Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 48 in total

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  1. Anti-Diabetic Effect of Lactobacillus Paracasei Isolated from Malaysian Water Kefir Grains
    Talib N, Mohamad NE, Yeap SK, Ho CL, Masarudin MJ, Abd-Aziz S, et al.
    Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins, 2023 Sep 27.
    PMID: 37755545 DOI: 10.1007/s12602-023-10159-2
    The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is alarming because it is always linked to the increase in chronic diseases, mortality, and socioeconomic burden. Water kefir has a wide range of functional and probiotic characteristics attributed to the microorganisms present in the kefir grains. The present study aims to evaluate the in vivo anti-diabetic potential of the isolated Lactobacillus paracasei from Malaysian water kefir grains (MWKG) which was reported to have excellent probiotic properties and high antioxidant activities as reported previously. High-fat diet/streptozotocin (HFD/STZ) induction was used to obtain a T2DM model followed by treatment with the isolated L. paracasei from MWKG. The levels of glucose, insulin, and in vivo liver antioxidants were quantified after 14 weeks. Gene expression analysis of the liver was also carried out using microarray analysis, and several genes were selected for validation using quantitative real-time PCR. Insulin tolerance test demonstrated that the L. paracasei isolated from the MWKG alleviated T2DM by improving the area under the curve of the insulin tolerance test whereby low-dose and high-dose concentrations treated groups showed 2424.50 ± 437.02 mmol/L·min and 2017.50 ± 347.09 mmol/L·min, respectively, compared to untreated diabetic mice which was 3884.50 ± 39.36 mmol/L·min. Additionally, treatment with the isolated L. paracasei from MWKG regulated the expression of several genes related to glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism in diabetic mice. These results suggested that the isolated L. paracasei from MWKG could be a potential dietary supplement for T2DM.
  2. Fulltext Systematic Review of Brain-Eating Amoeba: A Decade Update
    Ahmad Zamzuri M'I, Abd Majid FN, Mihat M, Ibrahim SS, Ismail M, Abd Aziz S, et al.
    Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2023 Feb 09;20(4).
    PMID: 36833715 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043021
    INTRODUCTION: Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a rare but lethal infection of the brain caused by a eukaryote called Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri). The aim of this review is to consolidate the recently published case reports of N. fowleri infection by describing its epidemiology and clinical features with the goal of ultimately disseminating this information to healthcare personnel.

    METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was carried out using PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and OVID databases until 31 December 2022 by two independent reviewers. All studies from the year 2013 were extracted, and quality assessments were carried out meticulously prior to their inclusion in the final analysis.

    RESULTS: A total of 21 studies were selected for qualitative analyses out of the 461 studies extracted. The cases were distributed globally, and 72.7% of the cases succumbed to mortality. The youngest case was an 11-day-old boy, while the eldest was a 75-year-old. Significant exposure to freshwater either from recreational activities or from a habit of irrigating the nostrils preceded onset. The symptoms at early presentation included fever, headache, and vomiting, while late sequalae showed neurological manifestation. An accurate diagnosis remains a challenge, as the symptoms mimic bacterial meningitis. Confirmatory tests include the direct visualisation of the amoeba or the use of the polymerase chain reaction method.

    CONCLUSIONS: N. fowleri infection is rare but leads to PAM. Its occurrence is worldwide with a significant risk of fatality. The suggested probable case definition based on the findings is the acute onset of fever, headache, and vomiting with meningeal symptoms following exposure to freshwater within the previous 14 days. Continuous health promotion and health education activities for the public can help to improve knowledge and awareness prior to engagement in freshwater activities.

  3. Fulltext Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy for Moisture and Oil Content Prediction in Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Fruitlets
    Chin-Hashim NF, Khaled AY, Jamaludin D, Abd Aziz S
    Plants (Basel), 2022 Dec 05;11(23).
