RESUMEN El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto de las condiciones de secado y presecado en muestras de café pergamino, almacenadas durante 6 meses, en condiciones controladas de humedad relativa, 70% y temperatura, 25°C, determinando la Conductividad Eléctrica (CE), Lixiviación de Potasio (LK) y Acidez Grasa (AG), de granos secos de café. El proceso de secado consistió en procesos combinados a temperaturas 50 y 60°C, dos periodos de 4 y 8 horas en el presecado mecánico y, posteriormente, llevado a humedad comercial en patio solar y dos tratamientos testigos, conformados por el secado mecánico completo y el secado solar completo. Los resultados mostraron los siguientes valores: 6,35 - 16,34µSm cm-1/ g MS, para CE; 2,0 - 4,45ppm/gMS, para LK y 0,76 - 1,57mL KOH/ 100g MS, para AG, donde los análisis estadísticos mostraron que no hubo efecto del tipo de secado sobre las variables estudiadas; sin embargo, los mayores promedios acumulados en el tiempo de almacenamiento fueron observados para el secado mecánico completo. Los valores encontrados no indicaron daños de la estructura celular atribuidos según, el marco referencial, a secados con alta temperatura o prolongado almacenamiento. Las pruebas de Conductividad Eléctrica (CE) y Acidez Grasa (AG) mostraron sensibilidad al tiempo de almacenamiento, mientras que la prueba de Lixiviación de Potasio (LK), no se constituyó en un indicador del deterioro del grano, atribuible al estrés termomecánico o al tiempo de almacenamiento.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of drying and pre-drying conditions of samples of parchment coffee stored during 6 months under controlled conditions of relative humidity of 70% and temperature of 25°C quantifying the Electrical Conductivity (EC), Potassium Leaching (KL) and Fatty Acidity (FA) of the grain. The coffee drying consisted on combined processes using air temperatures of 50°C and 60°C and two periods of 4 and 8 hours in the mechanical pre-drying and subsequently taken to commercial moisture content under patio drying, and two control treatments consisting of complete mechanical drying and complete solar drying. The results of the tests showed the following values: 6.35 - 16.34 µSm cm-1 / g DM (EC), 2.0 - 4.45ppm / g DM (KL) and 0.76 - 1.57mL KOH / 100g MS (FA), where the statistical analysis shows that there is no effect of the drying type on the studied variables. However, the highest accumulated averages in the storage time were observed for the complete mechanical drying. The values did not show deterioration of the cellular structure attributed to the frame of reference of drying with high temperature or prolonged storage. The tests of Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Fatty Acidity (FA) shows sensitivity to the storage time while the Potassium Leaching (KL) test did not constitute an indicator of grain deterioration attributable to thermomechanical stress or storage time.

A new trypanosomatid species, Blastocrithidia cyrtomeni, is herein described using morphological and molecular data. It was found parasitising the alimentary tract of the insect host Cyrtomenus bergi, a polyphagous pest. The morphology of B. cyrtomeni was investigated using light and transmission microscopy and molecular phylogeny was inferred from the sequences of spliced leader RNA (SL rRNA) - 5S rRNA gene repeats and the 18S small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene. Epimastigotes of variable size with straphanger cysts adhering to the middle of the flagellum were observed in the intestinal tract, hemolymph and Malpighian tubules. Kinetoplasts were always observed anterior to the nucleus. The ultrastructure of longitudinal sections of epimastigotes showed the flagellum arising laterally from a relatively shallow flagellar pocket near the kinetoplast. SL RNA and 5S rRNA gene repeats were positive in all cases, producing a 0.8-kb band. The amplicons were 797-803 bp long with > 98.5% identity, indicating that they originated from the same organism. According to the sequence analysis of the SL-5S rRNA gene repeats and the 18S SSU rRNA gene, B. cyrtomeni is different from all other known species or isolates of Trypanosomatidae. Both analyses indicate that among known species, it is most closely related to Blastocrithidia triatomae.