The effect of using rice flour at different degree of gelatinization on rheological properties of a batter system was studied. Rice flour was gelatinized by heated for 20, 40, 60 and 90 min. The treated rice flour was used to prepare batters by stirring it for 2 min. The batter were subjected to determination of apparent viscosity, consistency and flow behavior index and storage modulus G’. The results showed that degree of gelatinization, DG of rice flour increased with the increased heating period up to 60 min. All rice flour batter shown shear thinning behavior since the viscosity decreased with increasing shear rate. The behavior was proven by the value of consistency coefficient, K more than 0 and flow behavior index, n less than 1. Rice flour batter heated in a longer period has higher viscosity and could be attributed by lower water content. The storage modulus, G’ of heated rice flour were lower than G’ of commercial and unheated rice flour. This result was probably because of the lower amylose and protein content in the modified starch pastes.
The extraction of catfish (Clarias gariepinus) skin gelatin was optimized by using response surface methodology (RSM) employing a central composite design (CCD). RSM with 3-factors, 5-levels CCD was carried out for the optimization. The independent variables were suggested which include NaOH concentration (0.07-0.23 mol/L), acetic acid concentration (0.04-0.14 mol/L) and extraction temperature (40-80°C) with the percentage of hydroxyproline recovery (Y) as dependant variable. A maximum Y of 65.32% for gelatin processing was obtained using a combination of 0.13 mol/L NaOH and 0.09 mol/L acetic acid for 1 h, followed by a hot-water extraction at 64.92°C for 3 h. The results indicated a high protein content (88.46 g/100 g) in the extracted gelatin with a viscosity of 3.45 mPa.s, 286.71 g gel strength and 173 residues per 1000 residues of imino acids (proline and hydroxyproline). Furthermore, the gelatin from catfish also showed a relatively good instrumental texture quality according to texture profile analysis (TPA).
In this article we proposed three explicit Improved Runge-Kutta (IRK) methods for solving first-order ordinary differential equations. These methods are two-step in nature and require lower number of stages compared to the classical Runge-Kutta method. Therefore the new scheme is computationally more efficient at achieving the same order of local accuracy. The order conditions of the new methods are obtained up to order five using Taylor series expansion and the third and fourth order methods with different stages are derived based on the order conditions. The free parameters are obtained through minimization of the error norm. Convergence of the method is proven and the stability regions are presented. To illustrate the efficiency of the method a number of problems are solved and numerical results showed that the method is more efficient compared with the existing Runge-Kutta method.
Modification of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membrane was conducted by incorporating Cloisite 15A® clay and 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TAP) via solution intercalation method. The effect of the Closite and TAP introduction was evaluated in terms of the membrane’s physicochemical and hydration properties. The membrane’s properties were compared among the SPEEK based membranes, including parent SPEEK, SPEEK/Cloisite and SPEEK/Cloisite 15A®/TAP. The uniform dispersion of Cloisite 15A® particles in SPEEK polymer matrices was confirmed by SEM analysis. The stability in water; in terms of dimensional change and dissolution, of the modified membrane was investigated and compared to the parent SPEEK membrane. SPEEK/Cloisite 15A®/TAP nanocomposite membrane exhibited the highest selectivity by means of the ratio of proton conductivity to methanol permeability. Owing to its higher proton conductivity and significantly lower methanol permeabilities and high stability in water environment, SPEEK/Cloisite 15A®/TAP nanocomposite membrane was found to be a potential alternative polymer electrolyte membrane for DMFC applications.
According to the classical theory of viscoelasticity, a linear viscoelastic (LVE) function can be converted into another viscoelastic function even though they emphasize different information. In this study, dynamic tests were conducted on different conventional penetration grade bitumens using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) in the LVE region. The results showed that the dynamic data in the frequency domain can be converted into the time domain functions using a numerical technique. This was done with the aid of the non-linear regularization (NLREG) computer program. The NLREG software is a computer program for solving nonlinear ill-posed problem and is based on non-linear Tikhonov regularization method. The use of data interconversion equation is found suitable for converting from the frequency domain into the time domain of conventional penetration grade bitumens.
