Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Santarém
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Integrating Mediterranean diet education and sustainability in primary schools: a two-season community-based intervention in Portugal
Publication . Vitor, Rute; Andrade, Vanda; Reis, J.; Macário, M.; Dias, Igor; Figueiredo, M.; Rodrigues, M.; Mendes, L.; Ferrão, I.; Barros, R.; Ruivo, P.
Background/Objectives: School-based programmes may play an important role in promoting healthier and more sustainable dietary habits from early childhood. This study described and evaluated a community-based intervention aimed at promoting Mediterraneandiet (MD) principles, improving food literacy, and raising awareness of sustainable food practices among primary school children in the Tagus Lezíria region, Portugal.
Methods:The intervention was implemented in 23 schools across 11 municipalities and included two
seasonal rounds of participatory educational activities focused on healthy eating, local and
seasonal foods, sensory exploration, balanced meals, composting, food storage, sustainable
food production, and food waste prevention. A total of 872 children participated in the
intervention activities, and 370 provided paired baseline and follow-up KIDMED assessments. Results: The mean KIDMED score decreased significantly from 8.0 ± 2.2 at baseline
to 7.5 ± 2.4 after the intervention. Overall, 31.6% of participants improved their score, 18.9%
showed no change, and 49.5% showed a decrease. The proportion of children who did
not skip breakfast increased from 79.8% to 88.6%, and avoidance of fast-food restaurants
more than once weekly increased from 85.4% to 89.6%. Smaller favourable changes were
observed for pastry, sweet, and fish consumption, and olive oil use, whereas fruit, vegetable,
pulse, and nut consumption did not improve. Conclusions: The intervention produced
heterogeneous outcomes. Although overall MD adherence decreased, almost one-third of
participants improved individually, with favourable changes in breakfast and selection of
less healthy behaviours. Longer programmes with stronger family involvement may be
required to reinforce core MD foods and achieve broader, sustained improvements
House cricket (Acheta domesticus) as a promising functional ingredient: a synoptical review on nutritional value, technological properties and sustainability perspectives
Publication . Oliveira, F.; Vitor, Rute; Silva, M.M.; Dias, Igor; Borges, S.; Barbosa, J.
The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is among the edible insect species authorized under the
European Union novel food framework and is increasingly explored as a food ingredient.
This review synthesizes current evidence on its nutritional composition, techno-functional
properties, safety, sustainability, and application potential for human consumption. A.
domesticus powder is a nutrient-dense ingredient, with reported protein contents ranging
from 57.4 to 76.19 g/100 g dry material, together with a relevant amino acid profile, unsaturated lipid fraction, chitin-associated fiber, and selected minerals and vitamins. Its
techno-functional profile, including water absorption capacity around 175%, oil absorption
capacity around 140%, and emulsifying capacity around 77.7%, supports applications in
bakery products, snacks, pasta, meat analogs, and protein-enriched foods. From a sustainability perspective, reported feed conversion ratios around 1.5–1.9 and controlled indoor
rearing strengthen its relevance for scalable production, although outcomes depend on
substrate choice, energy inputs, production scale, and processing conditions. Safety issues,
especially allergenicity, cross-reactivity, microbial control, and contaminant monitoring,
remain central to industrial use. Overall, A. domesticus powder has emerged and should be
regarded as a nutritionally valuable, technologically versatile and promising functional
ingredient for sustainable food innovation
Phenotypic and genetic evaluation of morphometric and dynamic traits in Mangalarga horses
Publication . Alberto, G.; Faria, R.; Rodrigues, L.Y.; Fiorindo, C.; Zucatelle, C.; Vicente, António; Silva, J. A.
BACKGROUND: Genetic evaluation of morphometric and locomotor traits supports objective selection, avoiding exclusive reliance on subjective methods that may fixate breed traits over functionality or cause undesirable indirect selection.
AIMS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate genetic and phenotypic parameters for morphometric and dynamic traits in horses of the Mangalarga breed.
METHODS: The pedigree included 212,361 animals born between 1919 and 2019. Phenotypic subsets for morphometric and dynamic traits comprised 54,617 and 45,010 horses, respectively, born between 1977 and 2019. Variance components were estimated using an Animal Model via the BLUPF90+ software family.
