Composição nutricional e atividade antioxidante de farinhas de castanha do baru, castanha de caju e castanha-do-brasil / Nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity of flours obtained baru nuts, cashew nuts and brazil nuts

O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar a composição centesimal e a capacidade antioxidante de farinhas das castanhas do baru, caju, e brasil. Com os resultados, pode-se observar diferença no teor de umidade, as castanhas de baru e caju apresentaram os maiores valores, 5,45±0,38% e 5,77±0,46% respectivamente. Para lipídios houve diferença entre as três amostras, 70,80±1,65% para castanha-do-brasil, 49,93±2,93% para de caju e 35,63±1,53% para o baru. Com relação a proteínas, o baru apresentou 14,57±1,70%. Foi realizada análise de aminoácidos das castanhas. A capacidade antioxidante equivalente a TROLOX (µmol/g) foi 1,718±0,10, 0,553±0,05, 0,502±0,05, para caju, castanha-do-brasil e baru respectivamente. A castanha de baru, fruto típico do cerrado, revelou-se uma ótima opção de consumo comparada a castanhas tradicionalmente consumidas.

Effect of a high-fat diet on the rat bladder wall and bioactive action of Brazil nut oil

ABSTRACT High-fat diet-induced obesity is associated with metabolic disorders. The Brazil nut has bioactive substances and has been used to control the damage caused by obesity in several organs. The work intended to show the damage caused by high-fat diet in the bladder wall and if the Brazil nut oil added to the diet could ameliorate or reverse this effect. Sixty-day-old rats were divided into two groups: C (control, n = 30) and HF (high-fat, n = 30) diets. At 90 days, 10 animals of each group were sacrificed. The others were divided into 4 groups: C and HF (animals that maintained their previous diet, n = 10 for each group) and C / Bno and HF / Bno (animals whose control or high-fat diet was supplemented by Brazil nut oil, n = 10 for each group). Sacrifice occurred at 120 days, and the bladders were removed and analyzed. Epithelial height was increased in the HF compared to the C group. In contrast, the C / Bno had a lower epithelial height compared to the others. The percentage of collagen between the detrusor muscle fibers was significantly greater in C / Bno, HF and HF / Bno than in control group. The HF had a larger muscle fiber diameter than the C group, while the C / Bno presented lower values than the HF and HF / Bno groups. HF diets induced bladder wall damage. These changes in the rat's bladder wall were partially reversed by the Bno.

Effect of vegetable oil (Brazil nut oil) and mineral oil (liquid petrolatum) on dental biofilm control

Dental biofilm control represents a basic procedure to prevent caries and the occurrence of periodontal diseases. Currently, toothbrushes and dentifrices are used almost universally, and the employment of good oral hygiene allows for appropriate biofilm removal by both mechanical and chemical control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of adding vegetable or mineral oil to a commercially available dentifrice in dental biofilm control. A comparison using the Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (OHI-S) was performed in 30 individuals who were randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 (G1) received a commercially available dentifrice; the composition of this dentifrice was modified by addition of mineral oil (Nujol®) for group 2 (G2) or a vegetable oil (Alpha Care®) for group 3 (G3) at 10 percent of the total volume, respectively. The two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (two-way ANOVA) was used to test the effect of group (G1, G2 and G3) or time (baseline, 45 days and 90 days) on the OHI-S index scores. Statistical analysis revealed a significant reduction in the OHI-S at day 90 in G2 (p < 0.05) and G3 (p < 0.0001) in comparison to G1. Therefore, the addition of a vegetable or a mineral oil to a commercially available dentifrice improved dental biofilm control, suggesting that these oils may aid in the prevention and/or control of caries and periodontal disease.