Carotenoids are pigments that may be used as colorants and antioxidants in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Since they also benefit human health, great efforts have been undertaken to search for natural sources of carotenoids, including microbial ones. The optimization of culture conditions to increase carotenoid yield is one of the strategies used to minimize the high cost of carotenoid production by microorganisms. Halophilic archaea are capable of producing carotenoids according to culture conditions. Their main carotenoid is bacterioruberin with 50 carbon atoms. In fact, the carotenoid has important biological functions since it acts as cell membrane reinforcement and it protects the microorganism against DNA damaging agents. Moreover, carotenoid extracts from halophilic archaea have shown high antioxidant capacity. Therefore, current review summarizes the effect of different culture conditions such as salt and carbon source concentrations in the medium, light incidence, and oxygen tension on carotenoid production by halophilic archaea and the strategies such as optimization methodology and two-stage cultivation already used to increase the carotenoid yield of these microorganisms.

The transformation of grape must into wine is a complex microbiological process and is the product of the combined action of several genera and species of yeasts, dominated in the intermediate and final stages of fermentation by an alcohol-tolerant Saccharomyces sp. Current assay characterizes 42 autochthonous yeasts, isolated from the state of Paraná, southern Brazil, according to the following oenological properties: H 2 S production, fermentation rate, flocculation capacity, and killer phenotype (killer, sensitive and neutral characteristics). Current analysis is the first to evaluate killer phenotype in yeasts isolated from the State of Paraná, Brazil. With regard to their oenological traits, the yeasts evaluated were not suitable for winemaking and suggested that, depending on the harvest, the winemakers may face problems during the spontaneous wine production process.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a condição microbiológica de fatiadores de frios a fim de subsidiar ações educativas em boas práticas de higiene de equipamentos para manipuladores de alimentos. O estudo ocorreu nos setores de panificação de dois supermercados de Piraquara, Paraná, por meio da quantificação microbiológica de microrganismos aeróbios mesófilos (Contagem Padrão em Placas -CPP), coliformes totais e pesquisa de Listeria monocytogenes. Foram realizadas três coletas com intervalos de quinze dias e, antes da última, foi realizada uma ação educativa baseando-se na metodologia da problematização sobre higienização de equipamentos. Apesar de observada redução bacteriana, constatada por meio da CPP, os resultados mantiveram-seacima dos limites preconizados. Não houve detecção de coliformes totais e na pesquisa de Listeria monocytogenes. As análises microbiológicas foram importantes para a avaliação da higienização dos fatiadores, subsidiando práticas educativas eficazes na consolidação de aprendizado.