Rising worldwide concern about the quantity and quality of water available to living beings calls for efficient technologies of water treatment. Nanomaterials are promising adsorbents to remove ...contamination from aqueous solution, and magnetic nanomaterials based on iron have attracted attention because magnetic materials are easy to separate. Here, we review iron magnetic nanomaterials applied for water and wastewater treatment, with focus on toxic elements, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. Major advances are: coprecipitation is the most used method for synthesis of iron magnetic nanoparticles, followed by solvothermal and hydrothermal methods. Magnetite is the most common magnetic nanoparticles applied as magnetic adsorbent. In general, magnetic nanocomposites are superparamagnetic, and the highest magnetization is sought for core–shell structures, reaching 65 emu/g. Most reports focus on removal of toxic metals. Adsorption is explained by the Langmuir isothermal model, kinetic patterns being correlated with pseudo-second-order equations. Overall, iron-based magnetic nanocomposites display promising performances for pollutant removal, yet few investigations report the toxic impacts of magnetic nanoparticles on the environment.
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•Acerola pulp showed an excelent performance in the block cryoconcentration.•The acerola pulp cryoconcentration increase the total soluble solids content.•Red color of concentrates ...increased, showing color differences to the naked eye.•Phenolics and antioxidant activity contents increase for concentrates 2 and 3.•Concentrate 3 showed increase of Fe, Mg, P, Na, Mn, K, Sr, S, Ca, Cu elements,
The present study evaluated the effect of cryoconcentration of pulp blocks of acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC). The study evaluated cryoconcentration in three stages. The cryoconcentrated samples, the ice fractions, and the initial pulp were evaluated for physicochemical composition, bioactive composition, and multielement profile. The cryoconcentrated sample obtained in the third stage of cryoconcentration showed the best results for the concentration factor, process efficiency, total soluble solids content, red color intensity, and increasing of the macro and micronutrients: Cu, Ca, S, Sr, K, Mn, Na, P, Mg, Fe. All stages presented good performance in the total soluble solids content, increase in the titratable acidity of the concentrates, and progressive increase in the intensity of the red color. Generally, higher levels of total phenolic and antioxidant activity were found for the 2nd and 3rd concentrates. The phenolic activity showed an increase of 166.90% in the 3rd stage concentrate compared to fresh pulp, and the antioxidant activity was 112.10% by the ABTS method and 131.60% by the DPPH method, both in the 3rd stage concentrate. The major individual polyphenols were Ferulic acid, Protocatechuic acid, and Taxifolin, with significant increases in the concentration of the compounds in the 2nd and 3rd stage concentrates. In addition, the contents of potentially toxic metals were below detection limits. During the cryoconcentration process, there was a decrease in the values of vitamin C content, moisture content, density, and elements Cu, Sr, and Zn.
•The phenolic and elemental composition of V. labrusca grape juices was identified.•Effect of red grape juice consumption on lipid peroxidation was assessed in vivo.•V. labrusca juices showed high ...concentrations of polyphenols and minerals.•Organic and conventional grape juices inhibited lipid peroxidation in vivo.•Red juices promoted significant decrease of lipid peroxides in healthy subjects.
Grapes are rich in polyphenols with biologically active properties. Although the bioactive potential of grape constituents are frequently reported, the effects of Brazilian Vitis labrusca L. grape juices ingestion have not been demonstrated in humans. This study identified the phenolic and elemental composition of red and white grape juices and the effect of organic and conventional red grape juice consumption on lipid peroxidation in healthy individuals. Concentrations of anthocyanins, flavanols and phenolic acids and the in vitro antioxidant activity were significantly higher in the organic juice. The macro-elements K, Ca, Na and Mg were the most abundant minerals in all juices. The acute consumption of red grape juices promoted significant decrease of lipid peroxides in serum and TBARS levels in plasma. It is concluded that red V. labrusca L. grape juices produced in Southern Brazil showed lipid peroxidation inhibition abilities in healthy subjects, regardless of the cultivation system.
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•Changes in grape polyphenols and minerals during digestion were studied.•Grape peel, pulp and seeds were characterized by flavanols and phenolic acids.•The antioxidant capacity of ...grape constituents did not decrease after digestion.•Quercetin and anthocyanins diglucosides were the most bioaccessible phenolics.•The digestion of grape peels resulted in higher bioaccessibility of minerals.
The composition and bioaccessibility of grape polyphenols and minerals is influenced by grape variety and matrix. Grape constituents may be determinant for the absorption of bioactives and are crucial for exploring grape by-products as functional food ingredients. In this study, the peel, pulp, and seeds of Vitis labrusca L. grapes were characterized by LC-DAD and ICP OES and changes in polyphenols, macro- and microelements were monitored using simulated human digestion. The pulp and seeds were characterized by flavanols, and the peels were high in phenolic acids. After the digestion, the highest bioaccessibility was found for quercetin (85%), while anthocyanins diglucosides were more bioaccessible in the gastric phase (153% and 113% for malvidin and cyanidin, respectively). The digestion of grape peels resulted in higher bioaccessibility of most minerals, suggesting the nutritional value of this constituent. These changes provide a step further towards applications and bioactive relevance of the grape parts.
