Abstract:Considering that oral preparations made with peel green bananas (e.g. flour and extracts) demonstrated healing effects on mucous membranes and skin, this study evaluated the healing and the antimicrobial property of a topical preparation based on extract of Musa sapientum L., Musaceae, (apple banana) in surgically induced wounds in the skin of male Wistar rats, 100 g. The extract was obtained by decoction, the presence of tannins was detected by phytochemical screening and 10% of the extract was incorporated into the carbopol gel (CMS gel). The processes of healing and bacterial isolation were evaluated in the following experimental groups: control (no treatment), treatment with placebo or with the CMS gel. The healing of surgical wounds treated with the CMS gel was faster when compared with the control and placebo groups and the treatment with CMS gel also inhibited the growth of pyogenic bacteria and enterobacteria in the wounds. The results indicate that the extract of Musa sapientum epicarp has healing and antimicrobial properties (in vivo), probably, due to tannins.

The Cellular Biology and Molecular Biology are fields of Science that use very abstract concepts, because they look into microscopic and molecular aspects of the nature. The process of teaching/learning of those disciplines requires didactic material, as an alternative approach for the students, to increase the chances of understanding these issues and to become an important tool in the synthesis of this knowledge. One of the methods that can be employed is the didactic models based on multimedia, because they allow an easy and fun interaction with these subjects. On this work was created a new educational model that represents the human mitochondrial DNA molecule, mtDNA, in its circular form, using the softwares Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007. The model was constructed in hypertext format, which allowed a quick and interactive access to the information contained in the genes found in the L and the H strands of mtDNA, and its function in the mitochondrial processes, like the mechanism of energy production that occurs inside of the mitochondria by the coupling of electron transfer and ATP synthesis or still others uses like forensic identification.