Chemical-based coagulants and flocculants are commonly used in the coagulation-flocculation process. However, the drawbacks of using these chemical materials have triggered researchers to find natural materials to substitute or reduce the number of chemical-based coagulants and flocculants. This study examines the potential application of Nephelium lappaceum seeds as a natural coagulant-coagulant aid with Tin (IV) chloride (SnCl4) in eliminating suspended solids (SS), colour, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from landfill leachate. Results showed that the efficiency of Nephelium lappaceum was low when used as the main coagulant in the standard jar test. When SnCl4 was applied as a single coagulant, as much as 98.4% of SS, 96.8% of colour and 82.0% of COD was eliminated at an optimal dose of 10.5 g/L and pH 7. The higher removal efficiency of colour (88.8%) was obtained when 8.40 g/L of SnCl4 was applied with a support of 3 g/L of Nephelium lappaceum. When SnCl4 was utilised as a coagulant, and Nephelium lappaceum seed was used as a flocculant, the removal of pollutants generally improved. Overall, this research showed that Nephelium lappaceum seed is a viable natural alternative for treating landfill leachate as a coagulant aid.
The present work focused on the utilization of three local wastes, i.e., rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), langsat (Lansium parasiticum), and mango (Mangifera indica) wastes, as organic substrates in a benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) to reduce the cadmium and lead concentrations from synthetic water. Out of the three wastes, the mango waste promoted a maximum current density (87.71 mA/m2) along with 78% and 80% removal efficiencies for Cd2+ and Pb2+, respectively. The bacterial identification proved that Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter, and Citrobacter were responsible for metal removal and energy generation. In the present work, the BMFC mechanism, current challenges, and future recommendations are also enclosed.
This paper reports the cryopreservation of Nephelium ramboutan-ake shoot tips derived from in vitro shoot multiplication and in vitro seed germination using vitrification. Preculture with either 0.5 M sucrose for 2 days or a combination of 0.3 M sucrose and 0.5 M glycerol for 3 days enhanced dehydration tolerance and resulted in the highest survival of shoot tips; however, none of the shoot tips withstood liquid nitrogen (LN) exposure. The use of a lower temperature (0 degree C) during exposure to plant vitrification solution (PVS2) led to higher survival of shoot tips, compared to exposure at 25 degree C. The survival percentage of shoot tips exposed to PVS2 for up to 20 min at 0°C was 83.3 percent. It was only 53.3 percent when shoot tips were exposed to PVS2 at 25 degree C for 5 min. The importance of vitamin C for reducing oxidative stress in shoots tips was demonstrated. The addition of 0.28 mM vitamin C during critical steps of the vitrification process resulted in a high survival (96.7 percent) without LN exposure, compared to 73.3 percent for shoot tips not treated with vitamin C. Moreover, 3.3 percent shoot tips withstood LN exposure when vitamin C was added during the loading step. This result suggests that cryopreservation is possible for this tropical, recalcitrant seeded tree species.
A novel way to fully utilize rambutan fruit and seed is to ferment peeled fruits followed by drying and roasting, and use the seeds to produce seed powder similar to that of cocoa powder. Hence, the objective of this study was to optimize the roasting time and temperature of rambutan fruit post-fermentation and drying, and to produce a cocoa-like powder product from the seeds. Parameters monitored during roasting were colour and total phenolic content, while seed powder obtained using optimized roasting conditions was analyzed for its physicochemical properties and toxicity. The latter was examined using the brine shrimp lethality assay. Results showed that the roasted seed powder possessed colour and key volatile compounds similar to that of cocoa powder. Besides, the brine shrimp lethality assay indicated that the roasted seed powder was non-toxic. Thus, the fruit, including its seed could be fully utilized and subsequently, wastage could be reduced.
