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  1. Raof NA, Yunus R, Rashid U, Azis N, Yaakub Z
    Protein Pept Lett, 2018;25(2):171-179.
    PMID: 29359647 DOI: 10.2174/0929866525666180122095056
    BACKGROUND: The transesterification of high oleic palm oil methyl ester (HOPME) with neopentyl glycol (NPG) has been investigated. The present study revealed the application of low-pressure technology as a new synthesis method to produce NPG diesters. Single variable optimization and response surface methodology (RSM) were implemented to optimize the experimental conditions to achieve the maximum composition (wt%) of NPG diesters.

    OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to optimize the production of NPG diesters and to characterize the optimized esters with typical chemical, physical and electrical properties to study its potential as insulating oil.

    METHODS: The transesterification reaction between HOPME and NPG was conducted in a 1L three-neck flask reactor at specified temperature, pressure, molar ratio and catalyst concentration. For the optimization, four factors have been studied and the diester product was characterized by using gas chromatography (GC) analysis. The synthesized esters were then characterized with typical properties of transformer oil such as flash point, pour point, viscosity and breakdown voltage and were compared with mineral insulating oil and commercial NPG dioleate. For formulation, different samples of NPG diesters with different concentration of pour point depressant were prepared and each sample was tested for its pour point measurement.

    RESULTS: The optimum conditions inferred from the analyses were: molar ratio of HOPME to NPG of 2:1.3, temperature = 182°C, pressure = 0.6 mbar and catalyst concentration of 1.2%. The synthesized NPG diesters showed very important improvement in fire safety compared to mineral oil with flash point of 300°C and 155°C, respectively. NPG diesters also exhibit a relatively good viscosity of 21 cSt. The most striking observation to emerge from the data comparison with NPG diester was the breakdown voltage, which was higher than mineral oil and definitely in conformance to the IEC 61099 limit at 67.5 kV. The formulation of synthesized NPD diesters with VISCOPLEX® pour point depressant has successfully increased the pour point of NPG diester from -14°C to -48°C.

    CONCLUSION: The reaction time for the transesterification of HOPME with NPG to produce NPG diester was successfully reduced to 1 hour from the 14 hours required in the earlier synthesis method. The main highlight of this study was the excess reactant which is no longer methyl ester but the alcohol (NPG). The optimum reaction conditions for the synthesis were molar ratio of 2:1.13 for NPG:HOPME, 182°C, 0.6 mbar and catalyst concentration of 1.2 wt%. The maximum NPG diester yield of 87 wt% was consistent with the predicted yield of 87.7 wt% obtained from RSM. The synthesized diester exhibited better insulating properties than the commercial products especially with regards to the breakdown voltage, flash point and moisture content.

