Cariogenic potential of Cerrado fruits at Lagoa Santa archaeological sites region, Minas Gerais

• Grant number: 16/19625-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2016
• End date: October 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Pedro José Tótora da Glória
• Grantee: Mariana Motta Marconi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/00069-0 - Health and lifestyle of the Paleoamericans of Lagoa Santa: an ethnobioarchaeological approach, AP.JP

Abstract

This project aims to investigate the cariogenic potential of plants found in archaeological sites in the region of Lagoa Santa - MG. It consists in collecting the selected plants in the area, involving 30 volunteers for the consumption of such plants, and calculating Stephan curves, which is the pH in the plaque for a period of one hour after food consumption. The hypothesis investigated in this work is that the edible plants in Lagoa Santa are very cariogenic, especially the fruits with sticky texture as the jatobá and high sugar content such as pequi. This project will allow us to understand which foods caused the high prevalence of cavities in the Paleoamericans of Lagoa Santa. (AU)