Polyphenol content and antioxidant activity in murtilla (Ugni molinae Turcz) fruit from three genotypes (the 14-4 genotype and the Red Pearl-INIA and South Pearl-INIA varieties) were studied over five growing seasons. Our results showed significant differences in total polyphenol content among yearly harvests. The lowest value (283 ± 72 mg GAE/100 g dw) was obtained for the 14-4 genotype in the 2008 harvest, and the highest value (2,152 ± 290 mg GAE/100 g dw) was observed for the variety South Pearl-INIA in 2007. The lowest value for antioxidant activity (2,234 ± 337 µmol TE/100 g dw) was obtained for the Red Pearl-INIA variety in 2008, and the highest value (4,073 ± 76 µmol TE/100 g dw) was observed for the 14-4 genotype in 2007. There was a significant effect of genotype and growing season on polyphenol content, antioxidant activity and dry matter content for the murtilla fruits evaluated in this study, but additional studies examining other abiotic and biotic factors are required to fully explain causality.

OBJECTIVEThe increasing burdens of obesity and diabetes are two of the most prominent threats to the health of populations of developed and developing countries alike. The Central America Diabetes Initiative (CAMDI) is the first study to examine the prevalence of diabetes in Central America.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSThe CAMDI survey was a cross-sectional survey based on a probabilistic sample of the noninstitutionalized population of five Central American populations conducted between 2003 and 2006. The total sample population was 10,822, of whom 7,234 (67%) underwent anthropometry measurement and a fasting blood glucose or 2-h oral glucose tolerance test.RESULTSThe total prevalence of diabetes was 8.5%, but was higher in Belize (12.9%) and lower in Honduras (5.4%). Of the screened population, 18.6% had impaired glucose tolerance/impaired fasting glucose.CONCLUSIONSAs this population ages, the prevalence of diabetes is likely to continue to rise in a dramatic and devastating manner. Preventive strategies must be quickly introduced.

Root volatiles from field-collected red clover plants, Trifolium pratense L., of five different ages were trapped by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Ethanol, E-2-hexenal, hexanal, 3-octanone, limonene and α-pinene were identified. The electroantennographic (EAG) and olfactometric responses of clover root borer, Hylastinus obscurus, to the identified compounds were studied. The GC-MS with SPME as a solvent-free collection method identified ethanol and hexanal compounds that have not previously been reported in T. pratense. The EAG experiments showed that all of the tested compounds were perceived by H. obscurus, but mixed responses were found in behavioral assays. For females, ethanol and E-2-hexenal were attractive at one or more of the tested doses, while hexanal, 3-octanone, R-limonene and S-limonene were repellent at one or more of the tested doses. Females responded to a larger number of tested compounds and a wider range doses compared to males. This behavior could reflect a more active role of females in host finding and colonization.

Numerous studies of insect species have shown that a subset of female cuticular hydrocarbons is used as short-range or contact pheromones. Here, we studied the possible use of contact pheromones in the mating behavior of the weevil Aegorhinus superciliosus, a native species of Chile. Males mounted females only after antennal contact with the female's cuticle, and only 33% of the males attempted to mate with dead females washed with solvent. When a glass rod (dummy) was coated with female cuticular extracts, males exhibited behaviors similar to those observed with females. A preliminary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of cuticular extracts indicated that males and females share a series of aliphatic hydrocarbons but that the relative abundance of some of these compounds differ between the sexes. These results suggest that cuticular lipids mediate mating behavior of the raspberry weevil and provide the first evidence of contact pheromones in curculionids.

Considering that sensilla constitute important functional elements of sensory systems in insects, the aim of this study was to determine the type and distribution of sensilla in the antennae of Hylamorpha elegans Burmeister examined by scanning electron microscopy. Hylamorpha elegans antennae are lamellate and consist of the scape, pedicel, and flagellum. The antennal club of this beetle consists of three terminal plates: proximal, middle, and distal lamellae. Four types of sensilla were observed in the lamellae from both sexes: sensilla trichoidea, chaetica, coeloconica, and placodea. Antennal length was larger in males than in females, and significant sexual variation in the number of sensilla placodea and sensilla coeloconica was observed.