The ocean is considered to be a great reservoir of biodiversity. Microbial communities in marine environments are ecologically relevant as intermediaries of energy, and play an important role in nutrient regeneration cycles as decomposers of dead and decaying organic matter. In this sense, marine-derived fungi can be considered as a source of enzymes of industrial and/or environmental interest. Fungal strains isolated from different substrates, such as invertebrates, decaying wood, seawater, sediments, and mangrove detritus, have been reported to be producers of hydrolytic and/or oxidative enzymes, with alginate lyase, amylase, cellulase, chitinase, glucosidase, inulinase, keratinase, ligninase, lipase, nuclease, phytase, protease, and xylanase being among the enzymes produced by fungi of marine origin. These enzymes present temperature and pH optima ranging from 35 to 70∘C, and 3.0 to 11.0, respectively. High-level production in bioreactors is mainly performed using submerged-state fermentation. Certain marine-derived fungal strains present enzymes with alkaline and cold-activity characteristics, and salinity is considered an important condition in screening and production processes. The adaptability of marine-derived fungi to oceanic conditions can be considered an attractive point in the field of fungal marine biotechnology. In this review, we focus on the advances in discovering enzymes from marine-derived fungi and their biotechnological relevance.

2012) Composition and antioxidant activity of honey from Africanized and stingless bees in Alagoas (Brazil): a multivariate analysis, Journal of Apicultural Research, 51:1, 23-35 To link to this article: http://dx. SummaryThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of honey from different entomological sources which were harvested in the dry season of 2008-2009 from distinct mesoregions of the State of Alagoas in the North East of Brazil. Honey produced by five different species of bees, even from the same region and season, showed a statistically significant difference (p <0.05) in the content of phenols, flavonoids and antioxidants, with higher levels of these compounds found in honey produced by Plebeia spp. and A. mellifera. Honey from stingless bees was quite different from that of A. mellifera, especially from the Plebeia spp. A dendrogram of the five species of bees showed the formation of 3 groups, one being formed by Apis mellifera, one by the genus Melipona (M. subnitida, M. quadrifasciata and M. scutellaris) and another formed by Plebeia spp.Composición y actividad antioxidante de la miel de abejas africanizadas y sin aguijón en Alagoas (Brasil): un análisis multivariante Resumen El propósito de este estudio fue evaluar la actividad antioxidante de la miel de diferentes fuentes entomológicas que se recogieron en la estación seca de 2008-2009 de distintas mesorregiones del Estado de Alagoas en el noreste de Brasil. La miel producida por cinco especies distintas de abejas, incluso de la misma región y de temporada, mostró una diferencia estadísticamente significativa (p < 0,05) en el contenido de fenoles, flavonoides y antioxidantes, con mayores niveles de estos compuestos se encuentran en la miel producida por Plebeia spp y A. mellifera. La miel de las abejas sin aguijón era muy diferente de la de A. mellifera, especialmente de las especies de Plebeia. Un dendrograma de las cinco especies de abejas mostró la formación de tres grupos, uno de ellos formado por Apis mellifera, uno por el género Melipona (M. subnitida, M. quadrifasciata y M. scutellaris) y otro formado por Plebeia spp.M. scutellaris, this parameter varied from 4.67-52.56 mg GA equivalent / 100 g (mean 18.45 ± 11.41 mg. GA equivalent / 100 g), being lower than in honey from Apis, Fig. 1.In honey from M. quadrifasciata, M. subnitida and Plebeia spp., the antioxidants averages, according to this method were 32.96 ± 30.67, 16.19 ± 5.76 and 49.91 ± 21.36 mg GA equivalent / 100 g, respectively. Statistically significant correlations (p < 0.01) were observed between the content of total phenolics and FRAP (r = 0.814) and between the total flavonoid content and FRAP (0.795), demonstrating, again, the contribution of these compounds in the antioxidant activity of honey. There was also a statistically significant correlation between the content expressed by FRAP and the antioxidant content by DPPH expressed as GA (r = 0.584) and Q (r = 0.568), Table 2. Detection of antioxidant compounds by TLCRegarding the identification of ant...

(Dnline) 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Samples of honey and bee pollen from meliponini species Different samples of honey (n = 31) and bee pollen (n = 25), respectively from seven stingless bees species: Melipona asilvai Moure (1971); M. quadrifasciata anthidioides Lepeletier (1836); M. scutellaris Latreille (1811); M. subnitida Ducke (1910); Frieseomelitta varia Lepeletier (1836); Tetragona clavipes Fabricius (1804) and Plebeia sp., and six of such species (all the above mentioned less F. varia) were collected in four private

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Bee pollen results from the mixture of pollen and floral nectar with the salivary substances of bees and has increasingly been used as a food with therapeutic properties. In this study, 30 samples of bee pollen from Apis mellifera apiaries in three mesoregions of Alagoas (Brazil) -Mata Atlântica, South Coast and Caatinga, were collected during the dry season of 2008/09 and analysed. Mata Atlântica and Caatinga had good production of bee pollen. In the same season, Mata Atlântica contained a higher diversity of pollen types for feeding bees with a predominance of herbaceous pollen (63%), whereas the Caatinga samples contained monofloral pollen. Physicochemical data were analysed with the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis statistical test. The Caatinga samples were analysed to determine their contents of total phenolic compounds (25.85 ± 10.80 mg gallic acid eq/g) and flavonoids (45.62 ± 32.19 mg quercetin eq/g) and their antioxidant activity (for instance, 70.62 ± 4.50% in the DPPH test), which were possibly affected by the environmental conditions of this biome.