibitory effects against the target pathogens. CAR (2.4 or 4.8 μL/mL) failed to inhibit the increase in ST and EC counts in media where the highest μmax values were previously observed. On the contrary, CAR inhibited the increase of ST counts (final counts 5 log CFU/mL) and decreased the EC counts (final counts 3.5 log CFU/mL) in media where the lowest μmax values were observed. These results show that the inhibitory effects of CAR on ST and EC in food matrices could be affected as a function of the interaction of LIP amounts and pH values.

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ResumoO queijo ricota é originário da Itália, é suave, não maturado, de sabor levemente ácido e de elevado teor de umidade e nutrientes, o que o faz um ambiente propício à proliferação de micro-organismos. Por isso, objetivouse avaliar a qualidade microbiológica de queijos ricota cremosa, vendidas em João Pessoa-PB. Foram avaliadas 15 amostras de quatro marcas, provenientes de diferentes supermercados, designadas neste estudo como: QRa (n= 4), QRb (n=3), QRc (n=5) e QRd (n=3). A contagem dos coliformes totais foi realizada pela semeadura (spread plate) de 10µl na superfície do Agar Vermelho Violeta Bile, incubado a 35ºC por 48 h. As colônias típicas de coliformes totais foram inoculadas em Caldo EC e Agar Eosina Azul de Metileno para confirmação da presença dos coliformes fecais. A pesquisa de Listeria sp. e Salmonella sp. foi desenvolvida considerando-se os métodos convencionais e estrutura morfológica segundo Gram. Os resultados demonstraram que o índice de amostras contaminadas por coliformes foi elevado, tendo-se em vista que os coliformes totais foram identificados em 11 (73,33%) amostras. Na marca QRa os coliformes foram isolados nas quatro amostras avaliadas, com contagens variando entre 1,56±0,00 e 6,36±0,29 log 10 UFC/g; na marca QRb apenas uma das três amostras (5,54±0,26 log 10 UFC/g) estava

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