Organic rice using different cultivation methods namely system of rice intensification (SRI) and local organic rice (BOT) were studied and compared with conventional non organic rice (BBO). One kg of the SRI organic rice was obtained from research plot in Tunjung, Kelantan. Physical and cooking properties were determined using the average weight of 100 kernel, length-breadth ratio (L/B ratio), minimum cooking time, water uptake ratio and percentage of gruel solid loss. Amylose content was determined by iodine-binding method. Thiamine and niacin content were determined by HPLC. Results of the study showed that weight of non organic rice (21.2 mg) was significantly higher (p≤0.05) than SRI organic rice (19.7 mg) or conventional (19.4 mg). Minimum cooking time of SRI organic rice was 19.5 min. The amylose content of conventional rice was the highest (16.6%) followed by SRI organic rice (15.6%) and conventional organic rice (15.3%). Vitamin B1 and B3 contents of organic rice were higher than non-organic rice. The means sensory score of all attributes of SRI cooked rice were the highest. Thus it can be concluded that rice cultivated using SRI resulted in comparatively better physicochemical characteristics and sensory quality compared with other methods.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) is crucial to prevent a wide range of chronic diseases from a global view point. However, no suitable dietary assessment tool is available for usage among Malaysian population. The present study aimed to evaluate the validity of interviewer-administered semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing the omega-3 PUFAs intake among the Malays and Chinese elderly individuals in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Thirty-seven elderly people (54.1% women and 45.9% men), aged 60 years and above, were recruited from a community setting. Omega-3 PUFAs intake for the past one month was assessed using a 45-food item FFQ and validated against 3 days Food Record (FR). Wilcoxon signed rank test indicated no significant mean intake difference between two assessment methods. Significant correlation was found for total omega-3 PUFAs (r=0.926), α-linolenic acid (ALA) (r=0.745), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (r=0.579) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (r=0.912). Bland-Altman analysis exhibited no apparent systematic bias between the two methods for total omega-3 PUFAs intake, while quartile analysis classified 73% subjects assigned into the same quartile. Conclusively, the newly-developed FFQ yielded a reasonable validity in the tested population and provided a convenient means to estimate omega-3 PUFAs intake within healthy Malays and Chinese elderly individuals. Further study to evaluate its validity and reproducibility for different age groups is required.
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is associated with pregnancy complications, however its mechanism has not been fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) for identifying candidate genes involve in risk factors and complications of GDM. A total of 174 pregnant women with GDM and 114 healthy pregnant women were genotyped with 384 SNPs from 236 genes. The SNPs identified were rs10946398 (CDKAL1) in GDM risk factors; rs328 (LPL) and rs1042778 (OXTR) in complications of caesarean section; rs5404 (SLC2A2), rs5400 (SLC2A2) and rs13306465 (IRS1) for neonatal intensive care admission. Whereby SNPs rs12255372, rs7901695 and rs7903146 from TCF7L2 gene had six times higher risk (OR, 6.40-6.53) for T2DM at postpartum. In conclusion, although the above SNPs were identified with GDM risk factors and complications among pregnant Malaysian women with GDM, a larger study is needed to ascertain this candidate genes actual association.
MeSH terms: Cesarean Section; Female; Genotype; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Pregnancy; Risk Factors; Intensive Care, Neonatal; Diabetes, Gestational; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Postpartum Period
Piper sarmentosum has been shown to possess antihyperglycemic effect. The effect of water extract of PS leaves was determined on the diabetic complications in streptozotocin induced rats. Eighteen male Sprague Dawley rats (n=18) were randomly divided into three groups with six rats each, namely, control, diabetic untreated and PS treated diabetic groups. Diabetes was induced with intramuscular injection of STZ (50 mg/kg). Ten days following the induction, the diabetes was confirmed with fasting blood sugar level more than 8 mmol/L and PS extract was administered orally (0.125 g/kg) for 28 days. The left kidneys were collected to analyze. The body weight and kidney weight index showed significant differences between control and diabetic groups (p<0.05). However, the lesser extent of body weight gain was observed in diabetic group compared with the control groups. The fasting blood sugar level was reduced in PS treated group. The percent area occupied by the glomerulus over a renal corpuscle was found to be 74.5% in DPS, 72% in DNT and 75% in C group; however it was statistically insignificant. Histological study revealed marked inflammatory cells infiltration and glomeruli contraction with widened urinary spaces revealed in DNT group following 28 days of hyperglycemic state whereas the DPS group showed features of improvement. The water extract of PS leaves has the potential preventive effect on the diabetic nephropathy by reducing hyperglycemia.
