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The papermaking potential of Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) waste fibers was studied in this research. Alpha cellulose, lignin, hollocellulose, ethanol/benzene extractives and ash content were determined as 53.7±0.1%, 2.4±0.3%, 61.6±5.7%, 7.1±0.3% and 26.4±0.1%, respectively. The average fiber length, width, lumen and cell wall thickenss were found to be 1.1±0.3 mm, 18.8±6.1µm, 12.1±5.4 µm, 4.3±1.0 µm. Soda pulping was conducted using 20 and 28% sodium hydroxide, cooking temperatures of 160 and 175 °C, cooking times of 60 and 120 min, and liquor- to fiber ratio of 9:1. Soda pulping with 28% sodium hydroxide, 175 °C and 120 min showed a lower Kappa number of 29.60±1.7 and a total yield of 32.2±1.6 %. In general, tensile strength index (36.0±5.0 Nm/g), stretch (1.7±0.3%), breaking length (3.7±0.5 km), burst index (3.2±0.4 KPa.m2/g), tear index (7.3±0.0 mN.m2/g), folding endurance (166 times) and porosity (> 120 s) of OFI pulp were comparable with wood and non-wood pulps.

La manzana es fuente de compuestos polifenólicos con propiedades antioxidantes que tienen efectos protectores para la salud humana. El objetivo del trabajo fue determinar los sólidos solubles totales (SST), acidez total (AT), pH, compuestos fenólicos totales (CFT), contenido total de flavonoides (CTF), contenido total de antocianinas (CTA) y capacidad antioxidante (ABTS y DPPH) en cinco variedades de manzana cultivadas en México. Los resultados indican que, en todas las variedades de manzana, los CFT, CTF, CTA, ABTS y DPPH se encuentran en mayor cantidad en la piel, seguido por el fruto entero y pulpa. En la manzana Golden delicious y en la pulpa de todos los cultivares no se detectaron antocianinas. El análisis de componentes principales (ACP) indica que los SST y AT están asociados a la pulpa y fruto entero, mientras que los CFT, CTF, CTA, ABTS y DPPH están asociados a la piel del fruto. Los CFT y CTA presentaron correlación positiva (r: 0.72-0.83) con el método DPPH en piel, mientras que el ensayo ABTS tuvo correlación positiva (r: 0.75-0.89) con CFT y CTF en piel. Los SST, AT, pH, CFT, CTF, CTA, ABTS y DPPH varían dependiendo del cultivar, región geográfica y parte del fruto.ABSTRACTApples are a source of polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant properties that have protective effects on human health. The objective of this work was to determine total soluble solids (SST), total acidity (AT), pH, total phenolic compounds (CFT), total flavonoid content (CTF), total anthocyanin content (CTA) and antioxidant capacity (ABTS and DPPH) of five apple varieties harvested in Mexico. Results indicate that CFT, CTF, CTA, ABTS and DPPH are distributed in the following order: peel, whole fruit, pulp. In the Golden delicious variety and in the pulp of all apple varieties no anthocyanins were detected. The ACP indicates that SST and AT are associated with pulp and whole fruit, while CFT, CTF, CTA, ABTS and DPPH are associated with the peel of the fruit. The CFT and CTA showed a positive correlation (r: 0.72-0.83) with the DPPH method in peel, while the ABTS assay had a positive correlation (r: 0.75-0.89) with CFT and CTF in peel. The SST, AT, pH, CFT, CTF, CTA, ABTS and DPPH vary depending on the cultivar, geographic region and part of the fruit.

Since synthetic antioxidants have been questioned for their potential carcinogenic and teratogenic effects, interest has grown in aquaculture for alternatives of natural antioxidants used in diets. This study analyzed antioxidant properties of a diet for tilapia with the inclusion an avocado by-product (AP) paste. Avocado seed, skin and pulp, despite their proven antioxidant capacity, represent a great amount of waste in Mexico. We included four diets in this study: base diet 0 (BD), 10 (D10), 20 (D20) and 30 % (D30) of AP inclusion, and a commercial diet (CD) for comparison. The antioxidant activity was assessed by free-radical techniques, such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-pricrylhydrazil (DPPH•), 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylben zthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS•+), iron ion (Fe III) and concentration of total phenolic compounds (TPC). An increasing pattern was observed both in antioxidant activity and TPC as the level of AP inclusion increased. In some determinations, CD showed the highest levels, which were attributed to the synthetic antioxidants added and undeclared in these formulations. Therefore, AP was considered a good option for its inclusion in aquaculture diets because of its antioxidant properties and the added value granted with its use.

Aim/background: in view of the growing demand for food, new methodologies are needed to improve the genomic selection (GS) methodology to obtain more productive plant varieties and there is empirical evidence that GS it is revolutionizing plant breeding for food production around the world. Methods: since the prediction models play a key role in GS, for this reason Montesinos-López et al. (2018) proposed the item based collaborative filtering (IBCF) algorithm for Genomic prediction. For this reason, in this paper we compare the IBCF algorithm with the most popular genomic prediction model called the Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (GBLUP). Results: We found that the GBLUP is superior than the IBCF model, but the IBCF is competitive to the GBLUP model since produced very similar predictions, but with the large advantage that it is extremely efficient in terms of time for implementation. Conclusions: we found that the GBLUP is better than the IBCF algorithm but the IBCF is more than 400 times more efficient than the GBLUP model in terms of time for implementation. Limitations: The main limitation of the study is that it was performed in univariate terms and it is possible that the IBCF will perform better with multivariate data.RESUMENObjetivo / antecedentes: en vista de la creciente demanda de alimentos, se necesitan nuevas metodologías para mejorar la selección genómica (GS) para obtener variedades de plantas más productivas y en menor tiempo y existe evidencia que la SG está revolucionando el mejoramiento de plantas que ayudará a incrementar la producción de alimentos a nivel mundial. Métodos: dado que los modelos de predicción juegan un papel clave en GS, Montesinos-López et al. (2018) propusieron el algoritmo de filtrado colaborativo (IBCF) para la predicción genómica. Por esta razón, en este artículo comparamos el algoritmo IBCF con el modelo de predicción genómica más popular denominado mejor predictor lineal insesgado Bayesiano (GBLUP). Resultados: Encontramos que el GBLUP es superior en capacidad predictiva al modelo IBCF, pero el IBCF es competitivo con el modelo GBLUP ya que produjo predicciones muy similares, pero con la ventaja de que es eficiente en términos de tiempo de implementación. Conclusiones: encontramos que el GBLUP es mejor que el algoritmo IBCF, pero el IBCF es 400 veces más eficiente que el modelo GBLUP en términos de tiempo de implementación. Limitaciones: la principal limitación del estudio es que se realizó en términos univariados y es posible que el IBCF se desempeñe mejor con datos multivariados.

This paper focuses on the quality of lettuce var. longifolia grown with shrimp effluents from well water (WW), diluted seawater (DSW) and a hydroponic solution (HS). Results evidenced that WW and DSW effluents slightly decreased weight, foliage, and yield (5-9%) in plants compared to HS control. Furthermore, WW-lettuce showed a higher level of total phenolic compounds (~71%), flavonoids (~90%), and antioxidant capacity (0.7-3-folds) than HS-plants, mainly in the soluble fraction. WW-lettuce also showed a higher content of total soluble solids (~16%) and, a lower saturation of color, which correlated significantly (p