This study was carried out to determine the effects of fermentation on the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities of noni extract. The analyses carried out included pH value, titratable acidity, total soluble solid (°Brix), total phenolic content (TPC) and free radical scavenging ability (DPPH) involving short (0, 1 and 2 weeks) and long (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks) period fermentation. For short period fermentation, the results showed that pH value and free radical scavenging ability (DPPH) was significantly (p<0.05) decreased compared with fresh noni extract. The pH value, TPC and scavenging activity of radical DPPH decreased significantly (p<0.05) while titratable acidity increased significantly (p<0.05) for the long period fermentation. The results obtained from this study showed the pH value, titratable acidity, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were significantly different after fermentation except for total soluble solid. Based on the results, fermentation of noni fruit do not give positive effects on noni extract where fermentation obviously leads to reduction of antioxidant activities.
Keywords: Antioxidant; fermentation; Morinda citrifolia L.; physicochemical properties
In recent years, by-products of fruit processing have received a great deal of attention, which is primarily due to their nutritional and economic exploitation through utilization of emerging technologies. Mango peel waste, a by-product from pulp processing units, is an important source of high quality antioxidant dietary fibre, pectin, polyphenols and carotenoids. It also possess significant biotechnological potential since it has been found suitable for several bioprocesses including ethanol, biogas, lactic acid, enzymes and single cell production. Valorization of mango peel through different routes not only can increase the profitability of fruit processing industries, but also help reduce environmental pollution. This review intends to provide a broad view on available technologies for mango peel waste utilization, with an emphasis on its biotechnological conversion into added value products beside other ways of utilization.
A review of the current literature indicates that natural seaweeds are an excellent source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antimicrobial and antitumor properties. In the present study, 90% methanolic, 70% acetonic and aqueous extracts from Kappaphycus alvarezii (strains Crocodile, Giant and Brown) and Kappaphycus striatum were used to inhibit the growth of HeLa cell lines. MTS assay was carried out to determine the proliferation of HeLa cells in the presence of different seaweed extracts. Both 500 μg/mL of aqueous and methanolic extracts from K. striatum demonstrated highest anti-proliferative activity against HeLa cells with cell growth inhibition of 53.5 and 43.7%, respectively. Treatment with the aqueous extracts from three strains of K. alvarezii did not show any growth inhibition against HeLa cell lines. The acetonic extract of Kappaphycus seaweeds exhibited a very poor cell growth inhibition with inhibitory activity observed under the treatment of 300 to 500 μg/mL of K. alvarezii strain Brown only. Further studies are suggested to identify and purify the specific anti-tumoral compounds for potential use in cancer therapy.
The effect of S. persica extract on the population of bacteria in single-species biofilm was investigated. An artificial mouth (NAM) system was used for the development of biofilm. In one experiment, aqueous extract of S. persica at sub-MIC concentration (5 mg/mL) was first pumped into the NAM system to treat the experimental pellicle on glass beads before inoculating it with the bacteria (Strep. mitis, Strep. mutans and Strep. sanguinis). This would resemble using the aqueous extract of S. persica before meals. In another experiment, the aqueous extract of S. persica was pumped into the NAM system after the bacterial inoculation and this would resemble using it after meals. In both experiments, 24 h biofilms were allowed to form. The bacterial population of the biofilms was determined and expressed as colony forming unit per mL (cfu mL-1). For negative control, sterilized distilled water was used whereas for positive control, commercial Listerine. It was found that the population of Strep. mitis, Strep. mutans and Strep. sanguinis in the respective biofilms for both experiments involving treatment with S. persica extract or Listerine was significantly reduced by more than 70% (p<0.05) when compared with the negative control. Comparing the effect of S. persica with Listerine on the bacterial population of the biofilms when used either before or after meal showed that S. persica is slightly less effective towards S. sanguinis before meal and towards S. mutans after meal (p<0.05). This study suggests that the efficiency of the antibacterial effect of S. persica is species-related and by its way of usage.
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) study of pidan white and yolk treated with different cations were investigated in comparison to the fresh duck egg. FTIR study of PbO2 and ZnCl2 treated pidan white and yolk at a level of 2 g kg−1 had different spectra to those of fresh egg. The amide B with wavenumbers of 3083 and 3084 cm-1 was observed for fresh and PbO2 treated pidan white at a level of 2 g kg-1. Higher wavenumber of 3084 cm-1 was noticeable for PbO2 treated pidan white at a level of 2 g kg-1. Scanning electron microscopic study showed that the more ordered network was found in PbO2 treated pidan white at a level of 2 g kg−1, compared with ZnCl2 treated counterpart. Thus cations in the pickling solution affected the FTIR characterestics of pidan white and yolk.