    PMID: 36501412 DOI: 10.3390/plants11233373
    The global palm oil industry is targeting an increased oil extraction rate in oil palm milling to meet global demand. This can be achieved through the certification of mills and adherence to bunch grading as part of ensuring that only high-quality and ripe fresh fruit bunches are accepted and processed at all mills. However, the current grading process requires the analysis of oil palm bunches, which is laborious and tedious or prone to error due to human subjectivity. This paper introduces a non-destructive technique to predict the moisture and oil content in oil palm fruitlets using electrical impedance spectroscopy. In total, 90 samples of oil palm fruitlets at different stages of ripeness were acquired. Electrical impedance measurement of each fruitlet was done using electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes connected to an LCR meter at frequencies of 1 kHz, 10 kHz, 20 kHz, and 100 kHz. The actual oil content in the fruitlets was determined using the Soxhlet extraction method, while the actual moisture content was determined using a standard oven-drying method. The variation of electrical impedance values at each frequency was analyzed. At 100 kHz, the correlation coefficients relating the electrical impedance to the moisture and oil content were around -0.84 and 0.80, respectively. Predictions of the moisture and oil content using linear regression of the impedance measurements at 100 kHz gave RMSE values of 5.85% and 5.71%, respectively. This information is useful for oil palm fruit grading and oil yield production estimation in the palm oil industry.
  4. Fulltext Reduction of the acidity and peroxide numbers of tengkawang butter (Shorea stenoptera) using thermal and acid activated bentonites
    Darmawan MA, Muhammad BZ, Harahap AFP, Ramadhan MYA, Sahlan M, Haryuni, et al.
    Heliyon, 2020 Dec;6(12):e05742.
    PMID: 33364505 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05742
    Tengkawang fat (Shorea stenoptera), from an indigenous plant of the Kalimantan forest, has excellent potential as an alternative source of vegetable fat because it has a high level of fatty acids composition. Activated natural bentonite can be used as a bleaching agent to improve the quality of tengkawang fat. This research aims to reduce the acidity, peroxide number values and identify the physicochemical properties (fatty acid composition, nutrients, and thermal) of tengkawang butter. Initially, tengkawang samples from Nanga Yen and Sintang were pre-treated using the degumming process with 1% phosphoric acid and the neutralization process with a 1 M NaOH 10% w/w solution. The results show that the acidity (mg NaOH/g) of the tengkawang fat samples was reduced from 11.00 to 3.36 when using bentonite activated at 200 °C. The bentonite activated with 0.5 M HCl reduced the acidity to 3.61. The peroxide number (meq O2/kg) of the tengkawang fat samples was reduced from 9.45 to 4.84 and 3.47 by bleaching with thermal-activated and acid-activated bentonites, respectively. Peroxide value correlates with β-carotene content. The smaller of the β-carotene content, the smaller the peroxide value. The acidity, peroxide number, and iodine number values from tengkawang fat after treatment adhere to the SNI 2903: 2016 standard. The main content of fatty acids in tengkawang fat is palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acid. These results show that both products are suitable for the food industry in terms of the acid and peroxide numbers. The application of this research results will assist local people in increasing the economic value of the product from tengkawang plant, which is an indigenous plant from Kalimantan.
  5. Pineapple (Ananas comosus): A comprehensive review of nutritional values, volatile compounds, health benefits, and potential food products
    Mohd Ali M, Hashim N, Abd Aziz S, Lasekan O
    Food Res Int, 2020 11;137:109675.
    PMID: 33233252 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109675
    Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical fruit that is highly relished for its unique aroma and sweet taste. It is renowned as a flavourful fruit since it contains a number of volatile compounds in small amounts and complex mixtures. Pineapple is also a rich source of minerals and vitamins that offer a number of health benefits. Ranked third behind banana and citrus, the demand for pineapple has greatly increased within the international market. The growth of the pineapple industry in the utilisation of pineapple food-based processing products as well as waste processing has progressed rapidly worldwide. This review discusses the nutritional values, physicochemical composition and volatile compounds, as well as health benefits of pineapples. Pineapple contains considerable amounts of bioactive compounds, dietary fiber, minerals, and nutrients. In addition, pineapple has been proven to have various health benefits including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activity, monitoring nervous system function, and healing bowel movement. The potential of food products and waste processing of pineapples are also highlighted. The future perspectives and challenges with regard to the potential uses of pineapple are critically addressed. From the review, it is proven that pineapples have various health benefits and are a potential breakthrough in the agricultural and food industries.
  6. Enhanced volatile fatty acid production from sago hampas by Clostridium beijerinckii SR1 for bioelectricity generation using microbial fuel cells
    Jenol MA, Ibrahim MF, Kamal Bahrin E, Abd-Aziz S
    Bioprocess Biosyst Eng, 2020 Nov;43(11):2027-2038.
