Cymbopogon citratus is a medicinal plant popularly used in Brazil for the treatment of various diseases, and the research interest in this plant is justifiable because of its potential medicinal value in stomachache and gastric ulcer. This study was aimed to test the validity of this practice by using experimental models of gastric ulcer and to clarify the mechanisms of gastroprotection by C. citratus leaves essential oil (EOCC). EOCC was evaluated for the ability to protect the gastric mucosa against injuries caused by necrotizing agents (absolute ethanol and aspirin) in rodents. The results of this study revealed that EOCC posses a dose-independent anti-ulcer effect against the different experimental models. EOCC pretreatment depicted a higher preventive index in ethanol-(88%) and aspirin-induced (76%) acute ulceration. On pretreatment of mice with indomethacin, the cyclooxygenase inhibitor slightly suppressed the gastroprotective effect of EOCC (48.5%). Furthermore, EOCC gastroprotection was not attenuated in mice pretreated with L-NAME (85.2%), glibenclamide (100%), or yohimbine (79.7%), the respective inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase, K+ATP channel activation, and α2 receptors. These results confirmed the traditional use of C. citratus for the treatment of gastric ulcer. Thus, we provide the first evidence that EOCC reduces gastric damage induced by ethanol, at least in part, by mechanisms that involve endogenous prostaglandins.

Whey is a by-product of the dairy industry of great importance due to its high nutritional value, and can be used for the manufacture of fermented dairy drinks which, combined with fruit, increase the nutritional value and add characteristic flavors. Therefore, a fermented dairy beverage with caja-mango pulp (Spondias dulcis) was elaborated and its nutritional information as well as the physical-chemical stability were evaluated during storage. The results showed that the nutritional information met the requirements stipulated by the Brazilian legislation. The physical-chemical stability of the dairy fermented drink in terms of pH, acidity, syneresis and sedimentation was influenced by the storage time, possibly associated with uncontrolled factors in this study, such as the initial and final dairy culture concentration of the processed product, protein biodegradation during storage and low solids contents. It is concluded that the elaborated drink constitutes a food source of several nutrients, and may complement the daily diet of children, adolescents and adults, supplying nutritional deficiencies.

Studies conducted in the last decades have demonstrated the probiotic effects of several yeast species. Among the probiotic yeast evaluated, Saccharomyces boulardii is the most common and widely studied species with significant probiotic properties, such as survival capacity in the acidic environment of the gastrointestinal tract and improvements in the intestinal microbiota. In recent years, new evidence indicated that the incorporation of probiotic yeasts is also a promising approach in food development, thus leading to new perspectives for a more integrated strategy for a potential application of S. boulardii in the development of innovative functional food products. In this review, an overview of recent published data on the application of probiotic yeast in foods is presented, especially on the use of S. boulardii as a trend to develop several functional foods, such as non-alcoholic, fermented alcoholic, vegetable, and bakery products.

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RESUMO:O Lentinus edodes -cogumelo comestível pertencente à família Agaricaceae e popularmente conhecido como shitake -é apreciado há séculos na culinária e medicina oriental devido ao seu sabor agradável e alto valor nutritivo. Visando destacar os benefícios do L. edodes, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo a realização da análise nutricional desse alimento. A qualidade do L. edodes como fonte protéica também foi avaliada e comparada com a carne bovina, o feijão e a soja, considerando que estes alimentos, assim como os cogumelos, são ricos em proteínas. Para avaliação do valor nutricional protéico do L. edodes, foram calculados os escores químicos de seus aminoácidos essenciais. Para fins de comparação, também foram utilizados os valores de digestibilidade protéica para o L. edodes, carne bovina, feijão e soja. O L. edodes analisado apresentou elevado teor protéico (17,14%), baixo teor de gorduras (1,23%) e baixa digestibilidade comparado à carne bovina. Os valores dos escores químicos para o L. edodes apresentaram-se todos maiores do que 1,0, indicando que suas proteínas possuem alto valor biológico, assim como a carne bovina. Os resultados obtidos mostram que o L. edodes apresenta proteínas de maior valor nutricional do que o feijão e a soja, sendo inferior à carne bovina neste quesito. Palavras-chave: shitake; Lentinus edodes; valor nutricional, aminoácidos ABSTRACT:The Lentinus edodes -an edible mushroom from the Agaricaceae family and popularly known as shiitake -have been appreciated through centuries in Eastern cooking and medicine due to its pleasant flavor and high nutritional value. In order to point out L. edodes beneficts, the present work performed the nutritional analysis of this food. The L. edodes quality as a protein source was also evaluated and compared to beef cattle, beans and soy, considering that these foods, such as mushrooms, are rich in protein.For evaluation of L. edodes protein quality, amino acid score for its indispensable amino acid was calculated. For comparison purposes, the protein digestibility values of L.