Decomposition is degradation process of a corpse into basic respective constituents macroscopically and microscopically by action of microorganisms, arthropods and scavengers. Post mortem changes could be separated into early post mortem changes (i.e. algor mortis, rigor mortis and livor mortis) and putrefaction stages of corpse. These changes function as suitable indicators for determination of post mortem interval (PMI). In this paper, different stages of post mortem changes, possible variations such as mummification and formation of adipocere and special circumstances such as burial condition is discussed. This article also refers to several arguments in the different texture of adipocere and the influence of different types of fabric in affecting the post mortem changes and formation of adipocere. This is largely due to the property of permeability and resistance of material against degradation process. Undeniably, decomposition process involves numerous potential variables including burial condition, presence of clothing, potential formation of adipocere and mummification. Hence, studies in forensic taphonomy combined with real case scenario are crucial in understanding the nature of decomposition and estimation of PMI with higher accuracy.
The modeling of rainfall-runoff relationship in a watershed is very important in designing hydraulic structures, controlling flood and managing storm water. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are known as having the ability to model nonlinear mechanisms. This study aimed at developing a Generalized Feed Forward (GFF) network model for predicting annual flood (depth) of Johor River in Peninsular Malaysia. In order to avoid over training, cross-validation technique was performed for optimizing the model. In addition, predictive uncertainty index was used to protect of over parameterization. The governing training algorithm was back propagation with momentum term and tangent hyperbolic types was used as transfer function for hidden and output layers. The results showed that the optimum architecture was derived by linear tangent hyperbolic transfer function for both hidden and output layers. The values of Nash and Sutcliffe (NS) and root mean square error (RMSE) obtained 0.98 and 5.92 for the test period. Cross validation evaluation showed 9 process elements is adequate in hidden layer for optimum generalization by considering the predictive uncertainty index obtained (0.14) for test period which is acceptable.
Enterobacter sakazakii previously known as 'yellow-pigmented E. cloacae' has been classified as a new genus 'Cronobacter' based on taxonomic analysis and geno-and phenotypic evaluation. This pathogenic organism has been associated with rare form of infant meningitis and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) with high mortality rate (40-80%). Some cases have been linked to the consumption of contaminated powdered infant formula milk (PIF). The objective of this study was to determine the presence of Cronobacter spp. in PIF sold in Malaysia. A selective chromogenic agar, Brilliance Enterobacter sakazakii (DFI, Oxoid), was used for detection of Cronobacter strains. Presumptive Cronobacter isolates were identified using biochemical tests (API 20E and MicrogenTM) and molecular assays (SYBR Green Real-time PCR and 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing). All presumptive Cronobacter strains produced typical blue-green colonies and non-Cronobacter strains produced yellow colonies on Brilliance Enterobacter sakazakii agar (DFI formulation). A total of 12 presumptive isolates were selected from DFI agar and identified with biochemical and molecular tests. The results indicated prevalence of 12.5% C. sakazakii contamination from 72 PIF samples. Molecular detection methods such as Real-time PCR and 16S rDNA proved to have higher identification percentage compared to the biochemical tests. In this study, it was observed that molecular assays were suitable means for sensitive identification of Cronobacter strains in PIF samples.
Forest biomass is a major component in carbon sequestration and a driver of heterotrophy and autotrophy soil CO2 efflux, as it accumulation increases carbon organic nutrients, root growth and microbial activity. Understanding forest biomass rational to ascertain the forest ecosystems productivity is important. A study has been conducted in a 70-years-old forest of mixed tree species, Sungai Menyala Forest, Port Dickson, Peninsular Malaysia, measuring the total above ground biomass (TAGB), below ground biomass (BGB), total forest carbon (SOCs), soil organic carbon stock (SOCstoc) and soil CO2 efflux from 1 February to 30 June 2013. The aim was to determine the effect of forest biomass, litter fall and influence of environmental factors on soil CO2 efflux. Multiple regression analysis has been conducted on the relationship between the variables and the soil CO2 efflux. Soil CO2 efflux was found to range from 92.09-619.67 mg m-2 h-1, with the amount of the tropical forest biomass estimated at 1.9×106, 7.7×106 and 9.2×105 kg for TAGB, BGB and SOCs, respectively. The analysis showed a strong correlation between soil CO2 efflux and soil temperature, soil moisture, water potential and forest carbon input with R2 more than 0.89 at p<0.01. The findings showed a strong contribution from forest biomass as drivers of heterotrophy and autotrophy soil CO2 efflux. We can conclude that the forest biomass and environmental factors are responsible for the remarkable variation in soil CO2 efflux, as climate change can cause increase in temperature as well as deforestation decreases forest biomass.
