Beetroot is a vegetable rich in nitrate (NO ), antioxidants and phenolic compounds that are related to improvements in cardiovascular function and exercise performance. However, it is unknown if convenient forms of beetroot administration provide different amounts of these nutrients. The total antioxidant potential (TAP), total phenolic (TPC), sugar, organic acid, and NO contents of beetroot juice (BJ), chips (BC), powder (BP), and cooked beetroot (CB) were compared. Significant (<0.01) differences in chemical compositions and functional properties were found between beetroot formulations. Higher amounts of TAP and organic acids were observed in BC and BP, compared with the other formulations. BJ exhibited the highest contents of total sugars, TPC, and NO . All beetroot formulations were suitable and advantageous based on taste preferences and convenience for consumers and for nutrient amounts required to meet dietary recommendations.

Beetroot, a food rich in nitrate and antioxidants has gained attention because of its potential effect on improving cardiovascular health and exercise performance. This work had the purpose of developing a beetroot-based nutritional gel (BG) and estimating the in vitro bioaccessibility of the nitrate, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total phenolic (TP) and potassium content, as compared to beetroot juice (BJ). Nitrate was assessed by a high-performance liquid chromatography system, TAC was assessed using the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay and TP was measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu method before and after an in vitro digestion. Significantly higher values of nitrate, TEAC, TP and potassium before and after digestion were observed in BG as compared to BJ. The results suggest a new nutritional strategy to give high contents of bioaccessible nutrients (nitrate, antioxidants and potassium) that are potentially relevant to improve cardiovascular health and exercise performance.

Background. Beetroot consumption has been proposed to improve exercise performance, since the nitrate content of this food is able to stimulate the synthesis of nitric oxide. Objective. The acute effect of 100 g of a beetroot gel containing ~10 mmol of nitrate was tested on the nitric oxide synthesis, on metabolic and biochemical parameters, and on performance in physically active individuals. Methods. Through a double blind, crossover, placebo-controlled study, 25 healthy runners ingested a single dose of beetroot and placebo gels. Participants performed an aerobic exercise protocol on a treadmill (3 min warm-up of 40% peak oxygen consumption, 4 min at 90% of gas exchange threshold I and 70% (Δ) maximal end speed until volitional fatigue). Results. Urinary levels of nitrite and nitrate increased after 90 min of beetroot gel ingestion. Plasma glucose concentrations lowered after the exercise and the decrease was maintained for 20 min. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures, serum cortisol, and blood lactate were not altered after the beetroot gel ingestion compared to a placebo gel. Conclusion. The single dose of beetroot gel provoked an increase of nitric oxide synthesis although no improvement on the physical performance of athletes during aerobic submaximal exercise was observed.

This paper presents the BOAT-2000 database* organization. Its applications in market study as well as power and sailboats design are used to show the system capability for integrated design. BOAT-2000 is not a commercial system and was created to integrate recreational boat information and commercial design software for academic research. The BOAT-2000 aim is to join in a database the useful information on sail and powerboat design, manufacturers, equipment and test results. The database includes also specific naval architecture software and others functional software's. BOAT-2000 was developed in Microsoft ACCESS™ and follows four main objectives:simple and useful tool for boat market analysis,ability to arrange the design process,includes different sorts of boat information as test results and survey reports, andintegrates commercial softwares in boat design process. The paper focuses on database systematization and shows the BOAT-2000 application in two case studies. Graphs and tables illustrate the actual available dates. Finally, some future implementations are emphasized.