Influence of pulp on the microbial diversity during cupuassu fermentation.

Cupuassu (Theobroma grandiflorum Schum) is a fruit belonging to the same genus as cocoa and, through seed fermentation, a chocolate-like product called "the cupulate" is obtained. The pulp is removed from the seeds before fermentation because its abundance hinders the process. Unlike cocoa, little is known about the microbial diversity involved in cupuassu fermentation. The goal of this study was to explore the use of next-generation sequencing to identify the yeasts and bacteria communities involved in cupuassu seed fermentation on three different pulp concentrations (0, 7.5, and 15%) as well as two turning schemes on the microbial growth. In order to do that, a massive sequencing of the 16S and ITS4 rRNA region (S) using the Illumina MiSeq Platform identified some genera of bacteria and yeasts, respectively, in the fermentation environment. Taxonomic analyses of both communities, especially at the genus level, revealed a predominance of yeasts such as Pichia and Hanseniaspora, and bacteria such as Acetobacter and Lactobacillus. A predominance of bacteria over yeasts diversity was observed in the experiments with higher pulp concentrations (15%). The physicochemical analysis showed that fermentation of samples with 15% pulp exhibited longer fermentation times, the highest temperatures, and elevated production of organic acids such as acetic acid, a precursor of flavor. In addition, the turning applied every 24 h to the mass slightly favored the formation of flavor precursors. It seems that the abundance and composition of cupuassu pulp, rich in organic compounds, can influence the diversity of some populations of yeasts. Some of those compounds identified in previous studies are terpenes with antimicrobial activity. More studies will be necessary to confirm if the presence of terpenes compounds in the cupuassu pulp exert some inhibitory action on microorganism diversity.

Evaluation of extra virgin olive oil stability by artificial neural network.

The stability of extra virgin olive oil in polyethylene terephthalate bottles and tinplate cans stored for 6 months under dark and light conditions was evaluated. The following analyses were carried out: free fatty acids, peroxide value, specific extinction at 232 and 270 nm, chlorophyll, L(∗)C(∗)h color, total phenolic compounds, tocopherols and squalene. The physicochemical changes were evaluated by artificial neural network (ANN) modeling with respect to light exposure conditions and packaging material. The optimized ANN structure consists of 11 input neurons, 18 hidden neurons and 5 output neurons using hyperbolic tangent and softmax activation functions in hidden and output layers, respectively. The five output neurons correspond to five possible classifications according to packaging material (PET amber, PET transparent and tinplate can) and light exposure (dark and light storage). The predicted physicochemical changes agreed very well with the experimental data showing high classification accuracy for test (>90%) and training set (>85). Sensitivity analysis showed that free fatty acid content, peroxide value, L(∗)Cab(∗)hab(∗) color parameters, tocopherol and chlorophyll contents were the physicochemical attributes with the most discriminative power.

[Masticatory performance in adults related to temporomandibular disorder and dental occlusion]. / Desempenho mastigatório em adultos relacionado com a desordem temporomandibular e com a oclusão.

BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular disorder and mastication. AIM: To compare subjects who present temporomandibular disorders to a control group considering mastication and to analyze the related variables. METHOD: 20 subjects with temporomandibular disorder (TMD group) and 10 controls--selection based on clinical examination and anamnesis--responded to a questionnaire on the self-perception of pain severity and presence of noise in the temporomandibular joints, muscle pain, otologic symptoms, headaches, and jaw opening difficulties. The subjects were also submitted to a clinical examination regarding the number of teeth and functional occlusion--measurements of jaw opening and jaw lateral excursions, occlusal interferences, occlusal contacts of the working and non-working-side, and mastication evaluation. Mastication was evaluated in terms of time needed to eat a stuffed cookie, number of chewing strokes and type (unilateral or bilateral). The maximum force needed at first to break the cookie, verified with a TA-XT2 Texture Analyzer (Stable Micro Systems), was of 4341.8 g. The groups were compared using variance analysis and the correlations between variables were calculated using the Pearson product-moment test. RESULTS: Most of the control subjects presented bilateral pattern of mastication, whereas the TMD group tended to present the unilateral pattern. Masticatory type scores and laterality measurements were significantly higher in the control group. The TMD group presented higher means in terms of: age, time of chewing, number of chewing strokes and TMD severity. Chewing time and type were positively correlated with TMD severity and negatively correlated with number of occlusal interferences. CONCLUSION: In the TMD group, chewing differed from the normal physiological standard. The number of occlusal interferences and the severity of TMD were variables correlated to chewing.

