Now showing 1 - 10 of 15
  • Publication
    Protein extraction of Momordica Charantia seed assisted by ultrasound extraction
    (Springer, 2023)
    Muhamad Ikmal Sirozi
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    ;
    Mohd Amin Zainal Abidin
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    ; ;
    The Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical plant with high nutritional value that has been implemented in traditional folk medicine as an antifungal, antimutagenic, Anthelmintic, anticancer, antifertility, and antidiabetic agent. The seeds contain rich source of antifungal protein that can be explored to be used against various fungus disease. In this study, the antifungal protein was extracted by using ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) via one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) technique with following the parameter sodium chloride, NaCl concentration (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 M), solute ratio (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 g/mL) and extraction time (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 min). After extraction, the extract was further centrifuged and assayed by standard Bradford method before analysing the protein content at 595 nm. The result shows the optimum conditions for protein content is 6.445 mg/mL achieved after treatment with 1.5 M NaCl, 1w;10v (g/mL) in 10 min with p-value < 0.01 from each of parameter. Results showed that Momordica charantia seed had desired protein source with optimal parameter and promising antifungal bioresources with prospective applications in food and other industries.
  • Publication
    Soil Macrofauna abundance in the intercropping of Mangifera Indica with aromatic plants
    Soil macrofauna such as earthworms, beetles, ants, and centipedes are an important aspect of soil health as they help in the breakdown of plant residue to provide natural resources such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous into the soil. Monocropping practice uses heavy machinery, pesticides, and herbicides to maintain farm productivity, which negatively impacts soil macrofauna abundance. Thus, intercropping is a sustainable practice for farmers to maintain soil health with the minimal use of external input, which can do more harm to the soil ecosystem over a long period of time. The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of intercropping mango with pandan and lemongrass on soil macrofauna density compared to mango monocrop. The field experiment consisted of mango, mango-pandan intercrops, and mango-lemongrass intercrops. Soil macrofauna was assessed using the tropical soil biology and fertility (TSBF) monolith method. The result showed that intercropping of mango-lemongrass and mango-pandan had higher soil macrofauna density compared with mango monocrop due to the presence of intercrops providing more natural resources and a better soil environment for soil macrofauna to grow and reproduce. However, further long-term research is needed to reinforce these findings.
      10  12
  • Publication
    Morphology and Conductive Properties of Carbon Black- And Graphite- Filled Conductive e poxy Micro-porous
    ( 2020-11-24)
    Anusha Leemsuthep
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    ;
    Du Ngoc Uy Lan
    Conductive composite requires a well dispersion of conductive filler, which is this difficult to be achieved low content of filler for high density conductive filler. This work investigates the effect of carbon black and graphite on the morphology and conductive properties of conductive epoxy micro-porous. The conductive epoxy micro-porous was prepared by using single emulsion technique. It involved the drop of epoxy-hardener-blowing agent-conductive filler mixture into corn oil at 160 C and followed by the leaching process to remove excess corn oil. Results show the addition of conductive filler in epoxy matrix lead to increases porous structure in epoxy micro-porous. Carbon black filled epoxy micro-porous possessed smaller particles compared to graphite filled epoxy micro-porous. For skeleton density and total pore, both of the value increase with filler loading due to packing sphere effect. However, the skeleton density for carbon black filled epoxy micro-porous is higher compared to graphite filled epoxy micro-porous. For electrical conductivity, graphite filled micro-porous was higher than that of carbon black filled epoxy micro-porous.
      3  17
  • Publication
    Effect of photodegradation on chemical characteristics and enzymatic digestibility of chicken feather keratin
    The rapid development of poultry industry has correlated with increased production of keratin containing wastes that possessed complex morphology which difficult to degrade. UV irradiation pretreatment provide an initial stage of degradation before they are further degrade using fermentation process into ready to use protein. Untreated and treated with UV light chicken feathers morphology of fibers and cuticle cells were observed using SEM. A feather protein hydrolysate was produced by keratinolytic bacteria Bacillus subtilis under submerged fermentation. Keratinolytic kinetic is study using Michealis-Menten kinetics where Km value for treated chicken feathers with UV was 22.4591 M which is smaller compare to untreated chicken feathers, 42.3065 M. The smaller Km value shows tightly binding of keratinase and chicken feathers powder. Chicken feathers that were treated with UVC has the highest protein content about 3.19 mg/mL of protein while untreated chicken feathers only contains 2.29 mg/mL of protein.