    PMID: 32572569 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-020-02391-9
    Sago hampas is a starch-based biomass from sago processing industries consisted of 58% remaining starch. This study has demonstrated the bioconversion of sago hampas to volatile fatty acids (VFAs) by Clostridium beijerinckii SR1 via anaerobic digestion. Higher total VFAs were obtained from sago hampas (5.04 g/L and 0.287 g/g) as compared to commercial starch (5.94 g/L and 0.318 g/g). The physical factors have been investigated for the enhancement of VFAs production using one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT). The optimum condition; 3% substrate concentration, 3 g/L of yeast extract concentration and 2 g/L of ammonium nitrate enhanced the production of VFAs by 52.6%, resulted the total VFAs produced is 7.69 g/L with the VFAs yield of 0.451 g/g. VFAs hydrolysate produced successfully generated 273.4 mV of open voltage circuit and 61.5 mW/m2 of power density in microbial fuel cells. It was suggested that sago hampas provide as an alternative carbon feedstock for bioelectricity generation.
  7. In-Silico Characterization of Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 1 β-Glucosidase from Trichoderma asperellum UPM1
    Mohamad Sobri MF, Abd-Aziz S, Abu Bakar FD, Ramli N
    Int J Mol Sci, 2020 Jun 04;21(11).
    PMID: 32512945 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21114035
    β-glucosidases (Bgl) are widely utilized for releasing non-reducing terminal glucosyl residues. Nevertheless, feedback inhibition by glucose end product has limited its application. A noticeable exception has been found for β-glucosidases of the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 1, which exhibit tolerance and even stimulation by glucose. In this study, using local isolate Trichoderma asperellum UPM1, the gene encoding β-glucosidase from GH family 1, hereafter designated as TaBgl2, was isolated and characterized via in-silico analyses. A comparison of enzyme activity was subsequently made by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The presence of N-terminal signature, cis-peptide bonds, conserved active site motifs, non-proline cis peptide bonds, substrate binding, and a lone conserved stabilizing tryptophan (W) residue confirms the identity of Trichoderma sp. GH family 1 β-glucosidase isolated. Glucose tolerance was suggested by the presence of 14 of 22 known consensus residues, along with corresponding residues L167 and P172, crucial in the retention of the active site's narrow cavity. Retention of 40% of relative hydrolytic activity on ρ-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (ρNPG) in a concentration of 0.2 M glucose was comparable to that of GH family 1 β-glucosidase (Cel1A) from Trichoderma reesei. This research thus underlines the potential in the prediction of enzymatic function, and of industrial importance, glucose tolerance of family 1 β-glucosidases following relevant in-silico analyses.
  8. Fulltext Combined Optimization of Codon Usage and Glycine Supplementation Enhances the Extracellular Production of a β-Cyclodextrin Glycosyltransferase from Bacillus sp. NR5 UPM in Escherichia coli
    Nik-Pa NIM, Sobri MFM, Abd-Aziz S, Ibrahim MF, Kamal Bahrin E, Mohammed Alitheen NB, et al.
    Int J Mol Sci, 2020 May 30;21(11).
    PMID: 32486212 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21113919
    Two optimization strategies, codon usage modification and glycine supplementation, were adopted to improve the extracellular production of Bacillus sp. NR5 UPM β-cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGT-BS) in recombinant Escherichia coli. Several rare codons were eliminated and replaced with the ones favored by E. coli cells, resulting in an increased codon adaptation index (CAI) from 0.67 to 0.78. The cultivation of the codon modified recombinant E. coli following optimization of glycine supplementation enhanced the secretion of β-CGTase activity up to 2.2-fold at 12 h of cultivation as compared to the control. β-CGTase secreted into the culture medium by the transformant reached 65.524 U/mL at post-induction temperature of 37 °C with addition of 1.2 mM glycine and induced at 2 h of cultivation. A 20.1-fold purity of the recombinant β-CGTase was obtained when purified through a combination of diafiltration and nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) affinity chromatography. This combined strategy doubled the extracellular β-CGTase production when compared to the single approach, hence offering the potential of enhancing the expression of extracellular enzymes, particularly β-CGTase by the recombinant E. coli.
  9. Fulltext Production of Biosurfactant Produced from Used Cooking Oil by Bacillus sp. HIP3 for Heavy Metals Removal
    Md Badrul Hisham NH, Ibrahim MF, Ramli N, Abd-Aziz S
    Molecules, 2019 Jul 18;24(14).
