Two experiments were conducted in Petrolina, State of Pernambuco (PE), Brazil, in order to evaluate the performance of mini tomato cultivars under the conditions of the Sub - Mid São Francisco Valley. One on crops of the second half of the year (SH) from August to December 2012, and other on crops of the first half of the year (FH) from March to July 2013. Six mini tomato cultivars were evaluated in both seasons: E5663 , Kada , F1170 , Tanzimech , E1275 and Abirú . A randomized block experimental design was used, with four replications, arranged in split plot, with the growing seasons in the plots and cultivars in the subplots. The total and commercial fruit yield, soluble solid contents, fruit yield per plant, number of fruits per plant, and fruit fresh weight were evaluated. The total yield was higher in the FH, regardless of the cultivar used. The cultivar E5663 presented yield of 40.3 Mg ha - 1 in the SH and 104.0 Mg ha - 1 in the FH. Commercial yield, soluble solid content and yield per plant followed the same trend. The number of fruits per plant ranged from 390.8 to 941.4 (FH) and from 80.5 to 315.4 (SH). The cultivar E5663 presented the best yield and soluble solid content responses, thus, it may be recommended for the conditions of Petrolina PE, and can be adopted for planting in both seasons evaluated.

Physalis peruviana L. is a perennial plant, but commonly referred as annual in commercial crops. The cultivation of this species might be successful in Brazilian subtropical areas with an adequate and planned management. The objective of the present study was to quantify the production of Physalis peruviana L. with or without plastic covering over plant canopies, using two planting densities, managing the number of stems, and pruning side stems. This study was divided in two experiments; the first experiment evaluated the effect of spacing between each plant and the use of plastic covering in fruit production. The second experiment investigated the effect of the number of productive stems and of pruning in fruit production. The experimental design used for both experiments was randomized blocks, in 2 x 2 factorial scheme, which contained 6 blocks and 10 plants per plot. The following were analyzed for both experiments: production variables, estimated production, number of fruits per plant, mean fruit mass, mean fruit length and diameter, and chlorophyll relative index. Plastic covering and number of stems did not influence fruit production. The 3.0 x 0.5 m spacing without pruning side stems provided a larger production.

Dehydration is an important alternative to making the most of the use the surplus of production and take advantage of the seasonality of tropical fruits. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical composition of the yellow mombin pulp ( Spondia mombin L.) powder, obtained by spray drying, and evaluate its sensory acceptance in the form of reconstituted juice. The physicochemical analyzes of the yellow mombin powder were: pH, soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and moisture, with all results in accordance with the current legislation. The addition of maltodextrin in the process reduced the sensory analysis values (color, appearance, and taste). The tested formulations, (powders with 25 and 27.05% maltodextrin) preserved, and even favored the aroma. These formulations had the following values (7.66 and 7.68) higher than the val- ues found for integral juice (6.60).

This study aimed to extract, identify the chemical composition and evaluate the acaricidal acti-vity of essential oil from Chenopodium ambrosioides L. (Amaranthaceae) on Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Adult female spotted spider mite were treated with concentrations 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 μL of essential oil per liter of air. Among the eight chemical substances that make up the essential oil of C. ambrosi-oides, the (Z)-ascaridol (81.40%) was the major component. The LC50 and CL90 found after 72 h of exposure to the essential oil were, respectively, 5.82 and 10.79 μL L-1 air and fecundity of females of T. urticae was redu-ced inversely proportional to the increased concentrations utilized in this study.

Twenty-eight uncastrated male Saanen goat kids, on a feedlot, with an average slaughter weight of 28 kg were used to evaluate the effects of feeding goat kids with metabolizable energy levels by the addition of protected fat to the diet. The effects on the quantitative characteristics of the carcass and qualitative characteristics of the loin were assessed. The animals were randomly distributed into one of the four groups: one control group (without protected fat) was fed a diet containing 2.5 Mcal of metabolizable energy/kg dry matter (ME/kg DM). The other three groups were fed diets containing 2.6, 2.7 or 2.8 Mcal of ME/kgDM, using protected fat to increase the energy levels. The carcass quantitative characteristics were not influenced by the diets; however, a reduction was observed on the days of the feedlot and slaughter age for the animals fed protected fat diets. The short length and fat thickness in the loin has improved from diets with protected fat addition. The muscle, fat and bone proportions and the chemical composition of the Longissimus dorsi were similar between the diets. There was an increase in the fatty acid profiles of the polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic and linolenic and improvements in the total omega-3 levels and the ratios of omega-6: omega-3. The protected fat can be used to feed Saanen kid goats as an alternative, increasing the energetic density of the diets up to 2.8 Mcal of ME/kg DM with improvements on the omega-3 quantity. And it can also be used to increase the ratio of omega-6:omega-3 in the Longissimus dorsi.

Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is an exotic species, from the Indian Northeast, the Moringaceae family and has significant economic importance, with many applications in industry and medi-cine. This species spreads mainly by seed, so obtaining information on the behavior of different temperature and substrate on germination becomes essential since there is no standardized methodology for installation of the germination test. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the influence of substrate and temperature on germination and vigor of Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds. The experiment was conducted at the Seed Analysis Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA). The statistical design was completely randomized in a 5x2 factorial scheme (temperature x substrate), totaling ten treatments with four replicates of 25 seeds. The substrates were tested roll paper and vermiculite. Then the seeds were incubated at room Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (B.O.D.) at constant temperatures of 20, 25, 30 and 35 °C and 20-30 °C alternating with a photoperiod of 8 hours. We evaluated the percentage, the average time and the germination speed index and the shoot length and root and total dry weight of seedlings. The roll paper substrate at temperatures of 25 to 30 °C, as well as vermiculite of 30 °C temperature are the most suitable combinations to evaluate germination and vigor of seeds of Moringa oleifera Lam.

The aim of this study was to provide information on the ecology and floristic composition of vascular epiphytes on specimens of licurizeiro (Syagrus coronata), palm tree native to the Brazilian Backlands, whose individuals were isolated in pasture areas in the municipality of Várzea da Roça - BA. The epiphytic species were classified according to their ecological category and dispersion forms. The vascular epiphytes were represented by 26 species, 21 genera and seven families, and Bromeliaceae (8 spp.), Cactaceae (7 spp.), Polypodiaceae (4 spp.) and Orchidaceae (3 spp.) the most representative. The true holoepiphytes and accidental epiphytes were the most frequent categories, gathering, respectively, 42.31% and 30.76% of the species inven-toried. Regarding the dispersion forms, it is observed the predominant of zoochoric species (14 spp.) while anemochoric were represented by 12 species. The results show the importance of licurizeiro in the maintenance of the epiphytic community in areas of Caatinga and show its role as maintainer of biological diversity in an-thropogenic environments.

Desmanthus is a genus of forage legumes with potential to improve pastures and livestock produc-tion on clay soils of dry tropical and subtropical regions such as the existing in Brazil and Australia. Despite this patterns of natural or enforced after-ripening of Desmanthus seeds have not been well established. Four year old seed banks of nine Desmanthus genotypes at James Cook University were accessed for their patterns of seed softe-ning in response to a range of temperatures. Persistent seed banks were found to exist under all of the studied ge-notypes. The largest seeds banks were found in the genotypes CPI 78373 and CPI 78382 and the smallest in the genotypes CPI’s 37143, 67643, and 83563. An increase in the percentage of softened seeds was correlated with higher temperatures, in two patterns of response: in some accessions seeds were not significantly affected by tempe-ratures below 80º C; and in others, seeds become soft when temperature rose to as little as 60 ºC. At 80 °C the heat started to depress germination. High seed production of Desmanthus associated with dependence of seeds on eleva-ted temperatures to softening can be a very important strategy for plants to survive in dry tropical regions.

This work aimed to determine instead at determining chemical composition, nutritional aspects and morphological characteristic of tubers from sweet potato roots (Ipomoea batatas L.) of cultivars Rosinha de Verdan, Capivara and orange-fleshed produced under the organic system. The chemical composition of flours from sweet potato (SP) roots was different among cultivars. The starch content for SP cultivar ranged from 26-33 % (d. b.), and the orange-fleshed roots presented 3182 μg of β-carotene/100 g. The flour yield ob-tained for SPF processing was higher in Rosinha de Verdan (25.40%), and the starch content of roots ranged from 12.48-27.63 % (d.b.). The processing condition modified the starch granular characteristics of the flours and reduced 31% the carotene content and vitamin A value of the orange-fleshed flour. The orange-fleshed flour presented higher levels of carbohydrate, starch and total energy value (TEV) than others white fleshed flour. The consumption of serving size of orange-fleshed roots and flour provided higher provitamin A require-ments for children.

The irrigation frequency to meet the water requirement for the production of passion fruit seed-lings can cause nutrients leaching, reducing the fertilization efficiency. Thus, the work was carried out to evalu-ate the effect of hydro-absorbent polymer in reducing losses of leached nutrients during the production of yel-low passion fruit seedlings. The factorial design 5 x 2 was used, distributed in a completely randomized design, being the factors represented by five doses of polymer (Hidroplan®-EB/HyB-M): 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g L-1 of substrate and two types of substrates: Bioplant® and Provaso® with four replications and 10 plants per plot. The polymer was incorporated into the substrates, making up the homogenization of the mixture at the time of planting. Irrigation was carried out daily sufficient to keep the substrate moisture control treatment at field ca-pacity, programmed by a system of automated irrigation sprinkler type. Collection of the leachate was carried out at 30 and 60 days after emergence of seed, which was submitted to laboratory analysis to determine the amount of nutrients leached. In the last evaluation determined the seedlings size and nutrient content in leaf dry mass. The incorporation of hydro-absorbent polymer to substrate reduced nutrient losses by leaching in the substrates. The losses reduction of leached nutrients favored the growth and increase of leaf nutrients in passion fruit seedlings with the polymer.