Salted fish is a locally processed raw food which is used in everyday cooking among Malaysians. Previous studies suggested that salted fish intake was a risk of nasopharyngeal cancer. Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate gene mutation effects through the induction of mutagenic effect of aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish from Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Balik Pulau was chosen for sampling purpose due to its popularity as a commercial centre for local raw fisheries in Malaysia. Evaluation of mutagenic effect was carried out by hprt Gene Mutation Assay towards V79 lung fibroblast cells. It was found that the aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish were not cytotoxic towards V79 lung fibroblast cells. It was also found that the extracts of salted fish from Balik Pulau were not mutagenic towards hprt gene of V79 lung fibroblast cells as the mutation frequency of the extracts did not exceed 3 times of the value for negative control mutation frequency. In conclusion, both aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish from Balik Pulau did not have gene mutation effect towards hprt gene in vitro. However, other toxicological profile could be assessed to determine the mechanism of toxicity of salted fish.
MeSH terms: Methanol; Animals; Areca; Cooking; Fibroblasts; Fish Products; Fisheries; Fishes; Malaysia; Mutagens; Mutation; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Mutation Rate; Raw Foods
Beberapa kajian sebelum ini menunjukkan penglibatan pengaruh tekanan pengoksidaan dalam patogenesis osteoporosis. Justeru agen antioksida berpotensi untuk digunakan bagi merawat dan mencegah osteoporosis. Dalam kajian ini, vitamin E sawit dalam bentuk fraksi-kaya tokotrienol (‘tocotrienol-rich fraction’, TRF) telah digunakan. Perbandingan dibuat antara rawatan TRF, kalsium dan estrogen terhadap parameter histomorfometri struktur tulang, kandungan kalsium dan kekuatan biomekanikal tulang pada tikus betina terovariektomi. Sebanyak 48 ekor tikus betina Sprague-Dawley dibahagikan kepada enam kumpulan, iaitu kawalan asas, sham, ovariektomi (OVX) dan kumpulan ovariektomi yang diberi rawatan samada kalsium, estrogen atau TRF. Rawatan diberikan secara paksaan oral selama dua bulan. Berdasarkan ujian histomorfometri tulang, tikus-tikus terovariektomi yang diberi kalsium, estrogen atau TRF menunjukkan peningkatan isi padu trabekular dan pengurangan jarak antara tulang trabekular secara signifikan berbanding dengan tikus kawalan ovariektomi. Disamping itu, rawatan estrogen dan TRF meningkatkan ketebalan trabekular secara signifikan berbanding dengan kumpulan OVX dan kalsium. Melalui ujian kandungan kalsium tulang, tikus yang diberi rawatan kalsium mempunyai aras kandungan kalsium dalam vertebra lumbar ke-empat yang lebih tinggi berbanding dengan kumpulan sham dan OVX. Kesimpulannya, rawatan kalsium, estrogen dan TRF berupaya memberikan kesan positif terhadap struktur tulang trabekular. TRF dan estrogen mampu mencegah penipisan tulang. Rawatan kalsium meningkatkan kandungan kalsium tulang, namun ia tidak berupaya untuk mencegah penipisan tulang.