    PMID: 31323813 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24142617
    Heavy metals from industrial effluents and sewage contribute to serious water pollution in most developing countries. The constant penetration and contamination of heavy metals into natural water sources may substantially raise the chances of human exposure to these metals through ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact, which could lead to liver damage, cancer, and other severe conditions in the long term. Biosurfactant as an efficient biological surface-active agent may provide an alternative solution for the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastes. Biosurfactants exhibit the properties of reducing surface and interfacial tension, stabilizing emulsions, promoting foaming, high selectivity, and specific activity at extreme temperatures, pH, and salinity, and the ability to be synthesized from renewable resources. This study aimed to produce biosurfactant from renewable feedstock, which is used cooking oil (UCO), by a local isolate, namely Bacillus sp. HIP3 for heavy metals removal. Bacillus sp. HIP3 is a Gram-positive isolate that gave the highest oil displacement area with the lowest surface tension, of 38 mN/m, after 7 days of culturing in mineral salt medium and 2% (v/v) UCO at a temperature of 30 °C and under agitation at 200 rpm. An extraction method, using chloroform:methanol (2:1) as the solvents, gave the highest biosurfactant yield, which was 9.5 g/L. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis confirmed that the biosurfactant produced by Bacillus sp. HIP3 consists of a lipopeptide similar to standard surfactin. The biosurfactant was capable of removing 13.57%, 12.71%, 2.91%, 1.68%, and 0.7% of copper, lead, zinc, chromium, and cadmium, respectively, from artificially contaminated water, highlighting its potential for bioremediation.
  10. Fulltext Comparison of hydro-distillation, hydro-distillation with enzyme-assisted and supercritical fluid for the extraction of essential oil from pineapple peels
    Mohamad N, Ramli N, Abd-Aziz S, Ibrahim MF
    3 Biotech, 2019 Jun;9(6):234.
    PMID: 31139549 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-019-1767-8
    Pineapple peel is a potential feedstock for the extraction of essential oil due to the presence of aromatic compounds. To extract the essential oil from pineapple peels, three different methods were applied, i.e., (1) hydro-distillation (HD); (2) hydro-distillation with enzyme-assisted (HDEA); and (3) supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). SFE had successfully produced an essential oil with the yield of 0.17% (w/w) together with 0.64% (w/w) of concrete, whereby the HD and HDEA had only produced hydrosols with the yield of 70.65% (w/w) and 80.65% (w/w), respectively. Parameters' optimization for HD (substrate to solvent ratio, temperature, and extraction duration) and HDEA (cellulase loading and incubation duration) significantly affected the hydrosol yield, but did not extract out the essential oil. This is because only SFE had successfully ruptured the oil gland after observed under the scanning electron microscope. The essential oil obtained from SFE composed of mainly propanoic acid ethyl ester (40.25%), lactic acid ethyl ester (19.35%), 2-heptanol (15.02%), propanol (8.18%), 3-hexanone (2.60%), and butanoic acid ethyl ester (1.58%). In overall, it can be concluded that the SFE had successfully extracted the essential oil as compared to the HD and HDEA methods.
  11. Fulltext Improved Biobutanol Production in 2-L Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation with Delayed Yeast Extract Feeding and in-situ Recovery
    Salleh MSM, Ibrahim MF, Roslan AM, Abd-Aziz S
    Sci Rep, 2019 05 15;9(1):7443.
    PMID: 31092836 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43718-1
    Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with delayed yeast extract feeding (DYEF) was conducted in a 2-L bioreactor equipped with in-situ recovery using a gas stripping in order to enhance biobutanol production from lignocellulosic biomass of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB). This study showed that 2.88 g/L of biobutanol has been produced from SSF with a similar yield of 0.23 g/g as compared to separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). An increase of 42% of biobutanol concentration was observed when DYEF was introduced in the SSF at 39 h of fermentation operation. Biobutanol production was further enhanced up to 11% with a total improvement of 72% when in-situ recovery using a gas stripping was implemented to reduce the solvents inhibition in the bioreactor. In overall, DYEF and in-situ recovery were able to enhance biobutanol production in SSF.
  12. Dielectric Spectroscopy of Palm Olein During Batch Deep Frying and Their Relation with Degradation Parameters
    Ibrahim NUA, Abd Aziz S, Hashim N, Jamaludin D, Khaled AY
    J Food Sci, 2019 Apr;84(4):792-797.
