Enzymatic determination of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber in rice and wheat bran

The information about dietary fiber presents controversies in many research areas such as in nomenclature, related illnesses, recommended quantities and terminology, mainly because of lack of analytical data. Different needs and interests for the dietary fiber composition of foods and forages have led to a proliferation of methods for its analysis. This research, a further adaptation of the enzymatic method of Asp et al. (1983) for its appplication is proposed for rice and wheat bran, byproducts of agroindustries in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). The inclusion of Amyloglucosidase in the proposed methodology contributed to the decrease in the content of residual starch at the end of the experiment, like Prosky et al (1992). To increase the efficiency of the enzyme system inthis type of samples, other changes were made with respect to incubation time and proteolytic enzyme concentration. In the final adaptation, a decrease of 51.33 per cent of the starch content was observed in rice bran (RB) and of 52.93 per cent in wheat bran (WB). This decrease was also verified in the model system (MS) (52.08 per cent), which demonstrates the adequacy of the proposed adaptation. With respect to the residual protein, it was verified that the measures adopted provoked a reduction of 42.15 per cent (RB), 52.19 per cent (WB) and 42.11 per cent (MS) as compared to the original method. Then the proposed conditions has been shown to be efficient in decreasing the level of interference (indigestible starch and protein) in the quantification of dietary fiber in rice and wheat bran.

Efeito protetor da depelecao de enzimas pancreaticas na evolucao da pancreatite aguda: estudo experimental em ratos / Protective effect of the reduction of pancreatic enzymes in the acute pancreatitis evolution: experimental study in rats

A reducao da concentracao de enzimas no parenquima pancreatico pode reduzir a gravidade da pancreatite aguda. Para testar esta possibilidade foram estudados 116 ratos da raca Wistar distribuidos em 4 grupos: Grupo I - ratos em jejum que recebiam doses supramaximas de ceruleina (8µg/Kg). Grupo II - ratos controles em jejum. Grupo III - ratos com alimentacao normal que recebiam doses fisiologicas de ceruleina (0,4 µg/Kg). Grupo IV - ratos controles com alimentacao normal. Observou-se reducao de 60 por cento do conteudo enzimatico do pancreas nos ratos do grupo I e tambem de 60 por cento nos ratos do grupo III, porem observou-se elevacao de catepsina B no grupo I. A mortalidade, apos inducao de pancreatite aguda pela injecao intraductal de acido taurocolico, foi de 60 por cento no grupo I, 56 por cento no grupo II, 23 por cento no grupo III e 34 por cento no grupo IV. Estes resultados sugerem que a gravidade da pancreatite aguda depende de um lado do conteudo de enzimas do pancreas e de outro da ativacao de catepsina.