In this study, dehydrated strawberries have been proposed as probiotic carriers.Strawberries were cut into halves, incorporated with probiotic Bacillus coagulans BC4 by two alternative methods (impregnation and alginate coating) and submitted to two alternative drying methods (freeze drying -FD -and oven drying -OD). Six treatments were carried out, namely: FD and OD (no probiotic), I-FD, I-OD, C-FD, and C-OD (Iand C-meaning impregnation and coating respectively). While the probiotic incorporation method affected a few properties of the resulting products (mainly the probiotic viability on processing), the drying methods resulted in remarkable differences. The freeze-dried strawberry halves presented higher retention of chemical (ascorbic acid and anthocyanin contents) and physical properties (shape, color, and firmness) as well as a better acceptance and higher probiotic viability, resulting in higher probiotic release into the small intestine. The I-FD treatment resulted in the highest probiotic viability after processing and through a 6-month storage (neat 8 log cfu.g -1 ).

Around the world, the most common prostate disease is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which constricts and tapers the urethral canal and it may cause partial or total obstruction of the urethra. Prostate cancer (CaP) is the second most common type of cancer in men worldwide and it is related to the fifth leading cause of death. Concerning that BPH and CaP diagnoses are important in men's health; which have high incidence and prevalence; and taking into accound that the literature on the epidemiological data of these diseases in the southwestern region of Goiás is scarce, this survey aimed to study all reports of prostate biopsies issued in the last 20 years in a city in the region, to feature their frequency and relate to the age of the men affected. Regarding this study, it was possible to detect that more than half of all reports issued during the twenty years were of BPH and CaP, representing 54.5% (n= 756), of which more than 50% were of BPH. The average age of individuals diagnosed with CaP was slightly higher than that of BPH, respectively 70.9 and 68.2 years. Therefore, with a changing demographic profile and an increasing aging population in almost all societies, it is inevitable that BPH and CaP will become even more prevalent and a major challenge for all health systems, and it is deeply important to expand investments in health actions focusing on educational and preventive measures for the male population.

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