Notícia

A Associação Portuguesa de Horticultura, a Sociedad Española de Ciencias Hortícolas e a International Society for Horticultural Science estão a organizar a 28ª edição do International Horticultural Congress, que se realiza de 22 a 28 de Agosto de 2010, no Centro de Congressos de Lisboa. «Science and Horticulture for People» é o tema do Congresso que visa salientar os componentes científicos da horticultura e a forma como se relacionam com cientistas, produtores, consumidores e sociedade. A organização aguarda mais de 2500 participantes de cerca de 80 países.

O evento visa também ser uma oportunidade para se conhecer «a dinâmica e inovadora indústria hortícola de Portugal e Espanha», nomeadamente através de várias excursões de índole técnico e que, em alguns casos, incluem, pela primeira vez, workshops no local.

O programa do Congresso, que se realiza de quatro em quatro anos, inclui um elevado número de colóquios, simpósios, seminários, workshops e sessões temáticas, que incluem inúmeros tópicos, nomeadamente sobre a necessidade de ser reduzida a utilização de pesticidas, o desenvolvimento de novas e inovadoras produções hortícolas que contribuam para uma melhoria da saúde e bem estar da comunidade, o desafio de como alimentar a população mundial em 2050 ou a questão sobre se as frutas e vegetais serão uma saúde negligenciada em países em desenvolvimento?



Oportunidades e desafios: Frutos e vegetais como prevenção do cancro

Destacamos o tema que o Dr John Milner, Director da Nutritional Science Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention - National Cancer Institute, irá abordar, intitulado «Opportunities and Challenges for Using Fruits and Vegetables for Cancer Prevention». O especialista faz o seguinte enquadramento da sua participação:

Abstract: The contribution that dietary fruits and vegetables make to overall health remains an area of immense interest and controversy. Much of the uncertainty stems from inconsistencies in the literature, especially that related to their impact on cancer risk and tumor behavior.

Undeniably, it in naïve to assume that all fruits and vegetables have the same composition and function in the same manner. Thus, variation in response likely reflects compositional differences depending on growth condition of these plants, interactions among multiple bioactive food constituents in the entire diet, environmental factors, and the genomics of the consumer.

Nevertheless, there is mounting evidence that compounds in fruits and vegetables encompassing such diverse structures as carotenoids, flavonoids, isothiocyanates, and allyl sulfurs can markedly influence one or more key cancer related processes, including differentiation, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and immunocompetence when provided in sufficient quantity and for appropriate durations.

Fundamental to understanding of the physiological importance of these plants is credible information about exposures to specific bioactive food components, their molecular target(s) and susceptibility factors that influence the degree or direction of the response. Unfortunately, inadequate compositional databases are available to predict exposures to many compounds found in fruits and vegetables.

Likewise, typical measures of intake using 24 hour recall or food frequencies have significant limitations.
Undeniably, not all individuals respond identically to bioactive food components due to differences in absorption, metabolism, excretion and the target being modified. Genetic polymorphisms and copy number are increasingly recognized to influence the response to fruits/ vegetables and their components.

This presentation will highlight proof-of-principle examples about how nutrigenetics can influence the magnitude and direction of the response. Examples also will be provided about how epigenetic changes in methylation patterns, histone homeostasis and non-coding RNAs regulation and polycomb assembly can be influenced by compounds in fruits and vegetables. Transcriptomics studies are also beginning to provide clues about which foods may be particularly useful for personalized approaches to health and will be discussed.

Clear differences in the response to food components exist between normal and neoplastic cells possibly reflecting different mechanisms of action. Timing and duration of exposures will also be reviewed as variables in the response to fruits and vegetables. While there are individual differences in response to fruits and vegetables, it also remains clear they collectively are part of a healthful diet.









Contactos:

Congress secretariat
Meeting Point - PCO
Rua Marcelino Mesquita, 13, loja 3
2799-549 Linda-a-Velha - Portugal
Tel. +351 214 159 900
Fax. +351 214 159 909
Email: ihc@netcabo.pt

Secretariat for the scientific programme
28th International Horticultural Congress
Instituto Superior de Agronomia
Tapada da Ajuda
1349-017 Lisboa - Portugal
Tel.+351 961 068 237
Fax. +351 214 411 797
Email: info@ihc2010.org
Web: www.ihc2010.org

IHC Lisboa 2010 Press Office
(Contact for press credentials)
28th IHC Lisboa 2010 Press Office
Emília Freire
Tel. +351 929 126 965
+351 962 819 969
Email: press@ihc2010.org
Skype: menmfreire