Unique zerovalent iron (Fe0) supported on biochar nanocomposite (Fe0-BRtP) was synthesized from Nephelium lappaceum (Rambutan) fruit peel waste and were applied for the simultaneous removal of 6 selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) from aqueous medium. During facile synthesis of Fe0-BRtP, Rambutan peel extract was used as the green reducing mediator to reduce Fe2+ to zerovalent iron (Fe0), instead of toxic sodium borohydride which were used for chemical synthesis. For comparison, chemically synthesized Fe0-BChe nanocomposite was also prepared in this work. Characterization study confirmed the successful synthesis and dispersion of Fe0 nanoparticles on biochar surface. Batch experiments revealed that Fe0-BRtP and Fe0-BChe nanocomposites combine the advantage of adsorption and dechlorination of OCPs in aqueous medium and up to 96-99% and 83-91% removal was obtained within 120 and 150 min, respectively at initial pH 4. Nevertheless, the reactivity of Fe0-BChe nanocomposite decreased 2 folds after being aged in air for one month, whilst Fe0-BRtP almost remained the same. Adsorption isotherm of OCPs were fitted well to Langmuir isotherm and then to Freundlich isotherm. The experimental kinetic data were fitted first to pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic model and then to pseudo-first-order reduction kinetic model. The adsorption mechanism involves π-π electron-donor-acceptor interaction and adsorption is facilitated by the hydrophobic sorption and pore filling. After being reused five times, the removal efficiency of regenerated Fe0-BChe and Fe0-BRtP was 5-13% and 89-92%, respectively. The application of this Fe0-BRtP nanocomposite could represent a green and low-cost potential material for adsorption and subsequent reduction of OCPs in aquatic system.
Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan keupayaan yis (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) yang telah dipencil daripada buahbuahan tempatan iaitu duku langsat (Lansium domesticum), rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), mangga Chokanan (Mangifera indica cv. Chokanan) dan rebung buluh minyak (Bambusa vulgaris) sebagai agen penaik roti berbanding roti kawalan penambahan yis komersial. Isi padu tertentu roti kawalan menunjukkan perbezaan bererti (p<0.05) dengan semua roti kajian. Roti yang difermentasi oleh yis rebung buluh menunjukkan isi padu tertentu yang paling tinggi, diikuti oleh roti yang difermentasi oleh yis mangga dan yis duku langsat dan ketiga-tiga yis tersebut juga mempunyai isi padu tertentu yang lebih tinggi secara bererti (p<0.05) dengan roti kawalan. Roti yang difermentasi oleh yis rebung buluh dan yis mangga mempunyai tekstur yang lebih lembut berbanding roti kawalan. Peningkatan dalam isi padu tertentu roti boleh meningkatkan kelembutan tekstur roti. Peratus kandungan kelembapan kulit dan isi roti yang difermentasi oleh yis rebung buluh adalah paling tinggi manakala roti yang difermentasi oleh yis rambutan menunjukkan peratus kandungan kelembapan yang paling rendah. Peningkatan peratus kandungan kelembapan juga boleh meningkatkan kelembutan tesktur roti dan sebaliknya. Daripada segi warna kulit, hanya kecerahan warna kulit (L*) roti yang difermentasi oleh yis rebung buluh tidak menunjukkan perbezaan bererti (p>0.05) dengan warna kulit roti kawalan. Kecerahan warna isi (L*) roti kawalan pula menunjukkan perbezaan bererti (p<0.05) dengan semua isi roti kajian. Selain itu, didapati semakin kecil dan padat liang udara, semakin putih warna isi roti. Keseragaman taburan liang udara juga menghasilkan isi roti yang lebih putih. Secara keseluruhan, kesemua yis yang dipencil berpotensi untuk dijadikan sebagai agen penaik. Yis rebung buluh dan yis mangga dapat menghasilkan kualiti roti putih yang lebih baik daripada yis komersial.
