The carnauba (Copernicia prunifera (Miller) HE Moore) is a native fruit species to the north- east of Brazil and its exploration is based mainly on the extract of wax powder from leaves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different management strategies of cutting leaves, developmental stages and leaf age on leaf traits and physical-chemical attributes of carnauba wax in a natural population of carnauba palm located at the Cajazeira Farm, municipality of União, Piauí state, Brazil. The selected plants were identi- fied and classified in two developmental stages: capoteiro and adult palm. The management strategies cutting leaves were: one cut in August; two cuts, the first in August and the second in December; and one cut in De- cember. The leaves were separated according to age into new and old leaf. It was performed the individual analysis of variance of leaf number (LN), wax powder production (WP), ratio WP/LN, moisture content, impu- rities content and wax yield for each management systems as well as the analysis of the different managements. Leaf age presented as the attribute of greater relevance in the commercial use of carnauba. The best manage- ment strategy for cutting leaves of carnauba consists of a single annual cut in December.

The objective of this study make a characterization of production systems of goat milk in the Cariris Paraiba. Were visited units processing and receiving points of the goat milk in 17 cities and interviewed 540 farmers in the regions of Cariris. The information was obtained through the application of questionnaire consisting of questions relating to ownership, herd management and health and the results were analyzed according to frequency of responses between the regions. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between the western and eastern Cariris with respect to ownership and size of properties and with respect to the species created in the properties of the two regions. The family system of production with low use of technologies and small herds predominates in Cariri. An interaction between race, environment and management should exist for the maximum production is reached. The use of conservation techniques fodder as hay and silage can help standardize production in semi-arid northeast.

This work was carried out with the objective to study the foam-mat drying of Cereus jamacaru pulp fruit with albumen (2%) and “Super Liga Neutra” (2%) with whipping time of 5 min, dried in oven with air circulation at 70; 80, and 90 °C with three different foam thicknesses (0.5; 1.0 and 1.5 cm). The drying curves were fitted with the Page, Henderson and Pabis and Cavalcanti Mata models. Drying time was influ- enced by the foam thickness and process temperature being the process faster for smaller thickness and higher temperature. He Cavalcanti Mata model presented the best fit of the experimental foam drying kinetics data.

The Caatinga is a vegetation that occurs exclusively in Brazil, typically in the Northeastern region and studies on the floristic composition and phytosociological are prerequisites for understanding the behavior, distribution and structure of the vegetation. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a phytosociological survey of an area approximately 191 hectares of Caatinga, located within of the Unity Conservation area Grota do Angico Natural Monument, Sergipe state, Brazil. To conduct this study, we used the method of fixed area and the process of systematic sampling, where all individuals included in the 30 plots that showed CAP (circumference at breast height) greater than 6 cm were measured. In total of the survey, we identified 24 species in 20 genres and 12 families. The families with the higher number of species were Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae e Anacardicaceae. Poincianella pyramidalis (Tul.) L. P. Queiroz, Jatropha mollissima (Pohl.) Baill., Bauhinia cheilantha, Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan. and Mimosa tenuiflora were the most representative species for the phytosociological indices (density, cover, frequency and important value index). The basal area at the study site was 6,95 m2 ha-1 and the volume 28,42 m3 ha-1.

The mama-cadela (Brosimum gaudichaudii Trécul) is a species of the Brazilian cerrado consid- ered a priority for conservation and management of plant genetic resources. The roots of B. gaudichaudii are used to obtain psoralen and bergapten to produce medicine against vitiligo. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of seed size and levels of shading in the early development of seedlings of B. gaudichaudii. It was used a completely randomized experimental design in factorial scheme 3 x 3, three seed sizes (small, medium and large) and three shade conditions (0%, 30% and 60%), with four replications of 25 seeds. These characteristics were percentage of emergence and survival, height, basal diameter, height/diameter and number of leaves of seedlings until 120 days after sowing. The highest percentage emergence occurred in 60% shading and large seeds (70%). These seeds originate seedlings with higher height (20.4 cm) and smaller basal diameter (1.4 cm), while small seeds at the same level of shading formed smaller height (8 cm) and basal diameter (2 4 cm) of seedlings. The number of leaves was higher in cultivated plants in full sun and was not influenced by the size of the seed. The height/diameter was lower for seedlings grown in full sun. The highest quality of seedlings of B. gaudichaudii is obtained with large seeds provided no shading.