      2  24
  • Publication
    The Optimization of Protease Enzyme Extraction from Streblus Asper (Kesinai)
    ( 2020-12-18)
    Seow Yen Yi
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    ;
    Lee Yen Fong
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    ; ; ;
    Mohd Ruslan, Mahfuz Affif
    Protease from Streblus asper (Kesinai) is an interesting rennet substitute and yet very few studies had been conducted so far. In the present study, the leaf extract of Kesinai had been discovered to investigate the ability of this milk coagulating enzyme. The development of the optimized conditions for enzyme extraction was analyzed by using Central Composite Design (CCD). The studied factors were ratio of sample to buffer, weight of sample (g) and homogenization time (min). It was found that a 30 g of S. asper leaves sample with the ratio of the sample to buffer of 1:1 and at a mixing rate of 2 minutes established the most desirable conditions for serine proteases extraction from the S. asper leaves sample.
      9  26
  • Publication
    Role of carrier agent in spray drying method for stickiness prevention and suitability in Pleurotus pulmonarius liquid spawn application: a review
    (AIP Publishing, 2023)
    Nur Fatihah Amanda Nazwa
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    ;
    Spray drying (SD) is one of important technique mostly applied in the food industry and pharmaceuticals sector. However, an issue of stickiness during operation resulted in deposition of materials on the dryer surface that decreased product quality, frequent plant shutdowns, increased cleaning requirements, and safety hazards. Besides, application of spray drying in mushroom liquid cultures is limited hence requires further review. Low molecular weight sugars and organic acids with a low glass transition temperature are factors responsible for the sticky behavior. The common solution for this problem is by adding high molecular weight drying aids to raise the feed mixture’s glass transition temperature (Tg). Among drying aids, maltodextrin was found the most effective polymer with high Tg for helping the stickiness problem.
      15  3
  • Publication
    Influence of pH and temperature on in vitro mycelial growth performance of wild edible Schizophyllum commune of northern Malaysia
    The mycelial growth performance of wild isolated Schizophyllum commune of Northern Malaysia on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Malt Extract Agar (MEA) was first compared in order to be further used in the study. A total of 7 and 13 days was required by the mycelial to fully colonized MEA and PDA in the petri dish respectively. Hence MEA was selected in investigating mycelial growth rate at different pH (5 to 10) and different temperature (20, 25, 30, and 35?). Results showed that wild S. commune growth rate was the highest (10.91±0.37mm/day) on MEA at pH 6 with incubation temperature of 30?. Biomass dry weight, pellets diameter, and final pH in Malt Extract Broth (MEB) at different pH were examined under optimal growth temperature (30?) after 14 days of liquid state fermentation. High biomass dry weight was obtained from culture incubated at pH 5 (4.84g/L) and 6 (4.87g/L) and the longest pellet diameter was obtained at pH 6 (45.6mm). There were decrements in pH value observed after end of the liquid state fermentation. It was expected that the growth data gathered in the study can be utilized later to design optimal pH and temperature conditions for artificial cultivation of S. commune.