Data bagi Sapindaceae dalam suatu plot kekal 50 ha di Hutan Simpan Pasoh, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia telah diperoleh dari Institut Penyelidikan Hutan Malaysia (FRIM), Kepong dan telah diguna untuk menilai pengeluaran primer dan taburan famili. Lima bancian telah dijalankan dalam tahun 1985-2005 dan analisis data telah dijalankan ke atas bancian terakhir. Walau bagaimanapun perbandingan telah dibuat antara kelima-lima bancian untuk menentukan kevariabelan. Daripada bancian tahun 2005, 10 genus dan 18 spesies Sapindaceae telah direkodkan di dalam plot. Sejumlah 13360 dirian pokok telah dikira dan spesies yang paling banyak ialah Xerospermum noronhianum (7678 dirian). Jumlah biojisim bagi famili telah dianggarkan sebanyak 7.25 t/ha dan biojisim atas tanah tertinggi telah disumbangkan oleh X. noronhianum, dengan anggaran sebanyak 2.78 t/ha. Spesies ini juga mempunyai nilai keluasan pangkal tertinggi dengan 17.68 m2/ha. Anggaran biojisim untuk 20 tahun telah berkurangan secara signifikan (ANOVA, p<0.05) antara empat bancian. Genus yang mempunyai dirian tertinggi ialah Xerospermum (57.47%). Bagi melihat corak taburan, Indeks Taburan Morisita (Id) telah digunakan dan mendapati semua spesies mempunyai corak taburan secara rawak. Sebanyak 2292 dirian telah didapati mati (278/tahun) dan 1246 dirian baru direkodkan (172/tahun) pada tahun 2005. Secara keseluruhannya pertambahan saiz diameter bagi tempoh 20 tahun adalah sangat kecil iaitu 0.03 cm/tahun.
Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan, belongs to the family Sapindaceae, and is one of the most economically important fruits commonly cultivated in several regions in Asia. There are various cultivars of longan throughout the Thai-Malay peninsula region, but until now no phylogenetic analysis has been undertaken to determine the genetic relatedness of these cultivars. To address this issue, 6 loci, namely ITS2, matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA, trnL-I and trnL-trnF were amplified and sequenced from 40 individuals consisting of 26 longan cultivars 2 types of lychee and 8 herbarium samples. The sequencing results were used to construct a phylogenetic tree using the neighbor-joining (NJ), maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) criteria. The tree showed cryptic groups of D. longan from the Thailand-Malaysia region (Dimocarpus longan spp.). This is the first report of the genetic relationship of Dimocarpus based on multi-locus molecular markers and morphological characteristics. Multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetic trees and species delimitation support that Dimocarpus longan spp. longan var. obtusus and Dimocarpus longan spp. malesianus var. malesianus should be placed into a higher order and are two additional species in the genus Dimocarpus. Therefore these two species require nomenclatural changes as Dimocarpus malesianus and Dimocarpus obtusus, respectively.
The present study focused on the phytochemical profiling along with evaluation of in vitro antioxidant, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities of various crudes and fractions obtained from Lepisanthes fruticosa (Roxb) Leenh fruit. Ethanolic seed crude extract exhibited the strongest radical scavenging, β-carotene bleaching activity, α-glucosidase inhibition and the highest total phenolic content (TPC). Column chromatography afforded various fractions with fraction M4 being the most potent due to the strongest radical scavenging, β-carotene bleaching, α-glucosidase inhibition and greatest amount of TPC. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis of ethanolic seed crude extract and fraction M4 showed the presence of various phytochemicals with antioxidant and antidiabetic properties, which include mostly flavonoids and tannins. The results may suggest that the ethanolic crude seed extract and its fraction could be an excellent source of bioactive phytochemicals with antioxidant and antidiabetic potential.