Trichophyton rubrum is one of dermatophytes that penetrates keratinized tissues such as skin, hair and nail of human and animals. Recently, antifungal drugs such as imodazole and triazole was found to cause side effects, toxicity to patients and also not very efficient due to resistance to these drugs. As an alternative, some plants extract had been used to treat dermatophytes. This studies was done using Garlic extract (Allium sativum) to evaluate its effects on the growth of hypha of Trichophyton using Electron miscroscopy. Garlic had been known to posses antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antithrombotic and antitumor activities. This studies found that garlic extract as low as 4 mg/mL inhibit the growth of hypha. Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed that hypha treated with garlic extract showed shrinkage, flat and cell wall demolition, similar to hypha treated with allicin (positive control) having rough surface, shrinkage and distortion. The tip of hypa became large after treatment with garlic extract. Transmission electron microscopy studies also found that hypha treated with allicin display cell wall thickening, local thickening, destruction of cytoplasmic content, mean while hypha treated with garlic extract exhibited cell wall thickening, disordered hyphal tip and desolution of cytoplasmic compartments and similar with hypha treated with allicin. These results showed that garlic extract and pure allicin could be use as an alternative to treat dermatophytes.
This study was conducted to investigate pesticide residues in paddy crops derived from two different types of cultivation, namely the cultural plot managed by the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and the second from the farmers’ rice fields which did not follow schedules suggested by MARDI. Sample collection was carried out at post harvest. To determine the concentration of organochlorine pesticides, a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD) was used. The range of pesticide residues in the leaf samples was from N/D to 579.60 ppb, in stem samples from N/D to 368.93 ppb and in the rice grain from N/D to 22.37 ppb. Some of the rice samples had levels that exceeded the standard MRL (as stipulated by WHO).
The present study describes population structure (length-frequency distribution-LFD) and biometric relationships including length-weight relationship (LWR), length-length relationship (LLR), Fulton’s condition factor (K), relative weight (Wr) and form factor (a3.0) of Puntius sophore wild populations from three major rivers of different geographical locations of Bangladesh. A total of 784 specimens were caught by traditional fishing gear from March 2010 to February 2011. For each individual, the total length (TL), fork length (FL) and standard length (SL) were measured by digital slide calipers. Individual body weight (BW) was also taken by a digital balance. The results showed significant differences in TL-frequency distributions among populations (p<0.05), with larger mean TL size (6.92 ± 1.21 cm) was recorded from the Rupsha River. The coefficient b of the LWR was close to the isometric value (b≈3.000) in these rivers of Bangladesh, although it suggested negative allometric growth in the Padma River (b≈2.900). The results also indicated that the LWRs were highly correlated (r2>0.921). Fulton’s condition factor (K) showed significant variations (p<0.001) among the populations, with best performance by the Padma River, followed by the Jamuna and Rupsha River; whereas, relative weight (Wr) was close to 100 for all the populations, indicating the balance habitat with food availability relative to the presence of predators. The estimated values of a3.0 were as 0.0158, 0.0142 and 0.0152 for P. sophore in the Jamuna, Padma and Rupsha River. These results will be useful for fishery biologists and conservationists to suggest adequate regulations for sustainable fishery management and conservation its numerous stocks in the region.
A total of 19 polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to analyze the levels of genetic variations for six geographical populations of green-lipped Perna viridis collected from the coastal waters of Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, the total soft tissues of all mussel populations were determined for heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn). FST values revealed that all the six populations of P. viridis in Peninsular Malaysia were categorized as showing ‘moderate genetic differentiation’ according to the classification of Wright (1978). Cluster analysis revealed that three populations which were located in the western part of the Johor Causeway were clustered differently from the other three populations located in the eastern part. Hierarchical F-statistics and cluster analysis indicated that the Johor Causeway which blocked the free flow of the pelagic larvae swimmers of P. viridis and a distinct effect of heavy metal contamination on the Kg. Pasir Puteh population, were the two main causal agents for the genetic differentiation of the P. viridis populations investigated in this study.
This study was carried out by using Centella asiatica grown using a hydroponic system under laboratory conditions to study synergistic and antagonistic effects of Zn bioaccumulation with added Pb and the changes in antioxidant activities in leaves and roots of C. asiatica. The antioxidant activities included superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX). The treatments Zn (2 ppm) + Pb (0.4 ppm) and Zn (4 ppm) + Pb (0.6 ppm) increased the accumulation of Zn in leaves by 14.06 and 16.84%, respectively, but decreased by 7.36% uptake in roots (Zn 4 ppm + Pb 0.6 ppm). This showed that Pb and Zn acted synergistically to Zn accumulation in leaves but antagonistically in roots. CAT and SOD activities in leaves were increased when Zn was added together with Pb. In roots, CAT, APX and SOD activities were increased but GPX was decreased. Owing to their sensitivities to Zn with Pb, SOD and CAT could be used as biomarkers to monitor the toxicity of Pb and Zn exposure in the leaves and roots of C. asiatica.
