Suchergebnisse

Bananas are the world's most popular fruit. Nonetheless, a great part of the production is lost, mainly for insect and disease incidences. Thus, cover developing banana bunches is a promising physical protection method that will improve the visual quality of the fruits, especially the rapidly growing consumer demand for healthy fruits. In fact, bags serve as protective barrier, allowing the production of free fruit damage; consequently, lowering production costs by cutting crop losses, as well as avoiding chemical materials. There is a wide variety of bag types and colours, but also, there is a scarce literature on their efficiency. This study hence aimed to evaluate the influence of coloured polyethylene bags on yield, seasonality and plant health of the 'BRS Conquista' bananas in subtropical high-altitude growing conditions. Treatments therefore consisted of using white, black, red and blue polyethylene bags, besides control (uncovered). Then, bags were randomly distributed in five blocks, four plants per plot. After bunch harvest, the following evaluation were proceeded: agronomic yield, the interval between bunches cover and harvest, injuries caused by thrips and the incidence of anthracnose. Results indicated that banana bunch coverings did not interfere in bunch yield. Nevertheless, white and black bags reduced the interval between bunch covers and harvest, that is, 114 and 115 days, respectively. Furthermore, white and red bags reduced the damage caused by thrips in fruits; while white, red and blue bags decreased the anthracnose incidence. This study therefore recommends the use of white polyethylene bags to cover banana bunches of the cultivar BRS Conquista, since this bag colour showed highly efficiency in controlling thrips and anthracnose incidence, besides reducing the interval between bunch cover and harvest.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of re-ensiling on the fermentability coefficient (FC), chemical composition and fermentation profile of untreated whole-crop sorghum silage after prolonged periods of environmental exposure. Treatments comprised eight times of exposure to the environment (0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h) and two procedures for conservation (conventional and re-ensiling) in a completely randomized design with two factors and three replicates. Experimental silos made of 12-L plastic buckets were used in trials. Silage nutritive value, fermentation profile, and dry mass (DM) losses were analyzed before and 90 days after re-ensiling. Regression analyses were performed, and ANOVA was used to compare means. The FC was higher than 45 even when the silage was exposed to air for 120 h before re-ensiling (59.2±2.54). Regression equations were fitted to the data with low accuracy (R2 < 0.47). Moreover, we observed that the main effect occurred between before and after re-ensiling, decreasing the contents of DM (42 to 37 %) and water-soluble carbohydrates (7.0 to 5.8 % DM), neutral detergent fiber (60.4 to 55.4 % DM), and acid detergent fiber (49.5 to 33.5 % DM), but increasing those of lactic acid (0.52 to 0.96 % DM) and ammoniacal nitrogen (1.58 to 2.51 % total N). The DM losses were linear with increasing times of air exposure; however, silage nutritive value and fermentation profile showed no disturbing changes for silage conservation and animal feeding.

The growth in demand for gluten-free products linked mainly to health aspects has led to an increased interest in the production of mixed flours for use in bakery products. This work aimed to evaluate the use of different mixtures of cassava starch with banana flour, obtained from the pulp and peel of green fruits, for the production of gluten-free biscuits. In the preparation of the biscuits, seven mixtures were prepared with varying percentages of cassava starch, banana pulp flour and banana peel flour. A formulation with wheat flour was used as a control. Wheat flour, cassava starch and banana flours were analyzed for chemical composition. The results showed that the banana peel flour stood out for its higher levels of proteins, fibres, lipids, ash, total phenols, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity which make this flour effective as a functional additive. However, the results of physical and sensory characteristics of the biscuits showed that the variation in the percentage of banana peel flour led to greater changes in the quality attributes of the biscuits, so the percentage of inclusion should be limited. Banana pulp flour (UBF) had high starch content, however, the biscuits produced with higher percentages of this flour and lower percentages of cassava starch showed lower propagation rates, greater hardness and less sensory acceptance, showing the importance of the starchy raw material in the physical properties of biscuits. Formulations containing cassava starch mixed with up to 15% banana flour (1:1, pulp and peel) are a good basis for making gluten-free biscuits.

