No abstract

Species of the family Annonaceae has been used traditionally as a medicinal plant in tropical regions of South and North America and in Africa. Annona montana is known popularly as false graviola and originates from tropical America and can be cultivated throughout Brazil. There are no studies in the literature that associate A. montana with the metabolic profile of animals. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to assess the effects of the consumption of pulp and leaves of this plant on the metabolic profile of Wistar rats. The animals, which were treated for 40 days, were divided into two control groups--treated with water via gavage and ad libitum, respectively, and two treated groups--one treated with leaf juice and the other with pulp juice of the fruit. Glycemia, lipids, and body weight were found to decrease and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) levels to increase in the animals treated with leaf juice. The group treated with pulp juice showed a reduction in lipids and augmented HDL-c. The use of A. montana may have beneficial effects in the prevention of diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia and may thus contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

The chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases have reached epidemic proportions in developed and developing countries. The high costs of the allopathic medicines represent a growing demand for non-allopathic alternatives. Curcuma longa is usually used as a spice in curries and as a dietary pigment and is considered a medicinal plant due important properties, with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antibacterial and anti-tumor action. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of Curcuma longa on the metabolic profile of Wistar rats treated with hyper caloric diet. Forty eight male rats were divided randomly into 4 groups (n=12) and treated for 40 days: G1 that received water (Control Group); G2 that received condensed milk solution ad libitum; G3 that received C. longa by gavage route and G4 that received condensed milk solution ad libitum and C. longa by gavage route. No significant differences for body weight and cholesterol were observed among the groups. Visceral fat, triglycerides and glycaemia were higher in the groups treated with condensed milk but did not differ when comparing G1 with G3 and G2 with G4. Analyzing our results it is possible to say that C. longa may not be efficient to promote benefits in lipid and glycemic profile as well as in the body weight and visceral fat of animals treated with hyper caloric diet.

A crescente atividade humana vem produzindo cada vez mais resíduos sólidos, que geram problemas devido ao descarte inadequado e a poluição. No entanto, estes resíduos podem gerar através da decomposição biológica da matéria orgânica o biogás, uma mistura gasosa composta principalmente por gás metano ( CH4) , gás carbônico (CO2) e umidade. A pesquisa apresenta dados referentes à produção do biogás a partir da decomposição da matéria orgânica, com a proposta de produzir energia elétrica e posteriormente reaproveitar o resíduo orgânico como biofertilizante. Foi produzido um protótipo de reatores para a geração do biogás composto por tubos de Policloreto de Vinila (PVC), conectados a uma proveta de 1L e galões de 5L, se faz necessário a adição de uma quantidade proporcional de água como forma de mobilizar os resíduos ali presentes para produção eficaz do gás metano.  Através dos resultados obtidos nos experimentos pode - se verificar a produção do gás em determinadas quantidades de esterco e resíduo orgânico analisando sua eficiência nesse contexto. Mediante a análise feita, os resultados obtidos foram satisfatórios para a quantidade de matéria orgânica utilizada, sendo assim, o projeto pode ser construído em grande escala para geração de energia elétrica por meio de um conjunto moto-gerador, onde essa energia elétrica pode ser utilizada tanto em residências urbanas quanto em áreas rurais devido à quantidade de matéria-prima