RESULTS: Phenotypic means±SD and heritabilities±SD for morphometric traits were withers height (153.86 ± 4.43 cm; 0.58 ± 0.01), thoracic perimeter (178.67 ± 7.97 cm; 0.40 ± 0.01), and cannon bone perimeter (19.03 ± 0.96 cm; 0.21 ± 0.01). Dynamic traits were movement (12.63 ± 1.45 points; 0.34 ± 0.01), dynamic limbs (9.03 ± 1.32 points; 0.26 ± 0.01), canter (4.23 ± 0.69 points; 0.22 ± 0.01), comfort (11.49 ± 1.14 points; 0.29 ± 0.02), and total dynamics (38.37 ± 3.03 points; 0.32 ± 0.02). Phenotypic correlations ranged from 0.06 ± 0.01 (cannon bone perimeter and comfort) to 0.87 ± 0.00 (movement and total dynamics). The weakest genetic correlation was between dynamic limbs and cannon bone perimeter (-0.01 ± 0.04), and the highest between movement and total dynamics (0.92 ± 0.01). The strongest negative genetic correlation was between movement and cannon bone perimeter (-0.21 ± 0.04).
CONCLUSION: Moderate to high heritability estimates demonstrate the selection potential of these traits. However, the genetic antagonism between movement and cannon bone perimeter requires a nuanced approach. These findings provide the breed's first comprehensive breeding values, offering effective tools for the development of selection indexes that weight gait improvement while setting minimum constraints for bone structure.
Estudo modelo para análise de pedigrees em cavalos puro-sangue lusitanos
Publication . Rodrigues; L. Y.; Gomes, J.; Vicente, António; Mendes, V.; Teixeira, A.; Alberto, G.; Carolino, N.; Pereira, R.L.N.; Silva, J.; Faria, Ricardo; Lopes, I.; Lima, M.; Souza, K.; Souza; C.
Objetivo: Avaliar a diversidade genética e fornecer informações sobre os principais ancestrais e fundadores de uma população de cavalos, no início da criação de um haras. Métodos: Foram avaliadas 16 éguas denominadas população pLSH, nascidas entre os anos de 2016 a 2021 e os seus 483 ancestrais nascidos entre os anos 1947 a 2015, que conjuntamente com a pLSH formaram a população total (pT = 499 animais). As análises do pedigree forneceram informações das gerações equivalentes conhecidas (GE), intervalo de gerações (IG), coeficiente de consanguinidade (F), tamanho efetivo da população (Ne), aumento individual da F (ΔFi) e contribuição genéticas dos ancestrais e fundadores. Resultados: As GE forneceram valores de 4,7 (pais) e 5,7 (pLSH), os IG foram elevados de 9,5 a 10,7 anos. Os F foram de 1,13% (pT) e 5,26% (pLSH), os F pelos dados da associação (APSL) foram mais elevados com 10,24% (pT) e 11,03% (pLSH) e a relação de parentesco de 1,88% (pT) e 3,38% (pLSH). Os Ne de 79 e 43 e, ΔFi de 42 a 28 (Gerações) para pT e pLSH, respectivamente. O número de ancestrais que explicam a totalidade da diversidade genética foi 142 (pT) e 22 (pLSH) animais, considerado reduzido. Os 10 principais ancestrais explicaram 39,4% (pT) e 71,1% (pLSH) da diversidade genética das populações. Conclusão: Observada perda da diversidade genética em detrimento da funcionalidade (Salto de obstáculos) e concentração de reprodutores em número reduzido. Pode ser revertido com um programa simultâneo para melhoramento e preservação, por meio do delineamento dos acasalamentos dirigidos com seleção dos reprodutores.
Caracterização genética e demográfica de raças autóctones por análise do pedigree
Publication . Carolino, Nuno; Faria, Ricardo; Bacalhau, N.; Jacob, P.; Silva, F.S.; Carolino, I.; Vicente, António
A avaliação da variabilidade genética e a dinâmica de uma população, em termos de trocas genéticas entre linhas ou variedades de uma raça, explorações ou regiões, é essencial para o delineamento de programas de conservação ou de melhoramento genético por seleção, de modo a permitir uma correta gestão da diversidade genética existente.
Adicionalmente, o estudo da estrutura e da demografia da população permite realçar alguns aspetos importantes que poderão afetar a gestão corrente da própria população, nomeadamente em termos da escolha das ações de conservação, métodos de seleção e de acasalamento mais adequados