Arsenic (As) represents an environmental risk and phytoremediation has been identified as a good technique to recover contaminated soils. Plants defense mechanisms needed to be enhanced against As ...stress-promoting action by biostimulants such as humic materials. This work sought to determine the effectiveness of an alkaline vermicompost extract (AEV) and in mitigating stresses promoted by As in maize plants, increasing their potential use for phytoextraction. The AEV were extracted from vermicompost and two preliminary assays in Leonard pots were carried out: the first one to define the best AEV concentration–response dose and the second to point out the toxic As concentration. The second step was to set up a 28-day long experiment with the following four treatments: control, AEV, As, As + AEV. AEV attenuated As-induced stress in maize plants. Maize dry biomass was reduced in the As treatment and rebalanced to values similar to the control in the As + HS treatment while the plants treated only with HS showed the highest biomass among the treatments. The concentrations of P, Fe, Cu, Mn and Ni, and catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) antioxidant activity increased in the As treatment and decreased in the As + AEV treatment. The rate of photosynthesis decreased, and the internal CO
2
concentration increased with stress induced by As, where both effects were attenuated by AEV. Our results show the positive effect of the AEV in alleviating As abiotic stress on maize growth, offering new options of employment of humic substances in phytoremediation process.
•ICP-MS was employed to quantify minerals and bioaccessible fractions in S.ambigua.•S. ambigua contributes in terms of mineral content to the RDA for adults.•Minerals bioacessible in S. ambigua was ...assessed by an in vitro gastrointestina.•The mineral present in S. ambigua at higher concentration was K, followed by Mg and Ca.
This study evaluates the nutritional potential of Sarcocornia ambigua as new a source of minerals. The mineral concentrations of two different growing populations (natural occurrence and irrigated) of S. ambigua were evaluated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In all samples, the mineral present in highest amounts was potassium (K) (19–24μgg−1), followed by magnesium (Mg) (8.6–14μgg−1) and then calcium (Ca) (2.6–4.0μgg−1). In addition, in vitro bioacessibility assay demonstrated that very high fraction (65–80%) of these K and Mg (80 and 65%) of total concentration of these elements is bioacessible from S. ambigua analyzed. The trace elements vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu) and lithium (Li) have more than above 50% of total concentration was found bioaccessible. In all cases, mass balance was verified by carrying out the total digestion of the remaining residue and the relationship between total concentration and bioaccessibility. The data related to the concentrations and the bioaccessible fractions of the minerals provide a starting point for more complex and in-depth evaluations from the nutritional point of view, including the establishment of a recommended daily dietary intake for this plant.
Dengue virulence and fitness are important factors that determine disease outcome. However, dengue virus (DENV) molecular biology and pathogenesis are not completely elucidated. New insights on those ...mechanisms have been facilitated by the development of reverse genetic systems in the past decades. Unfortunately, instability of flavivirus genomes cloned in Escherichia coli has been a major problem in these systems. Here, we describe the development of a complete reverse genetics system, based on the construction of an infectious clone and replicon for a low passage DENV-3 genotype III of a clinical isolate. Both constructs were assembled into a newly designed yeast-E. coli shuttle vector by homologous recombination technique and propagated in yeast to prevent any possible genome instability in E. coli. RNA transcripts derived from the infectious clone are infectious upon transfection into BHK-21 cells even after repeated passages of the plasmid in yeast. Transcript-derived DENV-3 exhibited growth kinetics, focus formation size comparable to original DENV-3 in mosquito C6/36 cell culture. In vitro characterisation of DENV-3 replicon confirmed its identity and ability to replicate transiently in BHK-21 cells. The reverse genetics system reported here is a valuable tool that will facilitate further molecular studies in DENV replication, virus attenuation and pathogenesis.
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Biflorin (6,9-dimethyl-3-(4-methylpent-3-en-1-yl) benzodechromene-7,8-dione) is a promising substance that has been increasingly studied in the past decades due to its diverse ...pharmacological properties (i.e. antitumor, antioxidant, antiinflamatory, antimicrobial activity etc.). Aiming the comprehension of its antitumoral activity we investigated the cell proliferation and cytotoxicity habilities of biflorin against mice splenocytes Balb/c. Biflorin was able to stimulate mice splenocytes Balb/c in 48h of incubation at a concentration of 20.2μM. Its immunostimulation promoted the production of cytokines such as: TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-17, inducing the immune profile toward a Th1 response. Moreover, an original method which led to an excellent yield with less processing time compared to the methods described in the literature was developed to obtain biflorin, from sawdust of Capraria biflora L., Scrophulariaceae. This method shows a great potential of increasing the production of this pharmacological active compound.
This work describes the optimization and development of a straightforward method for the determination of sulfur in animal food by inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) ...after sample preparation with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The domain of the factors, including the concentration of TMAH, time, and temperature, was optimized using a central composite design. The optimized condition was obtained at 80 °C, 13.5% (w/w) TMAH and 130 min for a sample mass of 200 mg. The analytical calibration using matrix matching standards was necessary. The limit of detection of the method was 0.02 mg g
−1
, and the accuracy was accessed by comparing the results of the analysis of a certified reference material and four pet food samples using the proposed method and microwave-assisted digestion in addition to recovery tests. The results demonstrated that both methods are in agreement using a paired sample t-test at the 95% confidence level. The recovery values ranged from 99 to 117%. Sixteen animal food samples were analyzed, and the concentration of sulfur ranged from 0.40 to 4.88 mg g
−1
while the total protein content ranged from 174.1 to 324.8 mg g
−1
.
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