The degradation of nutraceutical properties during processing of the fruits of feijoa (Acca sellowiana), and the characterization of seed oils, and volatile compounds were evaluated. In feijoa fruit dehydrated by a standard convective air process, the total phenols and total flavonoids declined 42%, and the antioxidant capacity determined by ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP declined 26% with respect to lyophilized fruit. In feijoa jam, the reduction of total phenols and flavonoids was 52%, and the reduction in antioxidant capacity was 72%. Vitamin C in the jam was also reduced by the processing. Feijoa seeds had 69.4% unsaturated fatty acids, mainly linoleic (46.2%) and linolenic (3.7%) acids. Behenic acid was also detected in the seeds but in small amounts (0.91%). The feijoa skin had 31 volatile compounds in two orchards with different climate, one in a tropical highland and the other in a temperate zone. The extraction yield was on average 0.45%. The major compounds in the essential oil of the feijoa skin were 3-hexen-1-yl benzoate, elixene, spathulenol, D-germacrene and alpha-cadinol. In general, the concentration of volatile oils was higher in the temperate zone.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is considered a superfood due to its nutritional qualities and potential health benefits. In this work, the nutritional and nutraceutical properties were compared for white Ecuador quinoa seeds (WEQ) and red Ecuador quinoa seeds (REQ) with respect to the white Mexican quinoa seeds (WMxQ). Quinoa seeds from Peru have been introduced and adapted to the geographic and climatic conditions by the State of Morelos, Mexico, improved by mass selection in field to obtain plants with desirable phenotypic characteristics. The nutritional properties of seeds were evaluated through a proximate analysis, mineral content, amino acids profile, and fatty acid profile of quinoa oil. The nutraceutical properties were determined quantifying total phenols, total betalains and antioxidant capacity. The results evidenced that WEQ seeds had the highest protein content (16.59 g 100 g^-1 dw). The P, Ca, and Mg contents were high in WMxQ (424.6, 60.3, and 152.3 mg 100 g^-1 in dw respectively). Arginine, glutamic acid, and alanine were the most abundant amino acids in the three cultivars. In all quinoas, unsaturated fatty acids were most predominant (73.6% to 78.0%). The Mexican quinoa seeds showed the highest total phenolic content (2.9 mg gallic acid equivalent g^-1 in fw). The concentration of betalains in the REQ was 83.3 mg 100 g^-1 fw. The results demonstrate that nutritional and phenolic contents varies according to the color seeds and region. Quinoa of Mexico is high in phenolic compounds and may be used as a source of natural antioxidants.

Biodiesel is a mixture of monoalkyl esters of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. Agricultural residues are a potential source of raw materials for generating biofuels. The aim of this research was to determine the usefulness of Persea schiedeana Nees fruit as a potential source to be transformed into biodiesel by alkaline transesterification. In this sense, biodiesel was obtained using oil isolated from overripe fruits of P. schiedeana, damaged by the Heilipus lauri pest. The fruits were collected in the municipality of Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico. The maceration of the fruits with hexane resulted in an oil with a high percentage of free fatty acids (8.36 ± 1.35%). The main components of the biodiesel were methyl oleate (53.12%) and methyl palmitate (25.74%). The dynamic viscosity of the biodiesel complies with ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 and the biodiesel blends with commercial diesel comply with ASTM D675, the calorific value showed an increase with increasing biodiesel concentration in the blends. This study demonstrates that the oil obtained from the overripe and surplus fruits of P. schiedeana is a viable feedstock for the production of a fuel to replace diesel.

El objetivo del trabajo fue determinar el potencial bioquímico de metano de pollinaza en combinación con una alta concentración de propionato, empleando un consorcio microbiano previamente adaptado a elevadas cantidades de este metabolito. La pollinaza al 3 % de sólidos totales (ST) con 4895 ppm de propionato fue degradada en condiciones mesofílicas empleando microcosmos con un volumen de trabajo de 250 mL. Los resultados del rendimiento de metano acumulado indicaron un comportamiento triple sigmoidal; lo cual podría atribuirse a la diferencia en las velocidades de degradación de los componentes, tales como macromoléculas y ácidos grasos volátiles. El potencial bioquímico de metano fue de 364,52 mL CH4 gSValimentados-1.

Diseases caused by intestinal parasites such as protozoa represent a worldwide problem mainly for developing countries. From morbidity in different groups of people to cases of mortality in children and/or immunocompromised patients. In addition to the above, there is growing resistance to the drugs used in the treatment of these diseases, as well as undesirable side effects in patients. Therefore, there is an interest in the search for new alternatives for the base and/or development of new drugs with antiparasitic activities without harmful effects. In this sense, natural products offer to be a diverse source of compounds with biological activities. In this work, we describe the isolation and elucidation by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy of three cyclopeptides obtained from seeds of A. diversifolia Saff.: cherimolacyclopeptide D (1), squamin D (2), and squamin C (3). The fractions enriched in cyclopeptides, as well as a pure compound (1), showed antiprotozoal activity against E. hystolitica Schaudinn and Giardia lamblia Kunstler in vitro assays, with values of IC₅₀ = 3.49 and 5.39 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The molecular docking study revealed that 1 has a strong interaction with targets used, including aldose reductase and PFOR enzymes. The antiprotozoal activity of cherimolacyclopeptide D is reported for the first time in this study.

The blueberry fruit (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) exhibits a high content of bioactive compounds, including anthocyanins, that can be used as pigmenting agents, but they are mixed with sugars, which can hinder their utilization. The objective was to evaluate the use of aqueous two-phase extraction aided by centrifugation to separate bioactive compounds, particularly anthocyanins, from blueberry fruits, considering the reduction of sugars, for their use as pigmenting agents in a food product. A mixture of trisodium citrate (Na₃C₃H₅O(COO)₃; Na₃Cit) and polyethylene glycol ([HO-(CH₂CH₂O)n-CH₂OH]; poly (ethane-1,2-diol); PEG) with a molecular weight of 4 kDa was used. Based on the cloud point method, a binodal diagram was developed. After the evaluation of several systems with composition located on a tie line, conditions were identified to form biphasic systems with phases of equal volume. Passive sedimentation for 0, 15, and 30 min, followed by centrifugation and also passive sedimentation for 24 h without centrifugation, were evaluated. A system with 17.73% Na₃Cit, 21.33% PEG, 30 min of passive sedimentation, and 15 min of centrifugation at 2940× g produced an extract with a high concentration of soluble phenols (0.353 mg/mL) and anthocyanins (0.202 mg/mL) and, likewise, high antioxidant activity (910.0 mmol gallic acid equivalents per mL), with reduced sugar content, which demonstrated to have the potential to pigment food beverages with a reddish tone.