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted many social spheres and demanded immediate transformations in society. Organizations needed to reinvent themselves quickly in several aspects, such as their internal practices, as well as in the way of relating to their various publics. This evidenced the interdependence between business organizations and society, requiring them to act for collective interests. In view of this, it is observed that these organizations are assuming a public character, being important to think about how they get involved with society and what are the impacts for social, political, cultural and economic realities. For this, organizational communication has an important role because it is able to act in the public sphere with regard to the promotion of debates that can impact collective attitudes, considering that organizations occupy a strategic position to direct issues that influence social behavior. As a communicative phenomenon, they disseminate ideas, values, and information that influences society, mainly because of their centrality in the daily lives of individuals. So, facing the pandemic scenario, there are numerous corporate actions that aim to serve the public interest, such as the initiative "Todos pela Saúde" (All for Health), an alliance between several organizations. This initiative was chosen as the object of study for contributing to the objective of this paper: analyzes the public role of organizational communication by assuming that communication strategies can generate an impact on public interests in face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The movement aims to mitigate the effects caused by the virus by supporting public health actions promoted by SUS ("Sistema Único de Saúde"- Health Unic System), contributing with solutions and financial support to the public authorities. The "Todos pela Saúde" is coordinated by a group of specialists from the health area that guide the decisions to be made to face the virus with scientific basis. Therefore, as a methodological procedure was adopted three ways: a bibliographic research aiming to investigate about the role of the communications from private organizations in the pandemic context; a documentary research of the "All for Health" medias; and the media discourse analysis (Charaudeau, 2005; 2006) and the dialogic aspects (Bakhtin, 2002; 2003) from the material released by the Initiative. As part of the results, it is observed that the strategies used, at least from the point of view of organizational communication, were innovative in producing something new in their narratives, because the organizations adopted a unison speech in favor of fighting the virus without political or commercial interest. Another highlight is the language strategies used, which seek to value the public in the enunciative act. The consequence is an unusual gender in organizational communication, the educative one. Undoubtedly, it is not possible to ignore the marketing objectives from this Initiative. However, it is important to understand organizational communication as a phenomenon of collective construction and reconstruction that influences the individuals, as well as guide the formation of society. This study provides significant reflections about the public impact of organizational communication for the collective interest, especially regarding the current Covid-19 pandemic.

The integrated crop-livestock system is highlighted in Brazilian agriculture, in which the synergism between the components can increase productivity and animal performance. Forage is one of the most important components because it is the basis of animal feed. Thus, the objective of the study was to evaluate the beef cattle production and pastures characteristics of Urochloa brizantha 'BRS Piatã' and 'BRS Paiaguás', under continuous grazing in an integrated crop livestock system. The experiment was conducted in west of Sao Paulo State, in a randomized complete block design with two treatments and three replicates, from October 2018 to June 2019. The treatments were 3-year-old pastures of BRS Piatã and Paiaguás, in an integrated crop livestock system with perennial pasture and soybean. Nellore steers (14 ± 2 months old and 244 ± 13 kg initial weight) were used. The grazing method adopted was a continuous stocking with a variable rate to maintain a pasture height of 30 cm. Herbage mass was 5716 and 5480 kg dry matter ha-1 for Piatã and Paiaguás, respectively. The crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were similar between the two cultivars. The leaf blade mass of BRS Piatã was greater than that of BRS Paiaguás in summer. Animal performance was similar between treatments, with average daily gain of 0.901 and 0.822 kg day-1 and weight gain per area of 888 and 865 kg ha-1 in Piatã and Paiaguás, respectively. The BRS Piatã and BRS Paiaguás grasses are indicated for use in perennial pastures in integrated crop livestock systems.

Effects of soil attributes using the geostatistical tool improves the interpretation of specific soil management. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the physical, chemical, and microbiological properties of a Typical Haplustox (Oxisol), identifying those with the best linear and spatial correlation with eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) vegetative growth. The experiment was conducted at the Teaching, Research, and Extension Farm (FEPE) of the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus of Ilha Solteira. Thirty-five points spaced 13 meters apart were demarcated for analysis, which were distributed in 5 rows of 7 points each. From each point, 2 soil samples were collected from the 0-10 cm depth layer. The physical, chemical, and microbiological soil properties evaluated were: sand, silt, and clay contents; penetration resistance (PR), gravimetric moisture (GM), real density (RD), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), respirometry (CO2-C), metabolic quotient (qCO2), organic matter content (OM), and hydrogenionic potential (pH). The eucalyptus attributes assessed were: plant height (PH) and circumference at breast height (CBH). Each attribute was analyzed by descriptive statistics using the SAS software. Data frequency distribution was verified by the Shapiro Wilk method, and geospatial changes were analyzed by the GS+ software. The soil property that best explained the variability in eucalyptus dendrometric attributes was real density (RD). Except for RD, all properties did not show spatial dependence (i.e., pure nugget effect), which significantly represents eucalyptus vegetative performance.

Figs consumption date back to the beginnings of civilization. Currently, consumers have become more demanding about quality of fruits, and figs are then highly indicated, since it is rich in nutrients, making them a great addition to a healthy diet. Although there is only one commercial fig cultivar that is commonly grown in Brazil, different cultivars should be considered for the diversification of fig production with regards to their yield and fruit quality. This research aimed at evaluating growth, yield, physicochemical characteristics and bioactive compounds of figs grown in Brazil. Then, four cultivars (Roxo de Valinhos, White Genova, PI-189 and Troyano) were studied to determine canopy volume, productive efficiency, soluble solids - SS, pH, titratable acidity - TA, SS/TA ratio, sugars, ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, pigments and antioxidant activity. The cv. White Genova presented the highest canopy volume, while 'Roxo de Valinhos', 'PI-189' and 'Troyano' performed the greatest productive efficiency. The cvs. Roxo de Valinhos, White Genova and Troyano produced fruits with higher content of SS, reducing sugars and SS/TA ratio, while the fruits of 'PI-189' and 'Roxo de Valinhos' contained the highest levels of antioxidant activity. PCA enabled to differentiate the studied cultivars, which evidenced that PI-189 was the most different of all.