The trend of microsatellite marker discovery and development revolved as a result of the advancement of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology as it has developed numerous microsatellites within a short period of time at a low cost. This study generated microsatellite markers using RAD sequencing technologies for the understudied Nephelium lappaceum. A total of 1403 microsatellite markers were successfully designed, which consisted of 853 di-, 525 tri-, 17 tetra-, 5 penta-, and 3 hexanucleotide microsatellite markers. Subsequently, selection of 39 microsatellites was made for the evaluation of genetic diversity of the selected 22 rambutan varieties. Twelve microsatellites, which exhibited high call rates across the samples, were used to assess the diversity of the aforementioned rambutan varieties. The analysis of 12 microsatellites revealed the presence of 72 alleles and six alleles per locus in average. Furthermore, the polymorphic information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.326 (NlaSSR20) to 0.832 (NlaSSR32), which included an average of 0.629 per locus, while the generated Neighbour Joining dendrogram showed two major clusters. The pairwise genetic distance of shared alleles exhibited a range of values from 0.046 (R134↔R170) to 0.818 (R5↔R170), which suggested highest dissimilarity detected between R5 and R170. Notably, these research findings would useful for varietal identification, proper management and conservation of the genetic resources, and exploitation and utilization in future breeding programs.
Nephelium lappaceum is a popular tropical fruit belonging to the Sapindaceae family. The plant originated in Malaysia and Indonesia and is commonly called rambutan. Because of its refreshing flavor and exotic appearance, rambutan is widely accepted in the World. Due to its significant medicinal properties, the fruit has also been employed in traditional medicine for centuries. The chloroplast genome of rambutan was sequenced, assembled, and annotated in the present study. The chloroplast genome length was 161,356 bp and contained 132 genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. It possessed the typical quadripartite circle structure with a large single-copy region (86,009 bp), a small single-copy region (18,153 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (28,597 bp). A total of 35 SSR markers were found in the chloroplast genome of Nephelium lappaceum, of which 33 were monomer, 1 was dimer and 1 was tetramer. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete chloroplast genome sequences of 21 plant species showed that rambutan was closely related to Pometia tomentosa. These results provide a foundation for further phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of the Sapindaceae family.
This review of literature provides an overview on the compositional data of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum Linn.) and rambutan seed fat for usage in chocolate product. It is a seasonal fruit native of west Malaysia and Sumatra. It is harvested when the fruit have reached optimum visual and organoleptic quality. Rambutans rapidly deteriorate unless proper handling techniques are employed. The rambutan fruits are deseeded during processing and these seeds (~ 4-9 g/100 g) are a waste by-product of the canning industry. And some studies was showed that rambutan seed possesses a relatively high amount of fat and these fats are similar to those of cocoa fat, although have some different physical properties. In the present research about rambutan seed fat continued increasing due to from previous research was found that this fat can use as substitute in cocoa butter for chocolate products. Therefore, the extracted fat from rambutan seed not only could be used for manufacturing candles, soaps, and fuels, but it also has a possible to be a source of natural edible fat with feasible industry use.
A stem canker disease on rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) and litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn. (Sapindaceae) was found in plants in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. A fungus associated with cankers was identified as Dolabra nepheliae C. Booth & Ting (1). Numerous black, stipitate, elongate ascomata were produced within cracks of cankers. These ascomata contain elongate, bitunicate asci amid unbranched, interthecial elements and thin, cylindrical, hyaline ascospores measuring 96 to 136 × 2.5 to 3.5 μm. This fungus was originally described from Malaysia on N. lappaceum (1) and is also known on pulasan (N. mutabile Blume) in Australia (2). Classified by the Food and Agriculture Organization as a 'minor disease', the canker appears to be relatively common in Hawaii and was most likely introduced into Puerto Rico on imported germplasm. Nevertheless, efforts are underway to study the potential damage of this disease as well as mechanisms of control, including introduction of disease resistant clones. Specimens have been deposited at the U.S. National Fungus Collections (Hawaii on Nephelium BPI 878189, Puerto Rico (PR) on Nephelium BPI 878188, and PR on Litchi BPI 878190). Although a specimen of D. nepheliae on L. chinensis was collected from Hawaii in 1984 by G. Wong and C. Hodges and deposited as BPI 626373, this fungus was not known on Nephelium spp. in Hawaii and was not previously known from Puerto Rico on either host. References: (1) C. Booth and W. P. Ting. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 47:235, 1964. (2) T. K. Lim and Y. Diczbalis. Rambutan. Page 306 in: The New Rural Industries. Online publication. Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Australia, 1997.