Longitudinal water quality trends were assessed in the Tengi River system, Selangor, Malaysia, as the water moved from a peat swamp forest, through different agricultural land uses and finally through a town and then to the Straits of Malacca. Water draining from the peat swamp forest was dark in color due to its organic content and low in dissolved oxygen, pH, E. coli, calcium, nitrate and ammonia. The normal diurnal pattern for water temperature was observed for the peat swamp forest drainage, but there was no clear diurnal pattern evident in the dissolved oxygen data. The E. coli levels increased monotonically from the peat swamp forest waters (0 colonies/100 mL) through the agricultural areas (100-2000 colonies/100 mL) and town (7100 colonies/100 mL) and similarly pH increased along the same continuum. Dissolved oxygen increased from the peat swamp forest through the agricultural areas, but was lower in the town-impacted reach of the Tengi River.
This two-year research was carried out to clarify the effect of varying sowing time, planting density and cultivar on the biomass yield and chemical composition of sorghum. The leaf area index of the sorghum plant stand reached a maximal value of 5.0−5.7 at 97 days after sowing (DAS). Cultivar ‘Bovital’ was more productive with respect to the number of tillers per plant as well as per m2. Cultivars had clear impact on most of the quality parameters. Cultivar ‘Goliath’ (Sorghum bicolor × S. bicolor hybrid) had a higher biomass yield than Bovital (S. bicolor × S. sudanense hybrid). Dry matter yield was largely unaffected by the plant density at all sowing times. It was observed that Goliath exhibited higher sugar and neutral detergent fibre, while a greater content of protein was found in Bovital. Plant density had no clear influence on most of the quality parameters.
This study was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of three concentrations of Labisia pumila (Blume) F. Vill-Naves aqueous leaf extract in rats. The effects of these extracts as anti-inflammatory agents were determined using two experiments namely formalin-induced paw licking and carrageenan-induced paw oedema test. The exposure of inflammation to various treatments resulted in significant differences between treatments in formalin-induced paw licking in rats experiment whereas in phase 2, 50 mg kg-1 of L. pumila extract showed the most significant inhibition of 82.12%, followed by 10 mg kg-1 with 76.00% and 25 mg kg-1 with 57.80%. Similarly, different treatments showed significant effects at p<0.05 in the carrageenan inducing paw oedema experiment. All treatments were able to suppress the oedema formation induced by carrageenan as compared with the control. It is evident that the anti-inflammtory effect of every concentration of L. pumila extract started as early as the first hour of carrageenan injection and showed the maximum inhibition during the fifth hour. Again, 50 mg kg-1 of L. pumila extract was found to be the best treatment that could reduce inflammation with highest inhibition of 64.59% followed by 25 mg kg-1 with 56.99% and 10 mg kg-1 with 5.55%. The result of this study has shown that these extracts of L. pumila can be effective for anti-inflammation purposes which supports and justifies traditional uses of this plant.
Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a versatile plant with multiuse ranging from animal feed to a wide variety of biocomposite products such as pulp and paper and fibre reinforce plastic. Therefore genetically improved planting materials are needed to tailor made requirement of the industry. Thus, development of plant regeneration through callus is important for in vitro genetic manipulation of kenaf. Currently development of successful genetic transformation of kenaf is through in planta transformation means. In vitro shoot regeneration was conducted using leaf explants from varieties V36 and G4 treated to three different combinations of N6 Benzyl adenine (BA) and Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). High percentage of healthy callus induction was produced in MS medium supplemented with combination of 1.5 mgL-1 BA and 0.5 mgL-1 IBA. In addition 68.7% plant regeneration was obtained in MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mgL-1 GA3. All plantlets produced roots in hormone free medium. There was no significant difference among varieties in terms of callus induction (number of callus) and plant regeneration (number of plantlets). This protocol is useful to be used for the development of gene transformation protocol of kenaf through callus.