The presence of coliforms bacteria is one of the most prevalent problems in terms of public health in marine ecosystems over the world. In this study were investigated the physico-chemical properties of seawater and the numbers of total aerobic, total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli O157:H7 and fecal streptococci in seawater and mussel samples collected from Sinop environs between May and October 2011. The microbiological analysis of seawater samples showed that the difference between total coliform, fecal coliform and fecal streptococci numbers (p<0.05) was significant for each station. However, the difference among total aerobic bacteria numbers for each stations (p>0.05) were not found significant. The difference between whole counting results for mussel samples taken from different sampling sites was not significant (p>0.05), too. Furthermore, the results of the screening assay for the presence of E. coli O157:H7 showed that the strain was not detected in neither seawater nor mussel samples. In conclusion, it was determined that fecal coliform and fecal streptococci counts in the seawater and mussel samples were higher than legal (Turkish Bathing Water and Quality of Fishery Products Regulation) limit values for some stations in Sinop coastal areas.
Xanthine oxidase (XO) is an enzyme that catalyzes the metabolism of hypoxanthine and xanthine into uric acid. XO also serves as an important biological source of free radicals that contribute to oxidative damage involved in many pathological processes. Antioxidant effects of several Primulaceae species have been reported but their XO inhibitory activity has not been investigated. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the XO inhibitory and free radical scavenging activities of Primulaceae species and to correlate these activities with their total phenolic contents (TPC). A total of 129 extracts of different plant parts of twelve Primulaceae species were assayed for XO inhibition spectrophotometrically at 290 nm using allopurinol as a positive control. The antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and TPC of the extracts were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau method. The Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the TPC of the extracts showed moderate positive correlations with XO inhibition (r=0.31, p<0.05) and DPPH antioxidant activity (r=0.31, p<0.05) for all of the dichloromethane extracts. Amongst the extracts tested, the dichloromethane extract of the roots of Labisia pumila var. alata showed the strongest inhibitory effects for XO (IC50 4.8 μg/mL) and DPPH free radical capacity (IC50 1.7 μg/mL). The results suggested that Primulaceae species, particularly the dichloromethane extract of L. pumila var. alata roots, are the potential source of useful leads for the development of XO inhibitors.
A reciprocal transplant-replant experiment was carried out to investigate the clonal plasticity and local specialization of OAFE population (O type) and BF population (U type) of a clonal rhizome herb Iris japonica in contrasting reciprocal heterogeneous habitats on Jinyun Mountain. U Population had better performance of plant size and clonal propagation (including allocation to clonal propagation, daughter ramet and fine rhizome) in different reciprocal heterogeneous habitats than O population. Both the population origin and reciprocal spatial heterogeneous habitat had effects on clonal ramets and biomass of clonal components of experimental plants. The plasticity of clonal growth had difference in clonal components to balance High light-Low soil resources (water) (HL) or Low light-High soil resources (LH) due to the ecological isolation of the two I. japonica populations. Our findings indicated that two major types of patterns of spatial covariance of resources can have different effects on the growth and local variation of clonal plants.
Yield performance in wheat (Triticum aestivum) was compared under crop residue, tillage system and nitrogen rate treatments in cereal based cropping system. The experiments were conducted at Agronomy Research Farm, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Chopped crop residue on dry matter basis (5 t ha1-) of legume (Vigna unguicuata, var. Ebney) and cereal (Zea mays, var. Azam) was applied in main plots with no residue treatments and plowed with Mould Board (MB) and Cultivator as deep and shallow treatments, respectively. A month after the crop residue and tillage system treatments, field was uniformly plowed with cultivator and wheat was sown with drill in rows 25 cm apart in the month of November on both years. Both P2O55 and K2O (80 and 40 kg ha , respectively) were applied uniformly to all fields before sowing. Nitrogen as subplot treatment (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha-1) was applied in two splits, half at 15 and the other half at 45 days after sowing with uniform cultural practices for crop growth and development. Compared to year 1, crop of year 2 showed better phenology with extended life cycle (LC). On two years average across tillage and N treatments, biological yield did not change (p<0.05) under the residue but did report lower at no-residue treatment. Nonetheless, grain yield showed a significant (p<0.05) change with the highest in legume followed by cereal and the lowest in no-residue treatments. A non-significant tiller number and significant variations in grain weight and spike m-2 were observed that influenced the grain and biological yield differently. Deep than shallow tillage resulted in better traits, which returned better biomass and grain yield. Nitrogen application from control to every increment showed a significant (p<0.05) improvement in all observations contributing in yield. The study confirms the significance of legume vs. cereal over no-crop residue incorporated through deep tillage system with optimum N (120 kg ha-1) in cereal-based cropping system for sustainable performance to sustain soil C:N for future production.
