Cupuaçu [Theobroma grandiflorum (Wild ex Spreng.) K. Schum] seeds have been employed for a long time in the Amazon region for food purposes. Similar to cocoa, processed cupuaçu pulp and seeds can be used to produce juices, ice creams, confectionary products and cupulate®, which is a similar product to chocolate. However, its market penetration requires the mastery of all processing stages to improve the food quality and safety and to make possible an efficient technology transfer to the local small farmers and communities. Based on the above, the current research work aimed at monitoring and optimizing the consecutive fermentation and drying processes of cupuaçu seeds over 7 days each, as well as storage for 90 days. A greenhouse structure incorporating the fermenter and solar drying terrace was designed to be inexpensive, versatile, easily scalable, and easy to maintain and operate by the local small farmers after a short period of training. This research effort also aimed at giving a vision for the future creation of an integrative and sustainable cupuaçu system covering the economic, social, cultural and environmental vectors. The experimental design comprised 5 batches of 100 kg of seeds each. Several microbiological and physicochemical parameters were performed and correlated with processing variables. Microbiological parameters encompassed viable counts of mesophilic microorganisms, coliforms, yeasts, and molds, whereas physicochemical measures included fermentation and drying temperature, pH, acidity, dry matter, ashes, water activity, color, total proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, and energy. The average seed fermentation temperature varied from ca. 28 to 44 °C, reaching the maximum on day 3 and a final value of ca. 31 °C. Regarding solar drying, the average seed temperatures ranged from ca. 24 °C (at the end) to 39 °C on day 3, and an initial value of ca. 29 °C. The average final seed pH value of drying was 5.34 and was kept during storage. During storage, results demonstrated the existence of significant correlations among several experimental parameters under scrutiny. Finally, bean viable counts obtained during storage unfolded acceptable values of total mesophilic bacteria well below the maximum limit. Viable counts of yeast and molds were generally found between 3 and 4 log(CFU/gsample), and total coliforms were also detected, although both were at acceptable levels and well beneath the established maximum limits for food safety.

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Genetic variability is the main characteristic when seeking to select promising genotypes for plant breeding. Thus, the objective of this work was to investigate the genetic variability in agronomic and morphological characteristics of traditional varieties of maize, in addition to determining the degree of association and the selection of variety and promising characters to be explored in programs of genetic breeding of Creole maize. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Acre (UFAC), Rio Branco - Acre, in the 2017/2018 harvest period. A randomized block design was used, with five replications. The treatments were four varieties of Creole maize (V1, V2, V3 and V4) from the Vale do Juruá region and another hybrid cultivar LG 3040 (HI). The morpho-agronomic characteristics were evaluated in the useful area of the plots: days to silking (DS), days to anthesis (DA), plant height (PH) and height ear insertion (HEI), stem diameter (SD), mass of ear (ME), length ear (LE), diameter ear (DE), total grain mass (TGM), mass of 100 grain (M100G), grain moisture (GM) and grain productivity (GP). The data were subjected to analysis of variance and comparison of means. The values of genotypic and phenotypic variance were also estimated, heritability in the broad sense, selection accuracy, phenotypic, genotypic and environmental correlation, in addition to the principal component analysis (PCA). Variations in characteristics were found between the varieties of Creole maize and their interrelations, showing greater influence of ME, PH, TGM, M100G, DE and GP in the expression of the phenotype. Therefore, it is concluded that there is genetic variability in the characteristics evaluated, with emphasis to V4 that showed superior performance allowing direct selection of the characteristics SD, ME, TGM and M100G to be incorporated into an breeding program.

A busca do conhecimento acerca da cultura da vinagreira (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) baseia-se na crescente demanda por empresas gastronômicas e de cosméticos, com isso o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência de tratamentos pré-germinativos na superação da dormência de sementes de Hibiscus sabdariffa L. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualisado com quatro repetições de 50 sementes. Os tratamentos consistiram em: T0 - testemunha (sem tratamento pré-germinativo); T1 - ácido sulfúrico de concentração 98% por 5 minutos), T2 - ácido giberélico de concentração 500 mg.L-1 por 24 horas; T3 - banho maria a 100 °C por 10 minutos); T4 - escarificação mecânica. As variáveis analisadas foram: percentual de germinação, índice de velocidade de germinação e números de sementes germinadas. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos à análise de variância pelo teste F e as médias comparadas pelo teste Tukey ao nível de 5% de probabilidade. Houve diferença significativa entre os tratamentos pré-germinativos. Conclui-se que uso de ácido sulfúrico e ácidos giberélico proporcionam incremento no índice de velocidade de germinação. O tratamento com banho maria a 100 °C por 10 minutos não é indicado para quebra de dormência de sementes vinagreira.

O uso de sementes de alto vigor pode ser uma estratégia para reduzir problemas no desenvolvimento de plântulas. Um método eficiente para avaliar a qualidade fisiológica das sementes é o teste de envelhecimento acelerado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar o comportamento fisiológico de sementes de Enterolobium schomburgkii submetidas ao envelhecimento acelerado. No teste, 120 sementes foram divididas em quatro subamostras e colocadas em câmara tipo B.O.D., regulada para manter as temperaturas constantes de 41 ºC e umidade relativa do ar a 100%, nos períodos de 0 (testemunha), 24, 48, 72 e 96 horas. As variáveis analisadas foram: emergência, índice de velocidade de emergência (IVE) e tempo médio de emergência (TME). Ao final da emergência de plântulas, realizou a biometria de plântulas: diâmetro do coleto, comprimento da parte aérea e de raiz. O vigor de sementes de orelhinha-de-macaco pode ser avaliado pelo teste de envelhecimento acelerado, devendo ser conduzido na temperatura de 41 graus pelo período de 72 horas.