      27  9
  • Publication
    Morphological variability identification of Harumanis Mango (Mangifera indica L.) harvested from different location and tree age
    (Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2020-08)
    Siti Nur Arina Yusuf
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    ; ;
    Vijay Kumar Subbiah
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    ;
    Zakaria Wahab
    Harumanis is one of the main signatures of Perlis with regards to its delightful taste, pleasant aroma and expensive price. Harumanis authenticity and productivity had become the remarks among the farmers, entrepreneurs, consumers and plant breeders due to the existence of morphological characteristics variation among the fruits and high production cost. Assessment of Harumanis morphological characteristics of natural population and different tree ages may represent a possible source of important characteristics for development and breeding purposes of Harumanis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the morphological variation of Harumanis collected from different location in Perlis and tree age. A total of 150 Harumanis fruits from 50 trees with three different stages of development (young, middle-aged and old) were characterised using 11 traits; 10 quantitative and one qualitative morphological trait. The ANOVA analyses in combination with Dunn’s pairwise and Kruskal-Wallis multiple comparison test able to point out the existence of environmental factor and age influence towards the significant different of identified morphological traits except for Total Soluble Solid (TSS) and pulp percentage. Five clusters of 50 Harumanis accessions reflect a grouping pattern which not according to neither geographical region nor age. The result of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) using the first two principal components (PCs) provided a good approximation of the data explaining 84.09% of the total variance which majorly contributed by parameters of weight, fruit dimensional characteristics, peel percentage and hue angle, h. Preliminary screening of important morphological characteristics which contribute to the phenotypic diversity of Harumanis is successfully achieved. The findings can be employed by the plant breeders and farmers for the establishment of standard grading of Harumanis and advancement of breeding crop of Harumanis in future.
      1  6
  • Publication
    Chloroplast DNA sequence of trnR-N and trnL-F regions in Harumanis mango from different orchards in Perlis, Malaysia
    (IOP Publishing Ltd, 2020) ;
    SFM Sabri
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    Yusuf, Arbai
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    ;
    SV Kumar
    Harumanis is a premium mango cultivar widely known for its sweet taste, aroma and vibrant flesh colour. To date, the genetic identification of this mango based on multiple conserved DNA region using samples from different orchards has never been reported. The aim of this research is to identify the genetic signature of Harumanis mango at molecular level by analyzing chloroplast DNA sequences of the trnL-F and trnR-N regions. DNA samples were extracted from a total of 15 Harumanis samples collected from five selected orchards using Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (CTAB) extraction procedure. The extracted DNA and the PCR-amplified products were analyzed through gel electrophoresis and were then subjected to DNA Sequencing and in silico analysis. The obtained sequences were compared with the sequences available in the GeneBank. BLAST search for both the trnR-N and trnL-F regions confirmed that all the 15 samples belong to Mangifera indica with a 99% sequence identity. In addition, the trnL-F sequences were 99% identical to a number of specific mango cultivars such as, Tommy and Arunika. However, the trnR-N sequences were less informative as it gave hits to only two mango accessions (e.g. Mangifera indica voucher PDBK 2014-0249). It is postulated that the plastid trnR-N may be a potential candidate region for the development of the Harumanis genetic signature. The results may be used to complement other molecular data for the development of a genetic barcode for Harumanis.
      1  21
  • Publication
    Spent Mushroom Medium Compost as a Soil Conditioner for the Initial Stage of Paddy Growth
    ( 2023-01-01) ;
    Ong J.J.
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    Zabidi K.A.A.
    Spent mushroom medium (SMM) is one of the agricultural wastes that produce daily from the cultivation of mushroom and is usually disposed by burning or landfilling, which is a waste of biological resources. The composted SMM has the potential physico-chemical properties that can be utilized as organic soil conditioner to improve soil fertility in paddy field. Conventionally, paddy field is usually fertilized by granular urea (GU) as nitrogen (N) fertilizer. The excessive use of GU had caused several environmental problems such as soil acidification and ammonia (NH3) volatilization. To evaluate the feasibility of organic SMM compost used as soil conditioner in paddy field, analysis was carried out to measure the physico-chemical properties. Pot experiment has been conducted, and the paddy growth was evaluated after 21 days of plantation. The soil sample was applied with GU and SMM compost with the same N fertilizer rate. Soil properties were measured before and after treated with soil conditioner. The paddy growth was evaluated with plant height and root:shoot (R/S) ratio. From the result obtained, SMM compost improved both physical and chemical properties of paddy soil, significantly increased WHC and soil porosity that help reduce nitrate (NO3−) leaching and reduce NH3 volatilization. As a whole, the application of SMM compost was successfully improved the soil fertility and had the potential to replace GU as the soil conditioner, but further improvement in the management practices should be performed to achieve better plant growth.
      2  20