Prevalence of dermatomycoses varies from one centre to another due to many factors. Knowledge of local prevalence is useful to aid clinical diagnosis and treatment. Due to lack of data in Malaysia, this study aimed to look at the causes of dermatomycoses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dermatological specimens including skin scrapings, hair and nail clippings were collected carefully from clinically suspected cases of dermatomycoses between 2008 and 2010. All cultures of skin, hair and nails that yielded positive fungal growth were included. Any fungal growth outside the streaking area, duplicate and incomplete data were excluded from the study. Three-hundred-fifty-eight patients were included. Male patients were slightly more than females with a ratio of 1.2:1. The median age was 53 years old with interquartile range of 38-64 years. More than half (53.6%) belonged to 20-60 years age group. Rates of culture isolation were 89.0% for nails, 56.2% for hair and 55.6% for skin. Five-hundred-twenty-two fungi were isolated from 358 clinical specimens. Non-dermatophyte moulds (NDMs) represented the largest group (50.5%; mainly Aspergillus species 18.7%), followed by yeasts (41.6%; mainly Candida species 26.8%) and dermatophytes (7.9%; mainly Trichophyton species 7.7%). In conclusion, NDMs and yeasts were more commonly isolated than dermatophytes from dermatological specimens in this centre. Current treatment regime that focuses on dermatophytes may be ineffective to treat dermatomycoses caused by NDMs or yeasts. Antifungal susceptibility study may be needed to guide therapy in recalcitrant cases.
Recent studies suggested that exposure to household smoking (HHS) could be a modifiable risk factor for caries development among children. Majority of the studies were cross sectional in nature. Therefore, a case-control study was designed to test the hypothesis that HHS is a risk factor to caries experience in permanent teeth. Calculation of sample size was based on the ratio of 1 case to 4 controls. Case was defined as a child aged 13-14 years old with caries in at least one second permanent molar and control was defined as a child from the same age and school with no caries second permanent molars. Matching was done for gender and ethnicity. School dental records provided information on oral health status and oral hygiene status. Information on HHS, socio-economic status, child’s smoking status and child’s oral health practices were obtained from a self- administered questionnaire, completed by the children and their parents. The result showed that 55.9% of the case group was exposed to HHS, as compared to 44.1% among the control group. In the final multiple logistic regression model after controlling for important risk factors for caries, children with caries were almost twice as likely to have been exposed to HHS for more than 10 years as compared to children with no caries, (Adjusted OR=1.90 and 95% CI=1.35, 2.60). In addition, children who only received dental care from the school dental service had reduced risk of having dental caries by more than one third (36%) as compared with those who received dental care from school dental service (SDS) as well as had additional dental problem solving visit outside SDS (Adjusted OR=0.64 and 95% CI=0.50, 0.90). It is concluded that exposure to HHS for a long duration (> than 10 years) increase the risk to have caries experience in permanent teeth of children.
Study site: 12 secondary schools, Kelang District, Selangor, Malaysia
Fish protein hydrolysate was prepared from tilapia muscle using commercial Alcalase enzyme. Optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis process for preparing tilapia muscle protein hydrolysates (TMPH) was performed by employing central composite design (CCD) method of response surface methodology (RSM). O-phtaldialdehyde (OPA) method was employed to calculate the degree of hydrolysis (DH), which is the key parameter for monitoring the reaction of protein hydrolysis. The suggested model equation was proposed based on the effects of pH, temperature, substrate concentration and enzyme concentration on the DH. Optimum enzymatic hydrolysis conditions using Alcalase enzyme were obtained at pH7.5, temperature of 50oC, substrate concentration of 2.5% and enzyme concentration of 4.0%. Under these conditions, the highest value of the DH was achieved at 25.16% after hydrolysing at 120 min. The TMPH was further assessed for their nutritional value with respect to chemical and amino acid compositions. Molecular weight distributions of TMPH were characterized by SDS-PAGE. TMPH contains moderate amount of protein (28.14%) and good nutritive value with respect to the higher total amino acid composition (267.57 mg/g). Glutamic acid, aspartic acid and lysine were the most abundant amino acids present in TMPH with values 42.68, 29.16 and 26.21 mg/g, respectively. Protein hydrolysates from tilapia muscle containing a desirable peptide with low molecular weight which may potentially to be used as functional food products.
