Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used in the study to optimize the production of vanillin from isoeugenol through fermentation by Aspergillus niger I-1472. Three factors were studied which include amount of isoeugenol, resin (Amberlite XAD-4) and Span 80. During fermentation, isoeugenol as substrate were vortexed with Span 80 and added into the culture on Day 4. Resin (Amberlite XAD-4) was added into the medium the following day. The predicted optimum medium combination consisted of 3.61 g/L of isoeugenol, 5.8% (g/ mL) of Amberlite XAD-4 resin and 0.37% of Span 80 with an expected vanillin production of 0.137 g/L. Verification test showed that the model produced similar predicted and experimental values.
Spray drying is used widely for converting liquid food products into powder form as the dried powder is known to have a longer shelf life at ambient temperature, convenience to use and low transportation expenditure. In this study, the Sarawak pineapple puree was spray-dried and the characterization of the resulting powder was performed. The process of enzyme liquefaction was optimized with Pectinex® Ultra SP-L and Celluclast® 1.5 L (single and combined treatment) at different concentrations (0–2.5 %) and incubation time (0-2.5 hours). The combined treatment with both enzymes (1.5% v/w Pectinex® Ultra SP-L + 0.5% v/w Celluclast® 1.5 L, 1.5 hour) was found to be the best parameter, which produced purees with the lowest viscosity of 67.98 ± 4.27 cp. Optimization of spray drying process was carried out using different inlet temperatures (150-180°C) and maltodextrin concentrations (15-30 % w/w). Results indicated that the spraydried powder produced at 160°C with 15% w/w of maltodextrin has the highest yield (31.63 %). The spray-dried powder was further characterized for the moisture content (6.00 ± 0.63%), water activity (0.36 ± 0.01 Aw), hygroscopicity (17.35 ± 0.64%), bulk density (0.46 ± 0.04 g/ cm3 ) and solubility (87.33 ± 2.08 seconds). The fruit powder of this study can be incorporated into different fruit added –value products, such as fruit juice, yogurt, jelly and other beverages.
MeSH terms: Fruit and Vegetable Juices; Beverages; Desiccation; Health Expenditures; Fruit; Malaysia; Polysaccharides; Powders; Solubility; Temperature; Transportation; Viscosity; Water; Yogurt; Wettability; Ananas; Bays
The objective of this study is to establish conditions that allow optimal yield and antioxidant
activity for Golden Apple Snail (GAS) (Pomacea canaliculata) protein hydrolysate by employing
response surface methodology (RSM). A three level, face-centered, central composite design
(CCD) was adapted to assess the effects of temperature (45–65˚C); pH (8–10); the ratio of
enzyme to substrate (2–4%); and hydrolysis time (60–180 min). The antioxidative activity
of the hydrolysate obtained under optimized conditions was then evaluated via the following
metrics: hydroxyl radical scavenging, reducing power, and chelating effects on ferrous ion.
Established optimal conditions for the enzymatic protein hydrolysis of GAS were a temperature
of 45˚C, a pH of 10, an enzyme concentration of 2%, and hydrolysis time of 159 minutes. The
optimized GAS protein hydrolysate produced an experimental yield of 9.72% and antioxidant
activity of 73.54%—slightly less than the predicted yield of 11.36% and antioxidant activity of
78.88%. The optimized GAS protein hydrolysate formed demonstrated both higher chelating
effects and hydroxyl scavenging activity but had lower reducing power. These results suggest
that GAS protein hydrolysate holds potential as a natural antioxidant for use in food processing.
Ice cream contains high sugar content and therefore it is in contradiction with the concept of healthy diet. The objective of this study is to determine the suitability of using stevia as an alternative natural sweetener in making ice cream. In- house ice cream formulation (as the control) and three different concentrations of stevia ice cream formulations of (A, B and C) were used. Physical properties of the ice cream such as the overrun, total soluble solid, meltdown rate, rheology, and textural properties were evaluated. All ice cream samples exhibited a nonNewtonian flow with pseudoplastic behavior. Stevia ice cream has a lower melting rate and has a higher sustainability. The power law also showed that apparent viscosities of stevia ice cream were higher. Therefore, stevia can be used as a natural sugar substitute in ice cream production.
