Behavior of Salmonella during fermentation, drying and storage of cocoa beans.

Due to cocoa being considered a possible source of Salmonella contamination in chocolate, the behavior of Salmonella during some cocoa pre-processing stages (fermentation, drying and storage) was investigated. The fermentation process was carried out on a pilot scale (2 kg beans/box) for 7 days. Every day a fermentation box was inoculated with a Salmonella pool (ca. 4 log MPN/g). The results showed that Salmonella did not affect (P>0.05) the growth of the main microorganism groups involved in cocoa fermentation. On the other hand, the pathogen was influenced (P<0.05) by yeast, acetic acid bacteria and pH. In spite of Salmonella showing counts ≤ 1 log MPN/g in the first days, at the end of fermentation it grew in all samples, reaching counts as high as 7.49 log MPN/g. For drying and storage, cocoa beans were inoculated during the fermentation (experiment A) or during the drying (experiment B). In these stages the decline of the water activity affected the pathogen behavior. In experiment A during the drying, Salmonella count increased in most of the samples. In experiment B either a slight growth or no growth in the samples inoculated up to 48 h was observed, whereas the other samples showed reductions from the initial count. After 30 days of storage at room temperature, the water activity decreased to 0.68, and reductions of Salmonella ranged from 0.93 to 2.52 log MPN/g. Despite the reductions observed during the storage, the pathogen was detected even after 120 days. Therefore, the results showed that Salmonella growth or survival depends on when the contamination occurs.

Production of quince nursery trees by different grafting methods / Produção de mudas de marmeleiro por diferentes métodos de enxertia

Cutting propagation was the system to produce quince nursery trees (Cydonia oblonga). Experiments have been carried out in order to identify news propagations methods. As a result of this research, the 'Japonês' quince (Chaenomeles sinensis) was selected with rootstock, due to its good plant vigor for grafting, rusticity, and adequate performance in the field, mainly in the first years after planting. However, the best grafting period and grafting method must be determined for this rootstock. This research evaluated three grafting methods and five quince scion cultivars on 'Japonês' rootstock. The quince cultivars 'Provence', 'Mendoza Inta-37', 'Portugal', 'Smyrna', and 'Japonês' were grafted by winter cleft grafting, winter budding, and summer budding on 90cm long plants of 'Japonês' quince rootstock seedlings, cultivated in 3-liter plastic bags. Plant growth evaluations started as early as 60 days, and were concluded 150 days after grafting. Cleft grafting resulted in the highest graft survival rate for 'Smyrna', 'Mendoza Inta-37' and 'Japonês' cultivars. Although the higher graft survival rate was recorded in the winter, the buds grafted in the summer had better development.

Propagação por estaquia foi o sistema adotado no passado para produzir mudas de marmelo (Cydonia oblonga). Atualmente, pesquisas têm sido desenvolvidas para identificar novos métodos de propagação. A partir dos resultados dessas pesquisas, neste trabalho, o marmelo Japonês (Chaenomeles sinensis) foi selecionado como porta-enxerto, pelo seu bom vigor, pela sua rusticidade e pelo seu desempenho adequado no campo, principalmente nos primeiros anos depois do plantio. Porém, devem ser determinados a melhor época para a realização da enxertia e o método mais adequado quando se utiliza esse porta-enxerto. O presente trabalho avaliou três métodos de enxerto e cinco cultivares de marmelo enxertadas no porta-enxerto 'Japonês'. As cultivares de marmelo 'Provence', 'Mendoza Inta-37', 'Portugal', 'Smyrna' e 'Japonês' foram enxertadas por meio de três métodos: por garfagem em fenda cheia (julho), borbulhia de inverno (julho) e borbulhia de verão (janeiro), em mudas do porta-enxerto 'Japonês', com 90cm de comprimento e diâmetro próximo a 8mm, 15cm acima do colo da planta, mantidas em sacos plásticos com capacidade de 3L. As avaliações de crescimento tiveram incício aos 60 dias e foram concluídas 150 dias depois da enxertia. A enxertia realizada pelo processo de garfagem favorece a maior porcentagem de enxertos brotados, chegando próximo a 100 por cento de sucesso para 'Smyrna', 'Mendoza Inta-37' e 'Japonês'. Embora a taxa de sobrevivência de enxerto mais alta tenha sido registrada na enxertia por borbulhia realizada no inverno, os enxertos realizados no verão tiveram melhor desenvolvimento.