Search

In 2006, a total of 178 cases of acute Chagas disease were reported from the Amazonian state of Para, Brazil. Eleven occurred in Barcarena and were confirmed by visualization of parasites on blood smears. Using cohort and case-control studies, we implicated oral transmission by consumption of acai palm fruit.

This work aimed to study the effect of the combination of four commercial enzymatic preparations (Celluclast 1.5 L, Viscozyme L, Ultrazym AFP, and Shearzyme 500 L) on the aqueous extraction yield of the oil from the pulp of Euterpe oleracea fruit. The enzymatic preparations were tested individually and in combinations of two, three and four, in triplicate. The negative control presented the lowest extraction yield (34.91%). The tests performed with the isolated enzymatic preparations presented an average increase in the extraction yield of approximately 30% compared to the negative control, confirming the important role of the enzymes in the extraction process. The tests performed with the combination of more than two enzymatic preparations increased the extraction yield by approximately 90% compared to the negative control, demonstrating the advantage of using combinations of enzymes. Among the different tests, those performed with the combination of three enzymatic preparations, including the cellulase class-type enzyme, Celluclast 1.5 L, stood out by presenting a high extraction yield (> 65%) and being statistically equal to the one using all four, which is interesting for the industry due to the reduced cost of the process.