This study was conducted to determine the cholesterol and alpha-tocopherol contents of 20 marine fish and four other seafood from the Straits of Malacca. Cholesterol and alphatocopherol contents of the fish and other seafood were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that most of the fish contained low amounts of cholesterol, except sixbar grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus), long-tailed butterfly ray (Gymnura sp.), yellowstripe scad (Selaroides leptolepis), cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), large-scale tongue sole (Cynoglossus arel), and longtail shad (Hilsa macrura) that contained high amounts of cholesterol (119.39-353.97 mg/100 g wet samples). Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), giant seaperch (Lates calcarifer), prawn (Metapenaeus affinis), and moonfish (Trachinotus blochii) had high alpha-tocopherol contents (462-989 μg/100 g wet sample). Regular consumption of fish and other seafood is highly recommended partly due to the high alphatocopherol content. Due to the high cholesterol in certain types of fish, consumption of the fish fillets of sixbar grouper, long-tailed butterfly ray, yellowstripe scad, cuttlefish, and large scale tongue sole should be < 100 g per day and < 50 per day for longtail shad. Validation of the analytical method also showed a high accuracy and reproducibility of the HPLC method.
MeSH terms: Animals; Butterflies; Cholesterol; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Fishes; Perciformes; Reproducibility of Results; Seafood; alpha-Tocopherol; Penaeidae; Decapodiformes; Sepia
It is crucial to determine several protein-related parameters at the initial stages of proteomic analysis of any biological samples. In this study, crude protein content, total soluble protein, total phenolic content and the SDS-PAGE profile of fifteen varieties of seaweed from Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia were analysed. The crude protein, total soluble protein and total phenolic content of all seaweed samples were in the range of 3.99 to 13.18 % of dry weight, 0.52 to 1.45 mg/mL in acetone dried powder samples and 8.59 to 48.98 mg PGE/g dry weight, respectively. In general, the differences (crude protein, total soluble protein and total phenolic content) among all fifteen varieties of seaweeds were significant (p< 0.05). There was also a strong positive correlation between crude protein and total soluble protein concentration (Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (r)=0.923; p=0.01) in these fifteen varieties of seaweed. A distinctive protein pattern was observed in the SDS-PAGE gels between three different seaweed classes of green, red and brown colours. All of these results are important in sample preparations (extractions) before furthering proteomic analysis in order to identify and characterize seaweed proteomes.
There are some signals that Malaysian marine landings are decreasing and that wild stocks have been over-fished. However, it has extensive inland water bodies which have the potentials to be developed into freshwater aquaculture sites. Tengas (Neolissochilus sp.), a freshwater type of fish, are found in abundance in Malaysia; but has not reached the commercial level in the market. This paper examines the potential of developing tengas as a commercial freshwater species. The data used in this study were obtained through primary data search from key informants and a survey. A semi-structured open-ended questionnaire with Malay and Chinese languages was designed for the interviews. The study areas covered Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. From the survey, we found that tengas has potential to be taken as a food item and an ornamental fish. The wild stock of tengas in fact is also worthwhile to be conserved for agro-tourism development. Many restaurant operators are willing to invent cooking method on tengas.
The objective of this study was to determine the physicochemical properties of olein and stearin fractions obtained from non-interesterified (NIE), chemically interesterified (CIE) and enzymatically interesterified (EIE) 50:50 palm oil and palm kernel oil blend. The potential applications of both olein and stearin fractions were also identified. Stearin and olein fractions were obtained through a single stage dry fractionation at 25°C. The physicochemical properties analysed include percent yield, fatty acid composition (FAC), iodine value (IV), smoke point, cloud point, slip meting point (SMP) and solid fat content. Results indicated that the percent olein yield was higher from the EIE (85%) and NIE blends (82.2%) than in CIE blend (41.8%). The EIE blend produce liquid fraction with the highest amount of unsaturated fatty acid (~50%). Hence, the olein fraction of EIE blend best met the requirement to be used as frying oil based on the highest smoke point (265.1°C) and lowest cloud point (6.2°C). On the other hand, the stearin fraction of CIE blend might be suitable to be used in margarine formulation as it has SMP close to body temperature.
