A água purificada exerce um papel fundamental na rotina laboratorial e em diversas aplicações, exigindo elevado grau de pureza. Deste modo, foi realizada uma avaliação da qualidade da água distribuída pelo sistema de purificação de água instalado nos Laboratórios de Qualidade e Segurança de Alimentos do Departamento de Tecnologia de Alimentos da UFV. A primeira parte do trabalho aborda a qualidade físico-química e microbiológica da água potável que alimenta o sistema de purificação e também a qualidade da água obtida e distribuída nos pontos de uso. A instalação e as condições de operação e desempenho do sistema de purificação de água foram avaliados. A avaliação da água potável que abastece o sistema de purificação permitiu constatar uma boa qualidade, tanto para as especificações físico-químicas (alcalinidade 20,3 mg·L-1 CaCO3, condutividade 62,7 &#956;S·cm-1, cloro residual livre 0,84 mg·L-1, pH 6,17, temperatura 25 °C, índice de saturação de Langelier -3,76, dureza 20 mg·L-1 CaCO3, e sílica 15,2 mg·L- SiO2) quanto microbiológicas (1,24 log10 UFC·mL-1). A água purificada obtida pelo sistema esteve sempre de acordo com as especificações físico-químicas e microbiológicas estabelecidas pelo fabricante do equipamento e pela Farmacopeia Brasileira. A água purificada distribuída foi aprovada nas especificações físico-químicas, porém o nível de contagem de bactérias heterotróficas estava acima do permitido (>2 log10 UFC·mL-1), o que pode comprometer alguns resultados analíticos dos laboratórios. Foi verificado ainda que higienização do reservatório de água potável e do reservatório de água purificada deve ser feita a cada 6 meses, uma vez que os resultados deste procedimento mostraram redução significativa (p<0,05) na contagem de bactérias heterotróficas. Além disso, o sistema deve apresentar manutenção e reposição dos elementos filtrantes e acessórios do equipamento. A segunda parte do estudo teve como objetivo identificar os isolados bacterianos por meio de técnicas moleculares. Com o sequenciamento do gene ribossômico 16S rDNA, as espécies identificadas na água potável foram Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia fergusonii e Enterobacter cloacae subsp. Dissolvens. Na água purificada, foram encontradas as espécies Acinetobacter calcoaceticus e Staphylococcus warneri e na água distribuída, Enterococcus faecium e Enterobacter cloacae subsp. Dissolvens. A superfície dos isolados identificados foi submetidas à medida do ângulo de contato, com intuito de fazer a previsão teórica da adesão em função da hidrofobicidade das superfícies dos micro-organismos e da superfície do Loop de distribuição. As espécies e a superfície estudadas foram consideradas hidrofílicas. A adesão não foi termodinamicamente favorável (&#916;G adesão >0) entre a superfície e todas as espécies identificadas. Os resultados de predição termodinâmica foram compatíveis com as contagens de bactérias heterotróficas da superfície de polipropileno (loop de distribuição) que atingiram valores de aproximadamente 5 log10 UFC·cm-2, indicando que não se caracteriza como biofilmes. | Purified water exert a fundamental role in routine clinical practice and in many applications requiring high purity. Thus, an assessment of the quality of the water distributed by water purification system installed in the Laboratory of Quality and Food Safety of the Department of Food Technology at UFV was performed. The first part of the paper deals with physical-chemical and microbiological quality of drinking water that feeds the purification system and the quality of water produced and distributed at points of use. The installation and operating conditions and performance of the water purification system were evaluated. The evaluation of drinking water supply purification system have revealed a good quality for both the physical and chemical specifications (alkalinity 20,3 mg·L-1 CaCO3, conductivity 62,7 &#956;S·cm-1, chlorine 0,84 mg·L-1, pH 6,17, temperature 25 °C, Langelier Saturation Index -3,76, hardness 20 mg·L-1 CaCO3 and silica 15,2 mg·L-1 SiO2) and microbiological (1,24 log10 UFC·mL-1). The purified water produced by the system always in accordance with the specifications established by the equipment manufacturer. Purified water distributed showed the physicochemical requirements within the allowed, but the levels of heterotrophic bacteria counts were higher than allowed (> 2 log10 UFC·mL-1), which may compromise some analytical results performed in laboratories. It was found, although cleaning of drinking water reservoir and the reservoir of purified water should be performed every 6 months, once the results of this procedure showed a significant reduction (p <0.05) in the count of heterotrophic bacteria. In addition, the system shall provide the maintenance and replacement of filter elements and equipment