Milk is among the food more consumed by humanity. In this way, a study of its physical-chemical characteristics is justified to analyze if its components are by the legislation and if its hygiene conditions, more precisely the use of formaldehyde as a preservative, are established. The International Agency for Research on Cancer warns that formaldehyde has physicochemical properties that make it carcinogenic when consumed in food. In Brazil, the legislation does not establish minimum values for the presence of formaldehyde in foods of animal origin, and the technique suggested by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply is a qualitative test. With the large consumption of milk by the Brazilian population and because it is a food subject to adulteration. The present work sought to analyze milk in terms of its physical-chemical characteristics (fat, density, freezing point, non-greasy solids, lactose, and proteins) and develop a methodology to analyze formaldehyde derivatized with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in milk samples using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer.

Strawberry is a food rich in bioactive compounds with great antioxidant potential.However, due to the high incidence of pests that affect crop cultivation, phytosanitary management still lacks control methods for agroecological cultivation. Thus, the present research aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and the potential of the essential oil of the leaves of Piper macedoi in the control of Cerosipha forbesi in laboratory and semifield conditions. The concentration of essential oil in the leaves of P. macedoi that showed the highest mortality was 2.0 ml/L of oil, with a mortality above 91% under laboratory conditions. A mortality rate of 80% for all concentrations tested was observed after 24 hours in all conditions tested. Thus, using essential oil from the leaf of P. macedoi can be a highly viable strategy in managing the aphid C. forbesi since it showed high mortality rates with small doses of oil.

Neglected tropical diseases are significant causes of death and temporary or permanent disability for millions living in developing countries. Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment for these diseases. Thus, this work aimed to conduct a chemical analysis using HPLC/UV and GC/MS to identify the major constituents of the hydroalcoholic extracts of Capsicum frutescens and Capsicum baccatum fruits, evaluating these extracts and their constituents' schistosomicidal, leishmanicidal and trypanocidal activities. The results obtained for the extracts of C. frutescens are better when compared to those obtained for C. baccatum, which can be related to the different concentrations of capsaicin (1) present in the extracts. The lysis of trypomastigote forms results for capsaicin (1) led to a significant value of IC50 = 6.23 µM. Thus, the results point to capsaicin (1) as a possible active constituent in these extracts.

Tomato is one of the most produced and consumed fruits in the world, however it is a crop that faces several phytosanitary problems, such as fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate citronella and melaleuca essential oils in vitro potential in the fungus F. oxysporum management. The chemical identification of the components in the essential oils was performed by gas chromatography with flame ionization and mass spectrometer detectors. The IC50 and IC90 were determined by linear regression and the percentage of inhibition of the fungus by analysis of variance. The major compounds in citronella essential oil were citronellal, geraniol and citronellol; in melaleuca (tea tree) oil were terpinen-4-ol and α-terpinene.Both oils promoted greater inhibition at concentrations of 1.5 and 2.5 μL/mL, besides not presenting significant difference with commercial fungicide, confirming the high potential for use of this control method in agriculture.

The phytochemical investigation of the stem bark crude extract of Aniba firmula (Lauraceae) led to the isolation of undescribed bicyclic [3.2.1] octane neolignans, 1 and 2, characterized by unusual bicyclic patterns and two other known bicyclic neolignans 3 and 4. Anti-inflammatory bicyclic [3.2.1] octane neolignans metabolites were previously reported in the literature, and the A. firmula stands out in the Lauraceae family as a source of potentially bioactive compounds. Thus, herein the anti-inflammatory potential of four isolated compounds from A. firmula was accessed via an ex vivo anti-inflammatory model that included plasmatic quantification of the prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) inflammatory mediator. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the production of PGE2 in plasma samples, thus by interference with the cyclooxygenase (COX) inflammatory pathway. Therefore, these findings demonstrate that the bicyclic octane neolignan classes [3.2.1] can present anti-inflammatory potential.