Effect of the growing area on the fat content and the fatty acid composition of Ecuadorian cocoa beans.

Cocoa presents a high fat content and a unique fatty acid profile defining its technological and nutritional properties. This study evaluated the fat content and fatty acid composition of Nacional cocoas, a worldwide recognised "fine" variety, collected in 85 Ecuadorian farms while taking into account 3 geographical levels (region, province, and canton). The total fat content varied from 45.61 ± 1.27 to 52.13 ± 0.58 g/100 g DW and was higher in the provinces and cantons from the Amazonian region than in those from the Pacific Coast region. A remarkable effect of the region and the province was shown on the content of individual fatty acids of Nacional cocoa beans. Total amounts of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids also depended on the growing area. Multivariate analysis provided a comprehensive assessment of the cocoa fat composition according to the origin, which may be useful for the selection of cocoas with specific technological and nutritional characteristics.

Analysis of Environmental Conditions Effect in the Phytochemical Composition of Potato (Solanum tuberosum) Cultivars.

Crop productivity and food quality are affected by environmental conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the environment on the concentration of phytochemical components in several potato (Solanum tuberosum) cultivars. The content of vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AA), the total carotenoids content (TCC), the total polyphenols content (TPC), and the total anthocyanins content (TAC) of 11 potatoes varieties grown in Ecuador (Cutuglahua, Pujilí, and Pilahuín) was measured by the spectrophotometric method. The antioxidant capacity (AC) of potato cultivars was evaluated by the ABTS method. The AA concentration ranged between 12.67 to 39.49 mg/100g fresh weight (FW), the TCC ranged between 50.00 and 1043.50 µg/100g FW, the TPC ranged between 0.41 and 3.25 g of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/kg dry weight (DW), the TAC ranged between 2.74 and 172.53 µg/g FW and finally the AC ranged between 36.80 and 789.19 µg of trolox equivalents (TE)/g FW. Genotypes (G), location (L), and interaction (G x L) were significant at p < 0.01. The genotype (G) showed a greater variation in the phytochemical contents. AA and TPC showed the highest correlation with the AC. A selection of genotypes with these characteristics can be used to develop germplasms with a high AC.

Phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity of yellow and purple-red Ecuadorian cultivars of tree tomato (Solanum betaceum Cav.).

Tree tomato fruits from the yellow giant, giant purple and New Zealand purple cultivars, cultivated in Ecuador were analysed for their phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity. Twelve hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives and four anthocyanins (in the purple cultivars) were detected and identified. The hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives mostly derived from caffeic acid, being 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid and rosmarinic acid the majority compounds. Furthermore, various rosmarinic acid glucosides, caffeoyl glucoside, feruloyl glucoside and two ferulic acid dehydrodimers were tentatively identified. The presence of rosmarinic acid is particularly relevant as it constituted a majority phenolic compound in the four studied tree tomato cultivars and it had not been reported previously in this fruit. In the purple cultivars main anthocyanins were pelargonidin 3-O-rutinoside and delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside. The New Zealand purple cultivar was by far the richest sample in both hydroxycinnamates (421.6mg/100g dry pulp) and anthocyanins (168.9mg/100g dry pulp). Antioxidant capacity, as determined by FRAP, ABTS and ORAC assays, followed the same pattern as phenolic contents, with the New Zealand purple cultivar being the one with the highest and the yellow giant cultivar with the lowest values.

Estudio comparativo de las características socio-economicas y las necesidades recreativas y ocupacionales de los ancianos de zona urbana en la ciudad de Ambato y de zona rural en la parroquia Izamba-Ambato 1993

"Todos a un decrépitos e inútiles aman la vida y la enfrentan heroticamente al vejez no comprendida. El género humano tiene un vicio, ese es la vida, sin que importe como se la de: amarga, pobre, sea como sea pero que sea, vivir nada más que vivir". (1). Nuestro trabajo de invetigación lo realizamos para conocer las características socio-económicas del anciano, mediante un estudio comparativo entre zona rural y zona urbana. Destacamos los factores importantes que están determinando la vida de los ancianos tales como los aspectos socio-económicos, costumbres, tradiciones en el contexto familiar e en cualquier lugar en donde se encuentren los ancianos. Para el estudio hemos tomado una muestra de 80 ancianos de los cuales cuarenta corresponden a la zona urbana, seleccionando veinte personas de la tercera edad en el servicio de geriatria del hospital provincial docente Ambato y veinte en el asilo de ancianos "Corazón de Jesús" y los cuarenta en la parroquia Rural de Izamba, este grupo esta constituído por personas de ambos sexos y en la edad comprendida entre los senta y los ochenta y cinco años. Utilizando los métodos descriptivo y analítico a través de la observación directa ya que son los que nos permitieron recoger los datos comparativos por medio de la historia clínica y la aplicación en una encuesta. Al finalizar los resultados de dicha encuesta pudimos sacar como conclusiones más importantes que: (sigue abstrac)