    PMID: 30861127 DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.14436
    Total polar compounds (TPC) and free fatty acids (FFA) are important indicators in evaluating the quality of frying oil. Conventional methods to determine TPC and FFA are often time consuming, involved laboratory analyses which required skilled personnel and used substantial amount of harmful solvent. In this study, dielectric spectroscopy technique was used to investigate the relation between dielectric property of refined, bleached and deodorized palm olein (RBDPO) during deep frying with TPC and FFA. In total, 150 batches of French fries were intermittently fried at 185 ± 5 °C for 7 hr a day over 5 consecutive days. A total of 30 frying oil samples were collected. The dielectric property of frying oil samples were measured using impedance analyzer with frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to 10 MHz. The TPC of frying oil samples were measured with a Testo 270, while the FFA analysis was done using Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) test method. Results showed that dielectric constant, TPC and FFA of RBDPO increased as the frying time increased. Dielectric constant increased from 3.09 to 3.17, while TPC and FFA increased from 9.96 to 19.52 and from 0.08% to 0.36%, respectively. Partial least square (PLS) analysis produced good prediction of TPC and FFA with the application of genetic algorithm (GA). Model developed for prediction of TPC and FFA yielded highly significant correlation with R2 of 0.91 and 0.95, respectively and both had root mean square error in cross-validation (RMSECV) of 1.06%. This study demonstrates the potential of dielectric spectroscopy in monitoring palm olein degradation during frying. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The application of dielectric spectroscopy to detect degradation of palm olein during frying was studied. The dielectric property of palm olein during frying has successfully correlated with TPC and FFA. The model developed in this study could be used for the development of a sensing system for palm olein degradation monitoring.
  13. Fulltext Lard classification from other animal fats using Dielectric Spectroscopy technique
    Amat Sairin, M., Abd Aziz, S., Tan, C.P., Mustafa, S., Abd Gani, S.S., Rokhani, F.Z.
    International Food Research Journal, 2019;26(3):773-782.
    MyJurnal
    Lard adulteration in processed foods is a major public concern as it involves religion and
    health. Most lard discriminating works require huge lab-based equipment and complex sample
    preparation. The objective of the present work was to assess the feasibility of dielectric
    spectroscopy as a method for classification of fats from different animal sources, in particular,
    lard. The dielectric spectra of each animal fat were measured in the radio frequency of 100
    Hz – 100 kHz at 45°C to 55°C. The fatty acid composition of each fat was studied by using
    data from gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) to explain the dielectric behaviour
    of each fat. The principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural network (ANN)
    were used to classify different animal fats based on their dielectric spectra. It was found that
    lard showed the highest dielectric constant spectra among other animal fats, and was mainly
    affected by the composition of C16 and C18 fatty acids. PCA classification plot showed clear
    performance in classifying different animal fats. Finally, ANN classification showed different
    animal fats were classified into their respective groups effectively at high accuracy of 85%.
    Dielectric spectroscopy, in combination with quantitative analysis, was concluded to provide
    rapid method to discriminate lard from other animal fats.
  14. Fulltext Optimisation of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) for Biobutanol Production Using Pretreated Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch
    Md Razali NAA, Ibrahim MF, Kamal Bahrin E, Abd-Aziz S
    Molecules, 2018 Aug 03;23(8).
    PMID: 30081514 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23081944
    This study was conducted in order to optimise simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for biobutanol production from a pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Temperature, initial pH, cellulase loading and substrate concentration were screened using one factor at a time (OFAT) and further statistically optimised by central composite design (CCD) using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Approximately 2.47 g/L of biobutanol concentration and 0.10 g/g of biobutanol yield were obtained after being screened through OFAT with 29.55% increment (1.42 fold). The optimised conditions for SSF after CCD were: temperature of 35 °C, initial pH of 5.5, cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g-substrate and substrate concentration of 5% (w/v). This optimisation study resulted in 55.95% increment (2.14 fold) of biobutanol concentration equivalent to 3.97 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.16 g/g. The model and optimisation design obtained from this study are important for further improvement of biobutanol production, especially in consolidated bioprocessing technology.
  15. Fulltext Pre-treatment of Oil Palm Biomass for Fermentable Sugars Production
    Rizal NFAA, Ibrahim MF, Zakaria MR, Abd-Aziz S, Yee PL, Hassan MA
    Molecules, 2018 Jun 07;23(6).
    PMID: 29880760 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23061381
    Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer in the world and this industry generates more than 80 million tonnes of biomass every year. When considering the potential of this biomass to be used as a fermentation feedstock, many studies have been conducted to develop a complete process for sugar production. One of the essential processes is the pre-treatment to modify the lignocellulosic components by altering the structural arrangement and/or removing lignin component to expose the internal structure of cellulose and hemicellulose for cellulases to digest it into sugars. Each of the pre-treatment processes that were developed has their own advantages and disadvantages, which are reviewed in this study.
