Natural Products Journal, The - Volume 2, Issue 2, 2012

Methods are proposed for analyzing acai. They start with gravimetric methods for total lipids and insoluble solids, 1H-NMR to determine the relative distribution of the types of lipids, CPMAS 13C-NMR to analyze insoluble solids, and ICP-AES to measure the amounts of total Ca, Mg, K and P. The ratio of K to Ca can be used to distinguish between acai products and grape juice. These methods were used to analyze samples. The to Read More

The lipids in three samples of Brazilian acai and 14 samples obtained in the USA that were labeled as containing acai were analyzed by 1H and 13C-NMR. All the Brazilian samples and eleven of the USA samples were found to contain triacylglycerols containing oleoyl and vaccenyl (18:1), linoleoyl (18:2), linolenoyl (18:3) and saturated fatty acyl groups. Oxidation products that are cyto- and genotoxic were detected by 1H-NMR in m Read More

Brazilian and Floridian acai were found to contain 24% insoluble solids. They were dark brown and were not soluble in hexane, methanol or water. When 6 N HCl was added to the insoluble solids, they turned red, as do anthocyanins. The solids were analyzed by CP-MAS 13C-NMR. Phenolic C-O, aromatic, glycosidic and aliphatic carbons were detected. About 27% of the solids were hydrolyzed and solubilized by refluxing in conc H Read More

Lyophilized Brazilian and Floridian acai samples were analyzed for their oxygen radical absorbance capacities (ORAC values) and concentrations of the two anthocyanins that are known to exist in acai. The ORAC values were statistically the same: 750±120 and 730±130 Trolox equivalents per g (TE/g) for Floridian and Brazilian acai, respectively. However, Brazilian acai had more cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (Cy-glu) and cyanidin-3-O-r Read More

Flour prepared from the peels of passion fruit (Passiflora edulis fo. flavicarpa O. Deg.) has been shown to have several health benefits. It has been shown to increase the concentration of high density lipoproteins (HDL) in blood, reduce the concentrations of glucose, cholesterol and LDL, as well as lower blood pressures and body weights in diabetic rats and people. Passion fruit peels are fed to cattle and there have been reports Read More

Diabetic and normal rats were fed rodent feed and drank passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) that was sweetened with sucrose, or saccharin plus cyclamate. During the 21 days of feeding, the blood glucose and body weight increased to dangerous levels only in the diabetic rats that drank passion fruit sweetened with sucrose.

Leaves from the insulin plant (Cissus sicyoides) were analyzed and found to have 89.08±1.87% water, 1.85±0.05% protein and 0.83±0.02% lipid. The lipid fraction has a high percentage of linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid. The fatty acid composition was 35.1% linolenic, 16.0% linoleic, 5.2% oleic, 26.3% palmitic, 7.7% stearic acids and 3.4% unidentified fatty acids. The quantity of ash was of 1.35±0.04%. By difference, t Read More

Chromium, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, selenium, mercury and lead have been determined in red yeast rice samples by ICP-MS and a Hydra-C mercury analyzer. Less than 0.010 μg/g mercury was found in all but one sample, which had 0.011 μg/g. The amounts of chromium, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, selenium, cadmium and lead varied from 0.05–0.83 (Cr), 0.05–0.35 (As), 0.004–0.139 (Cd), 0.13–2.05 (Ni), 0.028–0.222 Read More

The use of biomass has become a concern world-wide, especially in Brazil, a country rich in diversity and quantity of food. However, thousands of Brazilians are still hungry, while much of the biomass is wasted. This is especially true in subsistence cultures. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an excellent example. During the harvest all its shoots are left in the field. The leaves of this plant contain important nutrients that can b Read More

In spite of its therapeutic uses and the literature that shows the effects of the use of extracts or infusions of different parts of Syzygium cumini, L. Skeels in the prevention, treatment or cure of certain chronic-degenerative diseases non transmissible as well as in the destruction of microorganisms and treatment of allergies or infections, little experimental work has been done to demonstrate the organic and minera Read More

The study aimed to verify the chemical composition of jambolao fruits collected from three cities in the southern state of Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul). Jambolao fruits collected from Santa Vitoria do Palmar, Pelotas and Capao do Leao were found to have about 82% water, 0.4% ash, 0.8% protein, 0.4% fiber, 25% reducing sugars, 51% total sugars, 0.6% pectin, 0.14-0.44 mg.100g-1 total tocopherols, 0.3-0.7 mg/100g total carotenoi Read More

To define the procedure for efficient extraction of polyphenols and to evaluate the antioxidant potential of cajaumbu fruit, four genotypes (G 2.2, G 2.3, G 3.1 and G 3.2) were used to obtain hydroacetonic, hydromethanolic and aqueous extracts. Three extraction systems were utilized and the extracts obtained were screened for their free DPPH• (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS•+ (2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6 Read More

This study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the peel flour of caja-umbu fruits. Extracts were obtained using three systems: a) sequential extraction (acetone 80%, methanol 80% and water); b) sequential extraction (water, methanol 80% and acetone 80%); c) non-sequential extraction. The extracts were submitted to the determination of total phenolic and the antioxidant assay: DPPH• and ABTS•+ radical sca Read More