Jaboticaba is a Brazilian fruit, native to the Atlantic forest, which belongs to the Myrtaceae family. In this work we describe the effect of the thinning of "flower", "fruit" and "flower & fruit" compared to non-thinned fruit (control) and of edible coatings with respect on nutritional composition, overall acceptability and shelf-life of jaboticaba ‘Sabara’, grown in an irrigated commercial orchard. "Flower and fruit" thinning allows fruit with higher quality as diameter, volume and mass. Non-thinned fruit shows higher yield, however fruit have lower quality. As a result of the improving quality at harvest, the shelf life was twice (~8 days) for thinned fruit. The lack of change in concentration of soluble sugar and absence of formation of volatile compounds during storage indicate that there was no natural fermentation of the jaboticaba pulp after harvest. Treatments with wax and calcium did not improve the jaboticaba shelf life.

This work was aimed at studying the influence of PFJ and/or sodium disulphite on Yacon pulp colour, and evaluating the sensory attributes of Yacon non-sugar pastes. A colour kinetic evaluation of browning in 11 treatments containing Yacon tubers, yellow passion fruit juice (PFJ) and/or sodium disulphite, over the course of 240 minutes was studied to inactivate the PPOs activity. The evaluation of the colour alterations of Yacon tuber by the addition of variable amounts of PFJ and sodium disulphite enabled identification of efficient treatments for the inhibition of browning: T7 (300 g kg -1 PFJ), T8 (400 g kg -1 PFJ), and T10 (150 g kg -1 PFJ + 0.25 g kg -1 sodium disulphite). These treatments presented high colour intensity (C*) and an insignificant (P <0.05) total colour degradation (ΔE). The products elaborated by the cooking of these ingredients were submitted to the acceptability test and data showed that T7 garnered an acceptance index of 78%.

A combinação de uma dieta para redução de peso corporal com exercício físico (EF) pode resultar em menor diminuição de massa magra (MM), quando comparada ao uso da dieta como única estratégia de emagrecimento. Contudo, pouco se conhece sobre a influência dessa combinação na composição química da MM. Diante disso, o presente estudo teve como objetivo verificar o efeito do EF na composição química da MM de ratos submetidos à restrição alimentar (RA). Trinta e seis ratos Wistar (315 ± 15 g) foram divididos em 6 grupos: sedentário, com dieta ad libitum (S); treinado, com dieta ad libitum (T); S, com RA de 25% (RA25%); S, com RA de 50% (RA50%); T, com RA de 25% (T + RA25%) e T, com RA de 50% (T + RA50%). O experimento durou seis semanas e o treinamento utilizado foi a natação, com sobrecarga de 5% do peso corporal, cinco sessões/semana de 60 minutos cada. Foram avaliadas a composição química da carcaça e a concentração de glicogênio e de proteína no músculo gastrocnêmio dos animais. O percentual de proteína da carcaça e a concentração de proteína do músculo gastrocnêmio dos animais dos grupos T + RA25% e T + RA50% foram menores (p<0,05) em relação ao observado nos grupos RA25% e RA50%, respectivamente. Por outro lado, o percentual de umidade da carcaça e a concentração de glicogênio encontrada no músculo gastrocnêmio dos animais dos grupos T + RA25% e T + RA50% foram maiores (p<0,05) em relação ao observado nos grupos RA25% e RA50%, respectivamente. Os resultados sugerem que o EF, quando associado à RA, promove aumento das concentrações de glicogênio e de água associada na MM, quando comparado ao efeito isolado da RA.

The combination of a diet for body weight reduction with physical exercise (PE) can result in a smaller decrease in lean mass ((LM) compared to the use of a diet as the single strategy for weight loss. However, little is known about the influence of this combination on LM composition. On this basis, the objective of the present study was to determine the effect of PE on LM composition in rats submitted to food restriction (FR). Thirty-six Wistar rats (315 ± 15 g) were divided into the following 6 equal groups: sedentary with an ad libitum diet (S); trained, with an ad libitum diet (T); S, with 25% FR (FR25%); S, with 50% FR (FR50%); T, with FR25% (T + FR25%), and T with FR50% (T + FR50%). The experiment lasted six weeks and the training used was swimming with an overload of 5% of body weight, five sessions/week of 60 minutes each. The chemical composition of the carcass and the concentration of glycogen and protein in the gastrocnemius muscle of the animals were determined. The percentage of protein in the carcass and the concentration of protein in the gastrocnemius muscle were lower (p<0.05) in the T + FR25% and T + FR50% groups compared to the FR25% and FR50%, respectively. On the other hand, the percentage of carcass moisture and the concentration of glycogen detected in the gastrocnemius muscle were higher (p<0.05) in the T + FR25% and T + FR50% groups compared to the FR25% and FR50% groups, respectively. The results suggest that PE, when combined with FR, promotes an increase in the concentration of glycogen and of associated water in the LM compared to the effect of FR alone.

O treinamento intenso e o exercício exaustivo podem ocasionar imunossupressão em atletas por meio da diminuição da concentração plasmática de glutamina. O presente estudo verificou inicialmente o efeito da suplementação com L-glutamina e L-alanilL-glutamina sobre a resposta ao teste de hipersensibilidade do tipo tardio (HTT) em ratos submetidos ao treinamento intenso em natação durante seis semanas. Posteriormente, foi avaliado o efeito dessas intervenções nutricionais sobre a contagem total e porcentual de leucócitos e concentração sérica de anticorpos IgG anti-albumina de soro bovino, em animais submetidos ao teste de exaustão e recuperados durante o período de 3 horas. Não houve efeito do treinamento e da suplementação sobre a resposta ao teste de HTT. Animais suplementados apresentaram maior concentração de glutamina no plasma (P<0,05), contudo, esse aumento da glutaminemia não influenciou a concentração sérica de anticorpos IgG. O período de recuperação pós-exercício intenso acarretou diminuição da glutaminemia em relação aos valores obtidos imediatamente após o teste de exaustão (P<0,05). O aumento da concentração de corticosterona induzida pelo exercício exaustivo casou leucocitose, neutrofilia e linfopenia durante o período pósexercício (P<0,05). O presente estudo não sustenta a hipótese de que a alteração da concentração plasmática de glutamina induzida tanto pela suplementação quanto pelo exercício tenha influência sobre a resposta ao teste de HTT ou a concentração sérica de anticorpos IgG em ratos treinados.

Intense training and exhaustive exercise may cause immunesupression in athletes by reducing plasma glutamine concentration. Initially, this study verified the effect of L-glutamine and L-alanyl-L-glutamine supplementation on the response to delayed-type hypersensitivity test (DTH) in rats submitted to intense swimming training for six weeks. Later on, we assessed the effect of these nutritional interventions on total and differential white blood cell counts and on concentration of anti-bovine serum albumin IgG antibodies, in animals submitted to exhaustion test and a three-hour recovery period. There was no effect of training and supplementation on the response to DTH. Supplemented animals presented greatest plasma glutamine concentration (p<0.05), though this increase in glutaminemia did not interfere on the serum IgG antibody concentration. The recovery period after intense exercise resulted in decreased glutaminemia as compared with the values obtained immediately after exhaustion test (p<0.05). Increase in corticosterone levels induced by strenuous exercises led to leukocytosis, neutrophilia and lymphopenia in post-exercise period (p<0.05). The present study does not confirm the hypothesis that changes in plasma glutamine concentration induced by both supplementation and exercises influence on the response to DTH or for serum IgG antibody concentration in rats submitted to training.