INHIBITION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES AND OTHER BACTERIA BY A PLANT ESSENTIAL OIL (DMC) IN SPANISH SOFT CHEESE

The inhibitory effects of a mixture of plant essential oils (DMC) were tested in culture media and Spanish soft cheese. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined in plate count agar and tryptose broth, with pH adjusted to 6.5, against Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus brevis, Micrococcus luteus, Salmonella cholerasuis, Escherichia coli O157:H7 , Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas fluorescens. The mixture of essential oils inhibited all Gram-positive bacteria tested at 40 ppm, but higher concentrations were needed to inhibit Gram-negative bacteria, and no inhibitory effect was found against Ps. fluorescens. The effects of DMC against L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 were evaluated in Spanish soft cheese (Queso Fresco, pH=6.5) stored at 7C. DMC had a bacteriostatic effect against L. monocytogenes at concentrations of 2500 ppm but was ineffective to control the growth of E. coli O157:H7 .     

NUCLEOTIDE CATABOLISM IN COLD STORED ADDUCTOR MUSCLE OF SCALLOP (ZYGOCHLAMYS PATAGONICA)

The postmortem catabolism of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in cold stored scallop adductor muscles was examined. The change In the pH of stored muscles was also investigated. The ATP content increased for a short time after death and afterwards decreased up to 24 h of storage. Thereafter, the nucleotide level remained unchanged up to 120 h of storage. The ADP content slightly decreased up to 48 h and after that remained unchanged. The AMP slowly accumulated to around 15% of the total nucleotide concentration when the ATP decreased. Small amounts of IMP were detected in all samples. Conversely, adenosine (Ado) was not detected. Inosine (HxR) slightly increased after 48 h of storage and hypoxanthine (Hx.) significantly increased after 24 h. The 260/250‐absorbance ratio of muscle extracts and the pH of stored muscles fell sharply up to 24 h and then decreased slowly. The Hx contents were positively correlated (P < 0.01) with both the Hx/AMP ratios and the K values.     

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS of the MILK CONCENTRATING SYSTEM FROM A BRAZILIAN MILK POWDER PLANT

The steady‐state operation of the concentrating system from an industrial milk powder plant was studied using a simulation approach. This system is composed of two tubular preheaters, a plate pasteurizer, a thermocompressor and four climbing‐falling‐film plate evaporators operating in a multiple‐effect arrangement. Its simulation was performed using the ASPEN Plus shell, into which calculation routines previously developed by the authors had to be introduced in order to enable the calculation of the plate units. For the thermocompressor, a simulation code based on the solution of a design equation and the overall mass and energy balances was formulated and then introduced into ASPEN. In the validation step, simulation results were compared with operating data of the industrial plant, and a good agreement was verified. A sensitivity analysis of the concentrating system was then performed, considering two different operating variables, namely the milk inlet temperature and the motive steam pressure in the thermocompressor.     

ACEROLA's CLONES OF INDUSTRIAL INTEREST

In order to know which clone of acerola is better for acerola industrialization, we studied the pectin methylesterase (PME) specific activity, pectin content and vitamin C content in five different clones of acerola. The pectin yield varied from 1.37 to 2.99% and the highest content of pectin occurred in clones 3 and 5. Ascorbic acid varied significantly from 1157.5 to 1735.5 mg/100 g of pulp in the five clones. The highest content of vitamin C occurred in clone 4. The PME specific activity varied from 0.79 to 2.92 units g ^?1 /g of pulp and the highest values occurred in clone 2. We also studied the optimum temperature and the optimum pH of this enzyme. Clones 1, 2, 4 and 5 showed optimum temperature at 90C. Clone 3 showed practically the same specific activity at all temperatures studied. Clones 1 and 4 showed an optimum pH of 9.0 and clone numbers 2, 3 and 5 showed a pH optimum at 8.5.     

DIRECTION REVERSALS IN THE MECHANICAL SIGNATURE OF CELLULAR SNACKS: A MEASURE OF BRITTLENESS?