Presence of copper within water bodies deteriorates human health and degrades natural environment. This heavy metal in water is treated using a promising biochar derived from rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) peel through slow pyrolysis. This research compares the efficacies of artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and multiple linear regression (MLR) models and evaluates their capability in estimating the adsorption efficiency of biochar for the removal of Cu (II) ions based on 480 experimental sets obtained in a laboratory batch study. The effects of operational parameters such as contact time, operating temperature, biochar dosage, and initial Cu (II) ion concentration on removing Cu (II) ions were investigated. Eleven different training algorithms in ANN and 8 different membership functions in ANFIS were compared statistically and evaluated in terms of estimation errors, which are root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and accuracy. The effects of number of hidden neuron in ANN model and fuzzy set combination in ANFIS were studied. In this study, ANFIS model with Gaussian membership function and fuzzy set combination of [4 5 2 3] was found to be the best method, with accuracy of 90.24% and 87.06% for training and testing dataset, respectively. Contribution of this study is that ANN, ANFIS, and MLR modeling techniques were used for the first time to study the adsorption of Cu (II) ions from aqueous solutions using rambutan peel biochar.
The seeds (6.9±0.2% by weight of fruit) of the red-skin rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) contain a considerable amount of crude fat (38.0±4.36%) and thus, the aim of the study was to determine the physico-chemical properties of this fat for potential applications. The iodine and saponification values, and unsaponifiable matter and free fatty acid contents of the seed fat were 50.27 g I2/100g fat, 182.1 mg KOH/g fat, 0.8% and 2.1%, respectively. The fat is pale yellow with a Lovibond color index of 3.1Y+1.1R. The fatty acid profile indicates an almost equal proportion of saturated (49.1%) and unsaturated (50.9%) fatty acids, where oleic (42.0%) and arachidic (34.3%) acids were the most dominant fatty acids. It also contained small amounts of stearic (8.0%), palmitic (4.6%), gadoleic (5.9%), linoleic (2.2%), behenic (2.1%) palmitoleic (0.7%) myristic (0.1%) and erucic (0.1%) acids. HPLC analysis showed that the fat comprised mainly unknown triacylglycerols (TAG) with high retention times indicating they have higher carbon numbers compared with many vegetable oils. The fat has melting and cooling points of 44.2°C and -42.5°C, respectively, making it a semi-solid at room temperature. The solid content at 0°C was 53.5% and the fat melted completely at 40°C. z-Nose analysis showed that the presence of high levels of volatile compounds in red-skin rambutan seed and seed fat.
Natural products play a vital role in the discovery of leads for novel pharmacologically active drugs. Geraniin (GE) was identified as the major compound in the rind of Nephelium lappaceum L. (Sapindaceae), while ellagic and gallic acids have been shown to be its main metabolites. GE and its metabolites possess a range of bioactive properties including being an anti-infective, anticarcinogenic, antihyperglycemic, and antihypertensive.
Rambutan seed is usually discarded during fruit processing. However, the seed contains a considerable amount of crude fat. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the fat properties and antinutrient content of the seed during fermentation of rambutan fruit. Results showed that the crude fat content of the seed reduced by 22% while its free fatty acid content increased by 4.3 folds after 10 days of fermentation. Arachidic acid was selectively reduced and was replaced by linoleic acid from the seventh day of fermentation onwards. Only 14.5% of triacylglycerol remained in the seed fat at the end of fermentation. The complete melting temperature, crystallization onset temperature and solid fat index at 37 °C of the fermented seed fat were higher than that of non-fermented seed fat. The saponin and tannin contents of the seed were reduced by 67% and 47%, respectively, after fermentation.