This study aimed to determine the protective effects of CO pulp and kernel oils supplementation to normocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Rabbits from the treatment groups were supplemented with CO pulp and kernel oils for four weeks. Bloods were drawn from all experimental groups at baseline and fourth week to determine protective effects of CO oils supplementation on plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) and catalase (CAT) activity. Liver function tests (ALT, AST, and GGT activities) were also determined for all the groups. The results showed that CO oil supplementation increased plasma TAS in both normal and hypercholesterolemic groups. Plasma CAT activities in the hypercholesterolemic groups supplemented with CO oils were significantly reduced but not for the normocholesterolemic groups. Significant reduction of plasma AST was observed for the hypercholesterolemic rabbits given CO pulp and kernel oils compared with the hypercholesterolemic control rabbits, but not for plasma ALT and GGT. In the normocholesterolemic rabbits, CO pulp oil had caused a significant elevation of plasma ALT, AST, and GGT levels as compared to the negative control rabbits. Therefore, CO pulp and kernel oils are somehow not hepatotoxic, and the oils are potent functional foods.
Momordica charantia, also known as bitter melon or ‘peria katak’ in Malaysia, is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. Bitter melon is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals that made it extensively nutritious. Moreover, the seed, fruit and leave of the plant contain bioactive compounds with a wide range of biological activities that have been used in traditional medicines in the treatment of several diseases, including inflammation, infections, obesity and diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in urinary metabolite profile of the normal, streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes and M. charantia treated diabetic rats using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) -based metabolomics profiling. Study had been carried out by inducing diabetes in the rats through injection of streptozotocin, which exhibited type 1 diabetes. M. charantia extract (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight) was administrated to the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats for one week. Blood glucose level after administration was measured to examine hypoglycemic effect of the extract. The results obtained indicated that M. charantia was effective in lowering blood glucose level of the diabetic rats. The loading plot of Partial Least Square (PLS) component 1 showed that diabetic rats had increased levels of lactate and glucose in urine whereas normal and the extract treated diabetic rats had higher levels of succinate, creatine, creatinine, urea and phenylacetylglycine in urine. While the loading plot of PLS component 2 showed a higher levels of succinate, citrate, creatine, creatinine, sugars, and hippurate in urine of normal rat compared to the extract treated diabetic rat. Administration of M. charantia extract was found to be able to regulate the altered metabolic processes. Thus, it could be potentially used to treat the diabetic patients.

The present study was aimed to investigate the efficacy of fenugreek seeds as a potential natural source of antioxidants and antimicrobials. Fenugreek seed (FS) extracts were prepared using ethanol (75%), methanol (75%) and water as extraction solvents. Ethanol (E-FSP), methanol (M-FSP), water (W-FSP) and hot water (HW-FSP) extracts were obtained from ground FS, whilst water extract (W-GeFS) was obtained from germinated FS. The results revealed that all extracts of the ground FS exhibited antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and the extractability of bioactive compounds in the presence of water was higher in germinated seeds (W-GeFS). Highest phenolic (156.3 mg GAE/ g) and flavonoid (38.5 mg CE/ g) contents were found in W-GeFS. It also showed the strongest DPPH radical-scavenging activity of 68 % inhibition at a lower concentration (0.06 mg/ ml). In addition, highest vitamin C equivalent antioxidant capacity (143.28 mg vitamin C/ g) with an IC50 value of 42.1 μg/ ml were found in W-GeFS. Based on disc diffusion method, W-GeFS exhibited highest antimicrobial activity against all tested bacterial pathogens (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli). Thus, it can be concluded from the results that W-GeFS extract from germinating fenugreek seeds (W-GeFS) has the potential to be used as a natural source of bioactive compounds with varied applications in food industry especially, for active film packaging purposes to prolong the shelf-life of food products.
