The tomato is a
very produced food in Mozambique in particular in the District of Gorongosa.
This product although it is often used in the confession of food, have little
time left paradoxically rich in vitamin C, lycopene and also contains the β
-carotene. Both belong to the family of carotenoids, terpenoids (pro-vitamin
A). In operation of the human body are
given rise to a series of chemical reactions where mostly formed free
radicals (unstable and reactive) that react rapidly with various compounds and
cellular targets, in many of these reactions can damage DNA, proteins lipids,
carbohydrates, etc. causing various diseases that affect humans. The tomato has
β -carotene and lycopene are carotenoids act as an antioxidant because of their
conjugated double bonds susceptible to oxidation under the action of light or
oxygen. The study was dedicated to the determination of carotenoids (lycopene
and β -carotene) in tomato powder and fresh. The motivation for the study came
from research on production of dried tomato funded by the Ministry of Science
and Technology powder through the National Research Fund, categorized as a
project of Innovation and Technology Transfer, held in 2013, instructing
associations Báruè Districts and communities Gorongosa District through a team
of teachers, students and accompanied by representatives of the Government and
institutions. Because tomatoes have little shelf life and important game
against vitamins and natural antioxidants, after successfully obtaining the tomato
powder, to be a viable and recommended alternative for communities urged the
need to do laboratory analysis of carotenoids in it existing and comparing with
the fresh tomato. Analyses for determination of carotenoids were made in
different laboratories (UP- Beira and Chimoio – UCM), but all were with the
help of the spectrophotometer, differed in laboratory reagents and other
materials. As other nutrients such as sugar and vitamin C could somehow
influence the activity of the microorganisms etc. was also performed analyzing
sugar levels in fresh tomato based refractometer. The survey results show that
the extraction of carotenoids is made with use of organic solvents and
subsequent identification using various methods such as high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC), calorimeter, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and
spectrophotometry. It is also noted that processing of carotenoids caused an
increase and decrease in sugar and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). It follows that
in 100kg of fresh tomatoes are obtained 6kg of tomato powder and that levels of
carotenoids such as lycopene both β-carotene in tomato powder are larger than
fresh tomatoes according to the processing mode used. An open set of chemistry
content such as mass conservation law, stoichiometry, concept of atom,
molecule, dehydration, vaporization, laboratories and experimental lessons
etc., May be taught or understood very easily with the aid to processing phase,
creating conditions for the long lasting grasping, consequent contextualized meaning
as well as effective and affective grasping.
Tomato powder fresh tomato carotenoids conservation technology chemistry contextualized education
Journal Section | Articles |
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Authors | |
Publication Date | September 1, 2016 |
Published in Issue | Year 2016 Volume: 4 |