INTRODUCTION The importance of hydration is undoubtable but reliable data on hydration status and its relation with diet is lacking. OBJECTIVES We aimed to evaluate the hydration status and its relation to beverages and food intake in children. METHODS A sample of 172 (50% male), 7-11 year-old children was included in this survey. Participants completed a 24 h urine collection; a 24 hours f...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and associated factors. METHODS A total of 54,369 individuals aged > or = 18 years living in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District in 2006 were interviewed through the system Vigilância de Fatores de Risco e Proteção para Doenças Crônicas por Inquérito Telefônico (VIGITEL--telephone-based surveillance of risk a...

The fruit of Basella alba is often considered as waste so the study was aimed at exploring the feasibility of using the fruit as natural colorant using acidified methanol extraction. The extracted betacyanin pigments then were exposed to number of environmental conditions, which could destabilize the betacyanin molecules. These environmental conditions were included fourteen different pHs, vari...

Regenerated forests now compose over half of the world's tropical forest cover and are increasingly important as providers of ecosystem services, freshwater, and biodiversity conservation. Much of the value and functionality of regenerating forests depends on the plant diversity they contain. Tropical forest diversity is strongly shaped by mutualistic interactions between plants and fruit-eatin...

Natural dyes have become a viable alternative to expensive organic sensitizers because of their low cost of production, abundance in supply, and eco-friendliness. We evaluated 35 native plants containing anthocyanin pigments as potential sensitizers for DSSCs. Melastoma malabathricum (fruit pulp), Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (flower), and Codiaeum variegatum (leaves) showed the highest absorption pe...

Supplementary lighting is frequently applied in the winter season for crop production in greenhouses. The effect of supplementary lighting on plant growth depends on the balance between assimilate production in source leaves and the overall capacity of the plants to use assimilates. This study aims at quantifying the source-sink balance and carbohydrate content of three tomato cultivars differi...