This study aimed at assessing the influence of different seasons of the year (dry and rainy) on urea nitrogen (MUN) concentration of buffalo milk in a commercial herd from Rio Grande do Norte state. The region is characterized by a rainy tropical climate with a dry and wet season from August to January and February to July, respectively. Samples were collected monthly from the cooling tank between February 2010 and February 2011, in the morning. Next, they were homogenized and packed in 40-mL plastic flasks, containing the preservative Bronopol® and later sent to the laboratory for urea nitrogen analysis. Although March 2010 exhibited greater ureanitrogen concentration (25.4 ± 4.4 mg/dL) and November the lowest mean (12 ± 0.4 mg/ dL), there was no significant variation in milk urea nitrogen in samples collected from cooling tanks during the rainy and dry seasons.

Aiming at assessing the growth of sweet peppers (Ca psicum annum L.), submitted to different controlling strategies of weeds in the no-trillage and conventional planting systems, an experiment wa s carried out in UFERSA’s experimental orchard in Mossoró-RN. The split-plot scheme was used, which was distribu ted within the experimental design, in randomized block s with four replications. The planting systems (no- trillage and conventional) were assessed in the plots, and t hree weed handling strategies (soil covering with p olyethyl- ene film, with hoeing, and without hoeing) were ass essed in the subplots. Within each subplot, assessm ents were made on 0, 21, 42, 63, 84, 105, 126, and 147 d ays after transplanting (DAT) for the purpose of de termin- ing the following features of the sweet pepper: lea f area, leaf area index, dry mass of leaves, of ste m, of fruits, and the total dry mass per plant, leaf area ratio, leaf weight ratio as well as the rates of absolute and relative growth and of net assimilation. On the 30th and 90t h DAT, the weeds’ density was assessed in the treat ments without hoeing. It was found that the no-trillage s ystem displayed a decrease in the incidence of weed s as com- pared to the conventional planting system. The no-t rillage system decreased the incidence of weeds com pared to the conventional planting systems. The weed inte rference in treatments without hoeing reduced the g rowth of pepper in both systems and the no-trillage with hoeing system showed higher indices than the other manage- ment strategies of plants in both planting systems.

The objective this work was to study the drying of integers grains of pumpkin, grains without tegument and grain flour of pumpkin in an oven with forced air circulation at temperatures of 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C and adjust the mathematical models of the Diffusion Approximation, Two Term Exponential, Hen- derson and Pabis, Logarithmic and Page, to the experimental values. The fit of the mathematical models to data from the drying kinetics was performed using analysis of nonlinear regression, through Quasi-Newton method, using the software Statistica 5.0. As a criterion for adjustment of the models the coefficient of determination and mean-square deviation were used. It was observed that processing influenced the time of drying, where the samples of grain flour of pumpkin demanded a shortest time to reach equilibrium. For samples of integers grains of pumpkin and grains without tegument, the model that best fitted the experimental data was of the Dif- fusion Approximation at all temperatures studied; for samples of grain flour, the logarithmic model was the best fit to drying curve.

This work aimed to evaluate strategies for weed management on the quality of watermelon in the subsequent growing melons in no-tillage (NT) and conventional (SPC). The experiment was conducted in split plot in randomized block design with four replications. The plots were evaluated both tillage systems (no tillage and conventional tillage) and sub-plots, nine strategies for weed management (covering with polyethylene film, with weeding at 14 days after transplanting (DAT) at 14 and DAT 28, 14 and 42 DAT, at 14, 28 and 42 DAT, the DAT 28, at 28 and 42 DAT, the DAT 42 and a control without weeding). We evaluated density and weed dry weight at 14, 28 and 42 DAT and at harvest of watermelon (80 DAT). For watermelon, were evaluated for fruit quality characteristics (longitudinal and transverse length, pulp thickness, firmness, pH and soluble solids). The SPD reduced the density and dry mass of weeds, requiring the completion of only one weeding between 28 and 42 DAT, whereas the SPC was necessary to carry out weeding at 14 and 28 DAT. The SPD and the polyethylene film in the conventional tillage system allow the realization a second crop in the area in succession to the melon, reducing weed interference and providing satisfactory results in the quality characteristics of watermelon.

The main goal aim of this work was study the parameters that influence in the spatial variation of the chlorophyll "a" in the surface water of the Orós reservoir, Ceará state, Brazil. It was studied the compari- son of the water in that reservoir, too. Twelve water samples were taken in seven different sites in the reservoir. They were sampled every two months from April/2008 to April/2010. Total phosphorus, water temperature, water transparency and the chlorophyll "a" production were analyzed. To assessment the eutrophication be- tween the sampled sites it was used the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Results showed that the eutrophicationallowed observes that the water temperature, water transparence and total phosphorus are influential in the chlorophyll "a" production. The increasing of the water temperature increase the chlorophyll "a" concentration. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis showed that the sampled sites 1 and 2 are similar in relation to water eutrophication and it separates the water in two different groups. The group 1 was formed because of the both high sedi- ment concentration and the low levels of chlorophyll “a” and the group 2 was formed because of the both highwater temperature values and high chlorophyll "a" concentration.