This paper presents the first reliable record on the occurrence of the pangasiid catfish, Pangasius polyuranodon, in Peninsular Malaysia. It was previously unnoticed because of misidentification due to its close morphological appearance to Pseudolais micronemus. Pangasius polyuranodon can be positively distinguished from P. micronemus with a combination of characters: Distinctive palatal dentition with a large nearly squared vomerine tooth patch with small lateral palatine toothplates; longer maxillary and mandibular barbels; higher count of anal fin rays; higher counts of gill rakers on the first gill arch. Other characters are: longer caudal peduncle 19.84 ± 24.27% vs 18.35 ± 1.57% standard length (SL); wider anterior snout 35.49-40.60% head length (HL) and wider mouth 45.15-59.65% HL. This finding has important implications for taxonomy and conservation of indigenous Pangasiid catfishes, due to its close morphological appearance to the more abundant P. micronemus but with different biology and ecological behavior, thus necessitating different management and conservation strategies.
Vermiconversion study was conducted to compare the use of commercial livestock excreta i.e. cow dung (CD) and goat manure (GM) in the vermiconversion of spent mushroom compost (SMC) utilising red worms i.e. Lumbricus rubellus to obtain good quality compost with high nutrient content. This study was performed for 70 days after 21 days of pre-composting at different ratios of livestock excreta and SMC. The highest multiplication and growth of earthworms in number and biomass was recorded in TE with increment of +296.57 and +484.20%, respectively. Moreover, paired samples t-test indicated a significant difference (p<0.05) in earthworms’ number and biomass. The results for non-mixed substrate showed, CD (TA) bioproduct obtained, contained the highest concentration in exchangeable K (1.98%). However, GM (TD) vermicompost recorded the highest content of total N (1.66%) and available P (0.64%). In conclusion, 50% of GM is recommended in vermiculture as well as producing nutrient enriched bioproduct compared with CD with SMC as bulking agent. Furthermore, heavy metal i.e. Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu and Zn content in bioproduct produced from all treatments were lower compared to compost limits set by USA, European countries and Malaysian Recommended Site Screening Levels for Contaminated Land (SSLs).
The salivary gland secretion of the haematophagous animals, leeches, has attracted the attention of therapists since the extreme old ages due to its wide range of medical properties. Thus, many researches have been done to develop and optimize new methods to collect leech saliva with high quality and quantity. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of starvation period and repeated collection on the quality and quantity of leech saliva extract LSE and its contents of proteins during the rainy season. Protein recovery in the LSE was also studied after first collection. It was found that leeches are able to produce protein-containing saliva whenever fed during the whole study period of 18 weeks with varied protein concentrations. The results showed that the highest protein concentrations (105-91 μg/mL) were produced after 12-15 weeks of starvation. The results of successive collection showed that leeches are able to produce proteins and peptides whenever they suck the solution after first collection with some varies in the concentrations. The concentrations varied between 0 and 72% of the initial concentration. Gel electrophoresis results showed absence for some bands when the concentrations are too low. Also the results showed that leeches are able to recover about 42% of their initial proteins concentration within four weeks of starvation after first feeding. The gel electrophoresis results showed the closeness between the first and second collections. To conclude, all test factors (starvation period, successive collection and recovery test) were shown to have an important impact on protein concentration of leech saliva and therefore its medicinal affectivity. The mentioned results are reported for the first time and they open the gate for further studies.
Selenium (Se) has been recognized as an essential nutrient for humans. Plant foods are the predominant source of selenium and majority of dietary selenium is absorbed depending on the type of food consumed. Nowadays, green tea is becoming increasingly popular for its prominent health benefits, including the ability to supplement selenium in organically bound, natural food form. The selenium content of Se-enriched green tea is influenced by the selenium level of local soils in which it is grown. However, selenium content of plants can also be improved by artificial fortification methods. In this review, the chemical speciation and biological functions of selenium, fortification methods, biological activities and nutraceutical applications of Se-enriched green tea are discussed. This review provides insights into the current research and the importance of Se-enriched green tea in the enrichment of human nutrition and health.