Oil blending has been recognized as one of the most potent solution in producing vegetable oils with good storage stabilities and optimum fatty acids compositions. This study was conducted to identify the best oil blends in terms of physicochemical properties between canola, olive and palm olein oil. Canola and olive oils were blended at different ratios of 80:20, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, and 20:80. Palm olein is stable against rancidity and oxidation thus the above blends were mixed with 20% palm olein. The 80:20 canola: olive blend shows the best properties after being mixed with 20% palm olein compared to other blends. It passed the cold stability test and has significantly the lowest cloud point of 6.0oC (p
This study aimed to determine total phenolic content (TPC), total antioxidant activity (TAA), antioxidant vitamin composition (A, C, and E) of pomegranate fruit. In addition, two edible parts of pomegranate juice, pomegranate seed, and combination of them were compared based on antioxidant properties. TPC was determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) method based on colorimetric reduction. Ferric reduction ability power (FRAP assay) was used to test the antioxidant activity. Vitamin assessments were conducted by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results for antioxidant vitamin composition in pomegranate juice (PJ) showed that the concentration of vitamin A was 22.8 ± 0.69 μg/100 g, vitamin C was 57.8 ± 0.59 mg/100 g, and vitamin E was 0.07 ± 0.01 mg/100 g. Besides, TPC in PJ, pomegranate seed (PS), and pomegranate seed-juice (PSJ) was 2502 ± 54, 165 ± 49, and 2696 ± 49 mg GAE/L, and TAA was 32 ± 5.1, 20 ± 2.8, and 47 ± 5.5 mmol/L respectively. This study revealed that PSJ contained high level of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and vitamin C. In addition, TPC was as main contributor to antioxidant activities, and positively correlated with TAA (r2 = 0.91, p
Herbal tea is widely consumed around the world because people believed that it contained high amount of antioxidant. However, usage of different maturity of the plants as raw materials could affect the antioxidant capacities in herbal tea. Hence, this paper reports the antioxidant activity of herbal tea prepared from Cosmos caudatus at different maturity namely young, mature and old leaves. The analyses carried out were total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and DPPH (2-2-diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assays. Based on the results obtained, herbal tea prepared from young leaves had significantly strong (p
In this study, three popular, regionally grown rice varieties (Bario, brown and white) were compared with three of the most popular and highly marketed imported rice varieties (black, glutinous and basmati rice) in Penang region of Malaysia. Rice samples were evaluated for amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, heavy metals and dietary fiber composition. Overall, amino acids content among all the rice samples were comparable to each other. Results with regard to minerals showed potassium to be high in brown rice (197.41 mg/100g), while magnesium was recorded to be high in black rice (107.21 mg/100g). Heavy metals such as cadmium, nickel, mercury and lead, though present, they were in negligible amounts. Among all the rice varieties investigated, the total saturated fatty acid and unsaturated fatty acid content was highest in black rice (5.89%). The soluble dietary fiber was higher in white rice (16.39%), whereas insoluble dietary fiber was high in brown (16.51%) and black rice (14.49%), respectively. Results generated from this study is anticipated to benefit both the health wary consumers (based on their potential nutritional attributes) as well as the local food industries to choose the best rice variety while developing novel rice based food products.
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of brown rice (BR) powder addition on the proximate composition, total dietary fibre content and acceptability of some selected Malaysian traditional rice-based local kuih. Two types of kuih samples, namely Kuih Lompang (KL) and Kuih Talam Pandan (KTP) were prepared at the levels of either 0%, 10%, 20% or 30%. The kuih samples were analyzed for nutritional composition and sensory acceptance. There was significant increase in total dietary fibre content (from 2.64 g/100 g to 3.15 g/100 g) and protein content (from 2.36% to 2.51%) with the incorporation of 90% BR powder in the KL formulation. The moisture (from 36.79% to 36.83%), ash (from 1.11% to 1.21%) and fat (from 8.51% to 8.73%) content were not significantly affected for all percentages of BR powder addition. For KTP, the addition of BR powder at the level of 90% significantly increased the total dietary fibre (from 2.77 g/100 g to 3.45 g/100 g), fat (from 5.73% to 6.95%) and moisture (from 64.10% to 64.12%) content as compared to the control (0%). However, the protein content was not significantly affected (from 3.41% to 3.59%). On the other hand, there was no significant difference for all sensory attributes of KL formulated with 30-90% of BR powder as compared to the control (0%). The sensory score of KTP added with 30-90% BR powder received significantly lower sensory score compared to the control sample (0%) for appearance, colour, firmness, adhesiveness, chewiness, taste and overall acceptance attributes. In summary, sensory evaluation showed that all BR-incorporated KL were acceptable, while only 30% addition of BR powder in KTP was acceptable. Thus, BR powder is potentially used in improving the nutritional composition of KL. However, further study is needed to improve palatability aspect of KTP formulated with BR powder.