  2. Mohamad NA, Azis N, Jasni J, Kadir MZAA, Yunus R, Yaakub Z
    Nanomaterials (Basel), 2021 Mar 19;11(3).
    PMID: 33808641 DOI: 10.3390/nano11030786
    This experimental study aims to examine the partial discharge (PD) properties of palm oil and coconut oil (CO) based aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanofluids with and without surfactants. The type of surfactant used in this study was sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The volume concentrations range of Al2O3 dispersed in oil samples was varied from 0.001% to 0.05%. The ratio of surfactants to nanoparticles was set to 1:2. In total, two different types of refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) and one type of CO were measured for PD. Mineral oil (MO) was also examined for comparison purpose. PDIV measurements for all samples were carried out based on rising voltage method whereby a needle-sphere electrode configuration with a gap distance of 50 mm was chosen in this study. Al2O3 improves the PDIVs of RBDPO, CO and MO whereby the highest improvements of PDIVs are 34%, 39.3% and 27%. The PD amplitude and repetition rate of RBDPO improve by 38% and 81% while for CO, it can increase up to 65% and 80% respectively. The improvement of PD amplitude and repetition rate for MO are 18% and 95%, regardless with and without SDS. Without SDS, the presence of Al2O3 could cause 26%, 75% and 65% reductions of the average emission of light signals for RBDPOA, RBDPOB and CO with the improvement of PD characteristics but both events do not correlate at the same volume concentration of Al2O3. On the other hand, the average emission of light signal levels of the oils increases with the introduction of SDS. The emission of light signal in MO does not correlate with the PD characteristics improvement either with or without SDS.
  3. Mohamad NA, Azis N, Jasni J, Ab Kadir MZA, Yunus R, Yaakub Z
    Materials (Basel), 2018 Mar 30;11(4).
    PMID: 29601520 DOI: 10.3390/ma11040532
    This paper presents a sealed ageing study of palm oil (PO) and coconut oil (CO) in the presence of insulation paper. The type of PO under study is refined, bleached, and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) olein. Three different variations of RBDPO and one sample of CO are aged at temperatures of 90 °C, 110 °C, and 130 °C. The properties of RBDPO and CO as well as paper under ageing are then analysed through dielectric and physicochemical measurements. It is found that the effect of ageing is not significant on the alternating current (AC) breakdown voltages and relative permittivities of RBDPO and CO. There is a slight increment trend of the resistivity for CO, while for all of the RBDPO, the resistivity slightly decreases as the ageing progresses. Only CO shows an apparent reduction of the dielectric dissipation factor. Throughout the ageing time, the acidities of all of the RBDPO and CO remain at low level, while the moisture in oils decreases. The tensile index (TI) of the papers for all of the RBDPO and CO retain more than 50% of the TI. A significant increment of the paper ageing rates of all of the RBDPO and CO is observed at an ageing temperature of 130 °C.
  4. Mohamad NA, Azis N, Jasni J, Ab Kadir MZA, Yunus R, Yaakub Z
    Nanotechnology, 2020 Aug 04;31(42):425708.
    PMID: 32748802 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aba1b9
    In this paper, the effect of different types of surfactants on the lightning breakdown voltages of palm oil (PO) and coconut oil (CO) based aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanofluids is investigated. Three different types of surfactants were used in this study known as cationic (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)), anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)) and non-ionic (oleic acid (OA)). The volume percentage concentrations of Al2O3 dispersed into PO and CO were varied from 0.001% to 0.05%. The ratio of surfactant to the nanoparticles was set to 50% from the volume concentration of nanoparticles which equivalent to 1:2. In total, two types of refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) and one type of CO were examined for lightning breakdown voltage. The test was carried out based on needle-sphere electrodes configuration with 25 mm gap distance. The presence of Al2O3 improves both positive and negative lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPO and CO. Under the positive and negative polarities, the CTAB does provide further improvements on the lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPOA (1st type of samples) and CO at most of the volume of concentration of Al2O3. SDS and OA could also further improve the lightning breakdown voltage of CO at certain volume concentration of Al2O3. On the other hand, the lightning breakdown voltage of RBDPOB based Al2O3 nanofluid (2nd type of samples) does not further improve with the introduction of surfactants. At most of the volume concentration of Al2O3, the introduction of CTAB further increases the times to breakdown and decrease the average streamer velocities of RBDPOA under both polarities. The same finding is observed for CO under positive polarity with CTAB and SDS as well as under negative polarity in the presence of all surfactants. The streamer velocities and times to breakdown patterns of RBDPOB based Al2O3 nanofluid are inconsistent in the presence of all surfactants. It is found that RBDPO and CO based Al2O3 nanofluids have second mode of streamer whereby the streamer velocities are from 1 km s-1 to 1.63 km s-1 regardless with or without surfactants.
  5. Yaakub Z, Kamaruddin K, Singh R, Mustafa S, Marjuni M, Ting NC, et al.
    BMC Plant Biol, 2020 Jul 29;20(1):356.
    PMID: 32727448 DOI: 10.1186/s12870-020-02563-5
    BACKGROUND: Molecular breeding has opened new avenues for crop improvement with the potential for faster progress. As oil palm is the major producer of vegetable oil in the world, its improvement, such as developing compact planting materials and altering its oils' fatty acid composition for wider application, is important.

    RESULTS: This study sought to identify the QTLs associated with fatty acid composition and vegetative traits for compactness in the crop. It integrated two interspecific backcross two (BC2) mapping populations to improve the genetic resolution and evaluate the consistency of the QTLs identified. A total 1963 markers (1814 SNPs and 149 SSRs) spanning a total map length of 1793 cM were integrated into a consensus map. For the first time, some QTLs associated with vegetative parameters and carotene content were identified in interspecific hybrids, apart from those associated with fatty acid composition. The analysis identified 8, 3 and 8 genomic loci significantly associated with fatty acids, carotene content and compactness, respectively.

    CONCLUSIONS: Major genomic region influencing the traits for compactness and fatty acid composition was identified in the same chromosomal region in the two populations using two methods for QTL detection. Several significant loci influencing compactness, carotene content and FAC were common to both populations, while others were specific to particular genetic backgrounds. It is hoped that the QTLs identified will be useful tools for marker-assisted selection and accelerate the identification of desirable genotypes for breeding.