  16. Fulltext Combination of Superheated Steam with Laccase Pretreatment Together with Size Reduction to Enhance Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Oil Palm Biomass
    Ahmad Rizal NFA, Ibrahim MF, Zakaria MR, Kamal Bahrin E, Abd-Aziz S, Hassan MA
    Molecules, 2018 Apr 02;23(4).
    PMID: 29614823 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23040811
    The combination of superheated steam (SHS) with ligninolytic enzyme laccase pretreatment together with size reduction was conducted in order to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of oil palm biomass into glucose. The oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) were pretreated with SHS and ground using a hammer mill to sizes of 2, 1, 0.5 and 0.25 mm before pretreatment using laccase to remove lignin. This study showed that reduction of size from raw to 0.25 mm plays important role in lignin degradation by laccase that removed 38.7% and 39.6% of the lignin from OPEFB and OPMF, respectively. The subsequent saccharification process of these pretreated OPEFB and OPMF generates glucose yields of 71.5% and 63.0%, which represent a 4.6 and 4.8-fold increase, respectively, as compared to untreated samples. This study showed that the combination of SHS with laccase pretreatment together with size reduction could enhance the glucose yield.
  17. Fulltext Evaluation of single reservoir performance for flood risk reduction using a developed simulation model: case study of Makhoul reservoir
    Al-Aqeeli, Yousif H., Abd Aziz, S., Wayayok, Aimrun, Badronnisa Yusuf
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2018;26(2):571-584.
    MyJurnal
    The objectives of this study were firstly, to develop a simulation model (SM) for a single reservoir to identify the standard operating policy (SOP) of a reservoir based on a monthly operating period, and secondly, to evaluate the performance of the proposed Makhoul reservoir using a Developed Simulation Model (DSM) in reducing flood risk. This reservoir is located on the River Tigris, approximately 180 km upstream of Baghdad, Iraq. The performance of the reservoir in reducing flood risk was evaluated using two designs and records of flood waves gathered over two years. The first design was the present one, while the second was developed by increasing the operational storage to its maximum, based on the digital maps of the region. The flows downstream of the reservoir were compared, with and without the reservoir in the two years in question. Four parameters resulting from the two designs were compared: storage, surface area, elevation and power. The results suggested that the reservoir would be ineffective in reducing flood risk, but it would have the ability to provide hydroelectric power using the two designs, with the new one showing better ability at doing this. The reservoir can also serve purposes such as irrigation, fish wealth development and recreation. This DSM proved its effectiveness in evaluating the performance of the single storage system used for reservoirs.
  18. Fulltext Novel impedance measurement technique for soluble solid content determination of banana
    Ibrahim, N.U.A., Abd Aziz, S., Nawi, N.M.
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(2):519-526.
    MyJurnal
    Soluble solid content (SSC) is one of the important traits that indicate the ripeness of banana fruits.
    Determination of SSC for banana often requires destructive laboratory analysis on the fruit. An impedance measurement technique was investigated as a non-destructive approach for SSC determination of bananas. A pair of electrocardiogram (ECG) electrode connected to an impedance analyser board was used to measure the impedance value of bananas over the frequency of 19.5 to 20.5 KHz. The SSC measurement was conducted using a pocket refractometer and data was analysed to correlate SSC with impedance values. It was found that the mean of impedance, Z decreased from 10.01 to 99.93 KΩ at the frequency of 20 KHz, while the mean value of SSC increased from 0.58 to 4.93 % Brix from day 1 to day 8. The best correlation between impedance and SSC was found at 20 KHz, with the coefficient of determination, R2 of 0.87. This result indicates the potential of impedance measurement in predicting SSC of banana fruits.
  19. Fulltext Corrigendum to "Safety and Clinical Usage of Newcastle Disease Virus in Cancer Therapy"
    Lam HY, Yeap SK, Pirozyan MR, Omar AR, Yusoff K, Abd-Aziz S, et al.
    Biomed Res Int, 2017;2017:4529437.
    PMID: 29333441 DOI: 10.1155/2017/4529437
    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2011/718710.].
  20. ACB2015: Biotechnology and bioeconomy for sustainable future
    Abd-Aziz S, Faizal Ibrahim M
    Biotechnol J, 2016 Jun;11(6):729-31.
    PMID: 27273842 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201600156
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