In this study, we investigated the main constituent, the predominant class and biological activity of the essential oil extracted from the leaves of Pimenta dioica and the pattern of the major constituent against larvae in the third stage of Aedes aegypti. For this reason, we extracted the oil by hydrodistillation, identified its components by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and calculated the lethal concentration (LC50) of the larvicidal activity using the Reed-Muench method. The results show that the oil consists mainly of eugenol, in which the phenylpropanoid class predominated and the lethal concentration, LC50, was 38.86 μg mL-1at a confidence level of 2.25 μg mL-1, while the eugenol standard presented LC5079.75 μg mL-1at a confidence level of 2.10 μg mL-1. Given the facts, we conclude that the oil is more active than the standard and that it has the potential to replace chemical larvicides.

The monitoring and combined use of dietary supplements to restore adequate growth are paramount and highly recommended in child malnutrition, an important public health problem. The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of cashew nut seed flour in children with moderate malnutrition, treated at primary healthcare services. This is a randomized clinical trial conducted from April to October 2017 in the city of Imperatriz, Brazil. The sample comprised 30 children born at term, aged between 2 and 5 years, and newly diagnosed with malnutrition (60 days or less), randomized into experimental and control groups. The intervention consisted of daily intake of cashew nut seed flour. There was intragroup statistically significant difference in the glucose levels of children who were assigned to the control group (p=0.02) and in the glycated hemoglobin in the experimental group (p<0.01). Intergroup analysis of glycated hemoglobin levels showed statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group (p=0.01). HDL and LDL had, respectively, increased and decreased in the experimental group. The use of cashew nut seed flour in a 24-week period had positive effects on glycated hemoglobin, HDL, and LDL parameters in moderately malnourished children.

Cookies, in general, are well accepted by all audiences, and research and investments in this type of product are of great importance to meet market demands. There are few product options for people with gluten intolerance on the market, and rice flour and babassu fruit mesocarp flour are good options for the development of new products for this audience. The objective of the present work was to prepare a gluten-free sweet biscuit with high nutritional value, based on babassu mesocarp flour with partial replacement by rice flour, to carry out the physical-chemical, microbiological characterization, sensory acceptance, and purchase intention of consumers. Three different formulations were studied, with 50, 75 and 100% babassu fruit mesocarp flour. Physical-chemical analyzes of moisture, water activity, ash, lipids, proteins and carbohydrates (by difference) were carried out, the microbiological quality was also evaluated according to the legislation and sensory acceptability through a questionnaire with 80 untrained tasters, as for the appearance, color, aroma, texture, sweetness, flavor, global impression and purchase intention attributes. The results showed that the cookies with variations of babassu fruit mesocarp flour and rice flour are comparable to other studies found in the literature, in terms of physical-chemical and microbiological characteristics. In the sensory evaluation, the cookies received grades in the acceptance range for all formulations, demonstrating that the product has the potential to be in the market.

Cuidados com a saúde e atenção aos hábitos de vida vêm ganhando atenção nesses últimos anos e a mudança nos hábitos alimentares apresenta-se em relevância, uma vez que à inserção de alguns alimentos podem ajudar na manutenção da saúde. Dentre esses alimentos estão em destaque os probióticos, que através da ação microbiana ajudam em atividades benéficas do sistema digestivo e imunológico. O objetivo desse trabalho foi investigar o conhecimento e comportamento de consumo de alimentos probióticos por estudantes de uma instituição de ensino superior e verificar o julgamento de uma proposta de intenção de compra de Kefir a base de albedo de maracujá. Os participantes da pesquisa foram 327 estudantes de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior que responderam um questionário online, divulgado nos grupos de WhatsApp e e-mails institucionais. As respostas obtidas foram tabuladas e analisadas de forma qualitativa e quantitativa. A maioria dos participantes da pesquisa (72,8%) estavam na faixa etária de 18 a 24 anos, onde 32,1% possuem renda entre R$ 1.100,00 e R$ 2.200,00, os participantes apresentam rotina sedentária, porém sem problemas de saúde.  Parte dos estudantes definiram corretamente “alimentos probióticos”, possuindo hábitos de consumo semestral tendo como principal alimento de inserção e frequência o leite fermentado, e de maior preferência o iogurte. Os participantes não conhecem e nem consomem o produto Kefir, com preferência por alimentos funcionais a base de leite, levemente ácidos e estão abertos à proposta de compra de um Kefir a base de albedo do maracujá, sendo necessário o desenvolvimento do produto e testes sensoriais.

Avaliação da qualidade microbiológica de leite cru comercializado informalmente no município de Imperatriz-Maranhão Evaluation of microbiological quality of raw milk marketed commercially in Imperatriz-Maranhão