  6. Myint KA, Yaakub Z, Rafii MY, Oladosu Y, Samad MYA, Ramlee SI, et al.
    Biomed Res Int, 2021;2021:6620645.
    PMID: 33997027 DOI: 10.1155/2021/6620645
    Molecular characterization of oil palm germplasm is crucial in utilizing and conserving germplasm with promising traits. This study was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity structures and relationships among 26 families of MPOB-Senegal oil palm germplasm using thirty-five microsatellite markers. High level of polymorphism (P = 96.26%), number of effective allele (N e = 2.653), observed heterozygosity (H o = 0.584), expected heterozygosity (H e = 0.550), total heterozygosity (H T = 0.666), and rare alleles (54) were observed which indicates that MPOB-Senegal germplasm has a broad genetic variation. Among the SSR markers, sMo00053 and sMg00133 were the most informative markers for discrimination among the MPOB-Senegal oil palm germplasm for having the highest private alleles and the rare alleles. For selection and conservation, oil palm populations with high rare alleles and Nei's gene diversity index should be considered as these populations may possess unique genes for further exploitation.
  7. Ting NC, Yaakub Z, Kamaruddin K, Mayes S, Massawe F, Sambanthamurthi R, et al.
    BMC Genomics, 2016;17(1):289.
    PMID: 27079197 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2607-4
    The commercial oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) produces a mesocarp oil (commonly called 'palm oil') with approximately equal proportions of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (FAs). An increase in unsaturated FAs content or iodine value (IV) as a measure of the degree of unsaturation would help to open up new markets for the oil. One way to manipulate the fatty acid composition (FAC) in palm oil is through introgression of favourable alleles from the American oil palm, E. oleifera, which has a more unsaturated oil.
  8. Ting NC, Sherbina K, Khoo JS, Kamaruddin K, Chan PL, Chan KL, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2020 10 01;10(1):16296.
    PMID: 33004875 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73170-5
    Evaluation of transcriptome data in combination with QTL information has been applied in many crops to study the expression of genes responsible for specific phenotypes. In oil palm, the mesocarp oil extracted from E. oleifera × E. guineensis interspecific hybrids is known to have lower palmitic acid (C16:0) content compared to pure African palms. The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of transcriptome data in revealing the expression profiles of genes in the fatty acid (FA) and triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis processes in interspecific hybrids. The transcriptome assembly yielded 43,920 putative genes of which a large proportion were homologous to known genes in the public databases. Most of the genes encoding key enzymes involved in the FA and TAG synthesis pathways were identified. Of these, 27, including two candidate genes located within the QTL associated with C16:0 content, showed differential expression between developmental stages, populations and/or palms with contrasting C16:0 content. Further evaluation using quantitative real-time PCR revealed that differentially expressed patterns are generally consistent with those observed in the transcriptome data. Our results also suggest that different isoforms are likely to be responsible for some of the variation observed in FA composition of interspecific hybrids.
  9. Singh R, Low EL, Ooi LC, Ong-Abdullah M, Ting NC, Nookiah R, et al.
    New Phytol, 2020 04;226(2):426-440.
    PMID: 31863488 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16387
    Oil palm breeding involves crossing dura and pisifera palms to produce tenera progeny with greatly improved oil yield. Oil yield is controlled by variant alleles of a type II MADS-box gene, SHELL, that impact the presence and thickness of the endocarp, or shell, surrounding the fruit kernel. We identified six novel SHELL alleles in noncommercial African germplasm populations from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. These populations provide extensive diversity to harness genetic, mechanistic and phenotypic variation associated with oil yield in a globally critical crop. We investigated phenotypes in heteroallelic combinations, as well as SHELL heterodimerization and subcellular localization by yeast two-hybrid, bimolecular fluorescence complementation and gene expression analyses. Four novel SHELL alleles were associated with fruit form phenotype. Candidate heterodimerization partners were identified, and interactions with EgSEP3 and subcellular localization were SHELL allele-specific. Our findings reveal allele-specific mechanisms by which variant SHELL alleles impact yield, as well as speculative insights into the potential role of SHELL in single-gene oil yield heterosis. Future field trials for combinability and introgression may further optimize yield and improve sustainability.
  10. Ong-Abdullah M, Ordway JM, Jiang N, Ooi SE, Kok SY, Sarpan N, et al.
    Nature, 2015 Sep 24;525(7570):533-7.
    PMID: 26352475 DOI: 10.1038/nature15365
    Somaclonal variation arises in plants and animals when differentiated somatic cells are induced into a pluripotent state, but the resulting clones differ from each other and from their parents. In agriculture, somaclonal variation has hindered the micropropagation of elite hybrids and genetically modified crops, but the mechanism responsible remains unknown. The oil palm fruit 'mantled' abnormality is a somaclonal variant arising from tissue culture that drastically reduces yield, and has largely halted efforts to clone elite hybrids for oil production. Widely regarded as an epigenetic phenomenon, 'mantling' has defied explanation, but here we identify the MANTLED locus using epigenome-wide association studies of the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis. DNA hypomethylation of a LINE retrotransposon related to rice Karma, in the intron of the homeotic gene DEFICIENS, is common to all mantled clones and is associated with alternative splicing and premature termination. Dense methylation near the Karma splice site (termed the Good Karma epiallele) predicts normal fruit set, whereas hypomethylation (the Bad Karma epiallele) predicts homeotic transformation, parthenocarpy and marked loss of yield. Loss of Karma methylation and of small RNA in tissue culture contributes to the origin of mantled, while restoration in spontaneous revertants accounts for non-Mendelian inheritance. The ability to predict and cull mantling at the plantlet stage will facilitate the introduction of higher performing clones and optimize environmentally sensitive land resources.
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