Desempenho mastigatório em adultos relacionado com a desordem temporomandibular e com a oclusão / Masticatory performance in adults related to temporomandibular disorder and dental occlusion

TEMA: desordem temporomandibular e mastigação. OBJETIVO: comparar sujeitos com desordem temporomandibular a um grupo controle quanto à mastigação e analisar as variáveis relacionadas. MÉTODO: 20 sujeitos com desordem temporomandibular (grupo com DTM) e 10 do grupo controle, ambos selecionados de acordo com o exame clínico e anamnese, responderam sobre a sua auto-percepção de severidade de dor e sons nas articulações temporomandibulares, dor nos músculos, sintomas otológicos, cefaléia e dificuldade para abrir a boca. Foram também submetidos ao exame clínico, considerando o número de elementos dentários presentes e a análise funcional da oclusão - medidas de abertura bucal, excursão lateral da mandíbula, interferências oclusais e contatos oclusais do lado de trabalho e balanceio. A mastigação foi avaliada quanto ao tempo para ingerir, ao número de golpes mastigatórios e ao tipo mastigatório (unilateral ou bilateral), usando um biscoito recheado, cuja força máxima para quebrá-lo no primeiro momento foi de 4341,8g, como verificado com o auxílio do Texture Analyser TA-XT2 (Stable Micro Systems). Os grupos foram comparados por análise de variância e as correlações entre as variáveis foram calculadas pelo teste produto-momento de Pearson. RESULTADOS: a maioria dos sujeitos do grupo controle apresentou tipo mastigatório bilateral, enquanto que no grupo com DTM houve tendência ao tipo mastigatório unilateral. No grupo controle foram estatisticamente maiores os escores do tipo mastigatório e as medidas de lateralidade. No grupo com DTM foram maiores as médias de idade, o tempo de mastigação, o número de golpes mastigatórios e a severidade da DTM. O tempo e o tipo mastigatório foram correlacionados, respectivamente de modo positivo e negativo, à severidade da DTM e ao número de interferências oclusais. CONCLUSÃO: no grupo com DTM a mastigação diferiu do padrão fisiológico normal. O número de interferências oclusais e a severidade da DTM foram as...

BACKGROND: temporomandibular disorder and mastication. AIM: to compare subjects who present temporomandibular disorders to a control group considering mastication and to analyze the related variables. METHOD: 20 subjects with temporomandibular disorder (TMD group) and 10 controls - selection based on clinical examination and anamnesis - responded to a questionnaire on the self-perception of pain severity and presence of noise in the temporomandibular joints, muscle pain, otologic symptoms, headaches, and jaw opening difficulties. The subjects were also submitted to a clinical examination regarding the number of teeth and functional occlusion - measurements of jaw opening and jaw lateral excursions, occlusal interferences, occlusal contacts of the working and non-working-side, and mastication evaluation. Mastication was evaluated in terms of time needed to eat a stuffed cookie, number of chewing strokes and type (unilateral or bilateral). The maximum force needed at first to break the cookie, verified with a TA-XT2 Texture Analyzer (Stable Micro Systems), was of 4341.8 g. The groups were compared using variance analysis and the correlations between variables were calculated using the Pearson product-moment test. RESULTS: most of the control subjects presented bilateral pattern of mastication, whereas the TMD group tended to present the unilateral pattern. Masticatory type scores and laterality measurements were significantly higher in the control group. The TMD group presented higher means in terms of: age, time of chewing, number of chewing strokes and TMD severity. Chewing time and type were positively correlated with TMD severity and negatively correlated with number of occlusal interferences. CONCLUSION: in the TMD group, chewing differed from the normal physiological standard. The number of occlusal interferences and the severity of TMD were variables correlated to chewing.