Pomegranate fruit is the most studied part of punica granatum shrub. The fruit contains enormous
amount of polyphenol compounds in the peel and arils (flesh) which are responsible for its antioxidant
activity. The polyphenols present are of varying degree of lipophilicity and thus would require solvents
of varying polarity to extract them. In this study, the effects of solvent type and homogenisation on
extraction yield were considered. The fruit was first separated into peel and flesh and subsequently, one
half of each of the peel and flesh were separately homogenised. Ethanol, ethylacetate and hexane were
used to extract the polyphenol content of each of the four samples; non-homogenised peel (NP), nonhomogenised flesh (NF), homogenised peel (HP) and homogenised flesh (HF) in decreasing order of
polarity using maceration method. The extraction was carried out successively using the residue
recovered from previous extraction. Ethanol was used for a second time to complete the extraction
process. The total extractive yield from the four samples were 27.19, 26.04, 25.03 and 15.61 for HP,
NP, HF and NF respectively. The experiment has demonstrated that maceration process can be used to
extract compounds from pomegranate to give a yield similar to more sophisticated method and ethanol
is a suitable solvent for extracting hydrophilic compounds from the fruit.
Piper betel is a member of the family Piperaceae, commonly known as Sirih (Malaysia and
Indonesia), Paan (India and Bangladesh), Betel (English) and Phlu (Thailand). It is widely found and
grown in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, other Southeast Asian and East African
countries. Piper betel is widely used throughout the world even in modern days due to its known
medicinal properties. Betel plant contains various biologically active compounds, which are
responsible for its numerous pharmacological actions. The therapeutic profile reveals Piper betel to
have a high potential for treating many diseases and conditions such as chronic renal disease,
atherosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus. Further studies of betel plant are recommended to focus on
the variety of metabolic activities in human, thus, improving its usage medically that will be beneficial
to humanity.
Introduction: cAMP Response Element Binding (CREB) and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) protein levels tend to be a critical mediator for the beneficial effects of diet on neurogenesis and cognitive function. Increased fruit intake has been associated with improved cognitive function. However, in Malaysia, most adolescents still haven't met the recommended intake of fruits and far less is known on how their adequacy of fruit intake can be affected to their protein levels of CREB and BDNF. Methods: A cross sectional study was done on 352 students aged 14 and 16 years old involving 11 secondary schools in Kuala Terengganu, Marang and Hulu Terengganu Districts. A validated MyUM adolescent FFQ was used for fruit intake assessment. Blood sample to determine the level of CREB and BDNF proteins. Results: A total of 53.7% of adolescents consumed an adequate intake ( 2 servings/day) of fruits. Serum level BDNF was significantly (p
Introduction: This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of vegetable intake and its associated personal, socio-environmental and physical-environmental factors among Malay adolescents in rural Terengganu. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted from 1st January 2019 to 31st May 2019 at selected secondary schools in rural Terengganu in Marang and Hulu Terengganu districts. A total of 240 students were recruited by mul- tistage random sampling method in schools and based on inclusion criteria. A validated questionnaire was developed consisting of four (4) sections; demographic data, personal, socio-environmental and physical-environmental factors of vegetable intake. Reliability test found the validity and internal consistency of the questionnaire to be acceptable with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.762. Results: The respondents consisted of 53% males and 47% females with mean age of 15.01 (1.00) years old. Majority of the respondents had normal BMI status (48%) follows by underweight (20%), overweight (16%) and obese (16%). Majority (83%) had inadequate vegetable intake per day. Factors that were associated with the vegetable intake among adolescents were liking (p=0.01), intention (p=0.01) and habit (p