Abstract The State of Paraíba is an important producer of artisanal cachaça that has outstanding quality in national tasting panels and for this reason this research studied organizational aspects for certification and compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices - GMP - of 53% of formal producers. Samples of cachaças from these producers were evaluated for physical-chemical and sensory quality by experienced tasters. Sixty-five percent of the cachaças evaluated met the legally determined physical-chemical quality parameters, but only 35% met the certification parameters. Evaluated the cachaça factories, on average, 85% of the GMP criteria were met. While, meeting the organizational criteria established for certification ranged from 48.1 to 82.4%. The sensory evaluation of the cachaça samples indicated that the distillates from Paraíba should be subjected to longer storage times in wooden barrels, as they had a high alcoholic olfactory character, aroma related to solvent, burning and pungency and did not present intense oiliness, vanilla flavor and caramel. The results indicated that cachaça producers in Paraíba will have difficulties in obtaining the certification seal, since they only respected 66.4% of the organizational aspects of registration and mandatory control.

The biosorption, based on the use of biomass for removal of ions is distinguished as an innovative and promising technology when compared with the traditional methods. In this context, the aim of the present work is to use Saccharomyces cerevisiae as biosorbent for the retention of Pb2+ metal ions. Factorial design was used for evaluation of the process. The observed equilibrium data were well described by Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The maximum adsorption capacity was 1486.88 mg/g. The results indicated that Saccharomyces cerevisiae is suitable for biosorption of Pb2+ metal ions.

A bioconversão da proteína microbiana através da levedura em meio sólido, foi estudada em palma forrageira cultivada em condições laboratoriais, sob três níveis de concentração do inóculo (5, 10 e 15%), espessuras distintas das camadas dos substratos (2, 4 e 6cm) e temperaturas (30, 34 e 38ºC). Foram analisadas as taxas de produção de matéria seca (MS), proteína bruta (PB), cujos resultados foram submetidos à análise de variância, energia bruta (EB) e digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca (DIVMS). O valor máximo de teor protéico, alcançado nas condições estudadas nesse trabalho, foi superior a 26%, sendo esse teor compatível ou maior do que os concentrados convencionais utilizados como suplemento protéico para a ração animal. O concentrado protéico da palma obteve um alto índice de digestibilidade in vitro (95,8%) e não apresentou grande alteração no valor da energia bruta se comparada com a palma in natura.

The microbial protein bioconversion of cactus pear by yeast in solid medium was studied. Three cultivation variables used were: inoculum's concentrations (5, 10 and 15 %), substrate layer thickness (2, 4 and 6 cm) and temperature (30, 34 and 38 ºC). The rate of dry matter production and total protein were determined. Results obtained were variance analysis, gross energy and in vitro dry matter digestibility. The maximum protein amount achieved for the conditions studied in the present work was higher than 26 %, which was compatible or greater than those of conventional concentrates of protein supplements used for animal feed. The protein concentrate of cactus pear had a higher in vitro digestibility index (95.8 %) and did not show any changes in the gross energy value when compared to that of the cactus pear in natura.