Fish protein hydrolysate was recovered from tilapia by-product (TB) through enzymatic hydrolysis using alcalase enzyme. Hydrolysis reaction of TB was monitored according to the degree of hydrolysis (DH) by employing O-phtaldialdehyde (OPA) method. Optimization process for obtaining high yield of TB protein hydrolysate was performed using response surface methodology (RSM) by optimizing a combination of four independent variables namely, pH (6.5-8.5), temperature (55-70oC), substrate concentration (10-17.5% w/v), and enzyme concentration (1.5-3.5% w/w) with (DH) as a response. The optimum enzymatic hydrolysis conditions were obtained at pH 7.5, temperature of 60oC, substrate concentration of 15% (w/v) and 2.5% (w/w) of enzyme concentration and yielded about 20.20% of DH after hydrolyzing for 120 min. RSM generated model predicted that 20.42% of DH could be achieved at these conditions and this model was valid based on the DH value obtained from the experimental study (20.31%) which was quite similar with the predicted value. High yield of DH obtained from the optimization process could produce fish protein hydrolysate with good nutritional and functional properties.
Physicochemical properties of mud clam (Polymesoda erosa) hydrolysate produced using two microbial enzymes; alcalase and flavourzyme were determined. Hydrolysis using alcalase at 20.28% degree of hydrolysis (DH) resulted in 25.06 % yield and 45.37% protein while flavourzyme hydrolysis showed 22.93 % DH, 46.67 % protein and 30.68 % yield. Both hydrolysates were yellowish. Better emulsifying properties, foaming properties and water and oil holding capacity were exhibited by flavourzyme hydrolysate compared to the alcalase hydrolysate. However, in terms of amino acid composition, alcalase hydrolysate contained higher amino acid composition (75.06%) than flavourzyme hydrolysate (62.37%). The study suggested that mud clam hydrolysate had the potential to be used in food formulations for human consumption.
The sea cucumber (Stichopus vastus) is an underutilized species, as most of its parts, including the integument (high collagen content) are thrown away during processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different hydrolysis conditions (substrate to enzyme ratio (S/E), reaction temperature, and hydrolysis time) on the angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and radical scavenging (RSc) activities of the hydrolysates produced from trypsin hydrolysis of S. vastus collagen. Optimal conditions predicted by Box-Behnken Design modelling for producing ACE inhibitory and RSc hydrolysates were found to be S/E ratio (15), reaction temperature (55°C), and hydrolysis time (1 h). Under optimal conditions, ACE inhibitory and RSc activities were estimated to be as high as 67.8% and 77.9%, respectively. Besides, some novel bioactive peptides were identified through mass spectrometry analysis. These results indicate that S. vastus hydrolysates might be used as a functional ingredient in food and nutraceutical products.
Gelatin from sutchi catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) skin was extracted and applied in the preparation of gummy in order to determine the suitability of sutchi catfish gelatin in gummy production. The skin was subjected to pre-treatment in the following sequence; 0.8M NaCl, 0.19 N NaOH followed by 0.12 N acetic acid prior to 12 hours extraction in distilled water at 50oC. The physicochemical characteristics of sutchi catfish gelatin was analysed and compared with the commercial bovine gelatin. Gummy added with sutchi catfish gelatin was also compared with gummy added with commercial gelatin. Analysis comprises of yield, gel strength, setting point and setting time, amino acid composition, texture profile analysis and sensory evaluation. The extraction resulted in 14.47% yield of gelatin. Sutchi catfish gelatin showed higher gel strength value (360.86 g) compared to the commercial gelatin (217.37 g) which is in accordance with proline content. Texture profile analysis showed that gummies prepared using sutchi catfish gelatin had significantly higher (p