accessories. The second part of the study aimed to identify the bacterial isolates using molecular techniques. With the sequencing of the ribosomal 16S rDNA species identified in drinking water were Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia fergusonii and Enterobacter cloacae subsp. Dissolvens. Purified water the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus species were found; Staphylococcus warneri and distributed water Enterococcus faecium and Enterobacter cloacae subsp. Dissolvens. The surface of the isolates identified were subjected to measurement of contact angle, in order to realize the theoretical prediction of membership depending on the hydrophobicity of the micro-organisms and the surface of the Loop distribution. The species studied were considered and the surface hydrophilic. Adherence was not thermodynamically favorable (&#916;G adhesion> 0) between the surface and all identified species. The species studied were considered and the surface hydrophilic. Adherence was not thermodynamically favorable (&#916;G membership > 0) between the surface and all identified species. The results of thermodynamic prediction were consistent with heterotrophic bacteria counts the surface of polypropylene (loop distribution) which reached values of approximately 5 log10 CFU· cm-2 indicating that it is characterized as biofilms. | Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Adsorption isotherms of 3 selected paper-based packaging materials, that is, vegetable parchment (VP) paper, Kraft paper, and solid-bleached-sulfate (SBS) paperboard, were determined at 3 different temperatures (25, 40, and 50 °C). The GAB isotherm model was found to fit adequately for describing experimental adsorption isotherm data for the paper samples. The monolayer moisture content of the paper samples decreased with increase in temperature, which is in the range of 0.0345 to 0.0246, 0.0301 to 0.0238, and 0.0318 to 0.0243 g water/g solid for the MG paper, the Kraft paper, and the SBS paperboard, respectively. The net isosteric heats of sorption (qst) for the paper samples decreased exponentially with increase in moisture content after reaching the maximum values of 18.51, 27.39, and 26.80 kJ/mol for the VP paper, the Kraft paper, and the SBS paperboard, respectively, at low-moisture content. The differential enthalpy and entropy of 3 paper samples showed compensation phenomenon with the isokinetic temperature of 399.7 K indicating that water vapor had been adsorbed onto the paper samples with the same mechanism. Depending on the paper material, tensile strength of paper samples was affected by moisture content.

Relation between the thermodynamic parameters obtained from water sorption isotherms and the degree of reduction in the glass transition temperature (Tg), accompanied by water sorption, was quantitatively studied. Two well-known glassy food materials namely, wheat gluten and maltodextrin were used as samples. The difference between the chemical potential of water in a solution and that of pure water (), the difference between the chemical potential of solid in a solution and that of a pure solid (), and the change in the integral Gibbs free energy () were obtained by analyzing the water sorption isotherms using solution thermodynamics. The parameter correlated well with ΔTg (≡Tg − Tg₀; where Tg₀ is the glass transition temperature of dry material), which had been taken to be an index of plasticizing effect. This indicates that plasticizing effect of water on foods can be evaluated through the parameter .

BACKGROUND: Partition coefficients give an indication of the retention of aroma compounds by the food matrix. Data in the literature are obtained by various methods, under various conditions and expressed in various units, and it is thus difficult to compare the results. The aim of the present study was first to obtain gas/water and gas/matrix partition coefficients of selected aroma compounds, at different temperatures, in order to calculate thermodynamic parameters and second to compare the retention of these aroma compounds in different food matrices.RESULTS: Yogurts containing lipids and proteins induced a higher retention of aroma compounds than model gel matrices. The observed effects strongly depend on hydrophobicity of aroma compounds showing a retention for ethyl hexanoate and a salting out effect for ethyl acetate. A small but noticeable decrease in enthalpy of affinity is observed for ethyl butyrate and ethyl hexanoate between water and food matrices, suggesting that the energy needed for the volatilization is lower in matrices than in water.CONCLUSION: The composition and complexity of a food matrix influence gas/matrix partition coefficients or aroma compounds in function of their hydrophobicity and to a lower extent enthalpy of vaporization.