The “mechanical signatures” of brittle cellular foods are known to be irregular and irreproducible. Nevertheless, their degree of jaggedness is remarkably similar and can be a measure of such foods' brittleness and perceived crunchiness/crispiness. An irregular curve's “jaggedness” is manifested by frequent direction reversals. Hence, their number can serve as a jaggedness's index. Counting the number of direction reversals in a digitized force‐displacement curve can be done with a simple algorithm, implemented in any general‐purpose software. The number of direction reversals is strongly correlated with the signature's apparent fractal dimension. It is also a reproducible enough parameter to monitor the loss of brittleness in snacks as a result of moisture sorption. This measure of jaggedness, however, is inapplicable to smooth force‐displacement curves because in such records, the small random force fluctuations produced by the digitizing process can create a false impression of “jaggedness.” Although a correction for this artifact can be introduced into the program, its utility is doubtful.     

EXTRACTION OF PROTEINS FROM BUCKWHEAT BRAN

ABSTRACT Proteins from buckwheat bran were extracted by a wet alkaline extraction process, giving a yield of 37.0%of the total nitrogen in the liquid extract, at pH of 6.5. However, the yield could be improved, given a pretreatment of the bran with carbohydrases, thus producing a yield of 56% with cellulase, 58%with pectinase, whereas the increase was minimal with hemicellulase. The maximum yield of 67.5%was obtained by synergistic action of pectinase and hemicellulase, in a pretreatment lasting for 7 h at pH of 3.7.     

Evaluation of diffusion coefficients in osmotic concentration of bananas (Musa Cavendish Lambert)

The effect of time of exposure, solution concentration and temperature on the osmotic concentration of banana (slices of 11 mm thickness) was studied in aqueous sucrose solutions. the selectivity of the cellular tissues was reduced by steam blanching the banana slices before osmotic treatment. Effective diffusion coefficients for the loss of water and the increase in sucrose content were determined according to Fick's Law applied to a two-dimensional body; calculated on the basis of the concentration of various components in the liquid phase impenetrating the fruit. These coefficients revealed values similar to binary diffusion coefficients for pure sucrose solutions.     

STARCH MOBILIZATION AND SUCROSE ACCUMULATION IN THE PULP OF KEITT MANGOES DURING POSTHARVEST RIPENING

Sugar is a determinant for the quality of mangoes, but information about its accumulation is scarce. Although starch can contribute to sugar production during ripening, not much is known about the enzymes involved. This work presents the changes in carbohydrate and enzymes during the development and ripening of Keitt mangoes. Starch disappearance was concomitant to a fivefold increase of sucrose, the most abundant sugar of the ripe fruits. The activities of α-amylase, β-amylase, phosphorylase and isoamylase were detected in the pulp, and while α-amylase increased parallel to the starch content, β-amylase presented a 20-fold increase during ripening. On the other hand, high phosphorylase activity was observed when fruits were still accumulating starch, and lowered during ripening. Isoamylase was detected during development and increased slightly during ripening, which would be in agreement to the expected role for isoamylases as acting on both subproduct of starch synthesis and degradation.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The present work reinforces our previous works that Keitt mangoes do not ripen when attached to the tree. This fact allowed us to study all the starch degradation after mango harvesting which does not occur with the other cultivars. Data obtained in this work reinforce the role of α-amylase, β-amylase and isoamylase rather than the starch phosphorylases on starch granule degradation in mangoes, and the subsequent soluble sugar accumulation.     

On the use of formal methods to model and verify neuronal archetypes

Having a formal model of neural networks can greatly help in understanding and verifying their properties, behavior, and response to external factors such as disease and medicine. In this paper, we adopt a formal model to represent neurons, some neuronal graphs, and their composition. Some specific neuronal graphs are known for having biologically relevant structures and behaviors and we call them archetypes. These archetypes are supposed to be the basis of typical instances of neuronal information processing. In this paper we study six fundamental archetypes (simple series, series with multiple outputs, parallel composition, negative loop, inhibition of a behavior, and contralateral inhibition), and we consider two ways to couple two archetypes: (i) connecting the output(s) of the first archetype to the input(s) of the second archetype and (ii) nesting the first archetype within the second one. We report and compare two key approaches to the formal modeling and verification of the proposed neuronal archetypes and some selected couplings. The first approach exploits the synchronous programming language Lustre to encode archetypes and their couplings, and to express properties concerning their dynamic behavior. These properties are verified thanks to the use of model checkers. The second approach relies on a theorem prover, the Coq Proof Assistant, to prove dynamic properties of neurons and archetypes.