Nowadays, many of the tropical fruits have been commercialized worldwide due to increasing demand. In 2018, global tropical fruit has reached an unprecedented peak of 7.1 million tonnes. As such, a lot of large scale farming has been initiated to cultivate the fruit for commercialization. The nature of tropical fruit is perishable make the fruit easily undergo post-harvest losses especially when the fruit travels in a long distance for distribution. Losses of tropical fruit is estimated around 18-28% after harvesting. Then, the losses will continually develop during the trading process. Applying fruit coating on the fruit can minimize substantial privation. This article compendiously reviews the needs of coating and discuss different types of coating materials. The efficiency of different coating materials; polysaccharide, protein, lipid and composite based coating on tropical fruit is highlighted. There are various types of coating available for major fruit such as banana, mango, pineapple and avocado that can effectively extend the post-harvest life, minimize water loss, reduce chilling injuries and fight against post-harvest disease. Coating from minor fruit such as durian, rambutan, passion-fruit and mangosteen are still limited especially made from lipid and protein coating. In choosing the most appropriate coating for tropical, the nature of fruit needs to be understood. In addition, the chemistry of coating components and techniques of application is important in modulating the fruit quality.
A novel way to reduce rambutan wastage is to ferment the fruit and valorise the seed post-fer- mentation into other food products and ingredients. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the physicochemical properties of rambutan seed during solid-state fermentation of the fruit. Peeled rambutan fruits were subjected to natural fermentation for ten days at 30°C. The environmental temperature, relative humidity, internal and external temperatures of the fermentation mass were measured daily. After ten days of fermentation, the seeds had higher cut test score (867.5), fermentation index (1.527), and a* value (8.20 for non-dried seeds and
9.93 for dried seeds), and lower L* (51.90 for non-dried seeds and 49.22 for dried seeds) and b* (30.52 for non-dried seeds and 30.12 for dried seeds) values; as compared to the non-fer- mented seeds (cut test score, 0.0; fermentation index, 0.856; L*, a*, and b* values, 64.52, 2.25, and 42.07 for non-dried seeds, respectively, and 61.03, 3.23 and 36.70 for dried seeds, respectively). During this time, pH, total soluble solids, fructose, glucose, sucrose, citric acid, and tartaric acid contents of the seeds decreased by 46, 44, 59, 61, 100, 85, and 100%, respec- tively, while the titratable acidity, lactic acid, acetic acid, and ascorbic acid contents of the seeds increased by 5.5, 7.8, 6.0, and 2.2-fold, respectively. Results showed that eight days of fermentation are adequate to produce well-fermented rambutan seeds that could be further processed into a cocoa powder-like product by roasting the fermented fruits in a manner similar to that of cocoa bean roasting.
A new gall-inducing genus and species of felt scales (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) found on the leaves and twigs of Matayba guianensis (Sapindaceae) in Brazil is described: Bystracoccus Hodgson gen n. and B. mataybae Hodgson, Isaias & Oliveira sp. n. This is the first record of an eriococcid inducing leaf and stem galls on Sapindaceae and is only the second example of a member of the Eriococcidae to induce stem galls in which the insects diapause during the dry (winter) season. Only the adult female, second-instar female and crawler are known. The species overwinters as the first-instar nymph in pit galls on the twigs but spends the rest of the year associated with two-chambered galls on the leaves. It has recently become clear that South America has a rich felt-scale insect fauna many of which induce galls. It has proved very difficult to place this new genus in a family as it appears to fall between the Eriococcidae and Beesoniidae but is here placed in the eriococcids based on the similarity of the first-instar nymphs and the abundance of this family in the Neotropics. However, the dorsum of the abdomen of the mature adult female becomes heavily sclerotised, forming a round plug-like structure that completely fills the gall orifice. This structure shows remarkable morphological similarities to that of the beesoniid Danumococcus parashoreae Takagi & Hodgson found on Parashorea tomentella (Dipterocarpaceae) in Sabah, Malaysia, with which it is compared along with other eriococcid genera known from South America.