RESULTS: Our findings revealed that uncoated alginate microcapsules ruptured upon drying and exhibited low encapsulation efficiency (13.81 ± 2.76%). However, the addition of chitosan successfully provided a more complex and rigid external wall structure to enhance the stability of the microcapsules. By prolonging the crosslinking time from 5 to 30 min and increasing the chitosan concentration from 0.1% to 0.5%, the oil encapsulation efficiency was increased by 28%. Under the right gelation pH (pH 4), the extension of gelation time from 1 to 12 h resulted in an increase in alginate-Ca2+ crosslinkings, thus strengthening the microcapsules.

RESULTS: A combined process of microwave pretreatment and solvent extraction to mill crude palm oil, without introducing water or steam, is described. An excellent yield (up to 30%) of oil was obtained with pretreatment in a 42 L, 1000 W and 2450 MHz microwave oven followed by hexane extraction. The optimum conditions (10 min microwave pretreatment and 12 h solvent extraction) yielded an oil with a low free fatty acid content (<1.0%) and an acceptable anisidine value (<3.0 meq kg(-1) ). The oil had a fatty acid composition not resembling those of conventional crude palm oil and crude palm kernel oil. In the pretreatment, the leached oil had 6.3% lauric acid whereas the solvent extracted oil had only 1.5% lauric acid. Among the factors affecting the oil quality, microwave pretreatment affected the oil quality significantly; however, an optimised duration that would ensure high efficiency in solvent extraction also resulted in ruptured fruitlets, although not to the extent of causing excessive oxidation. In fact, microwave pretreatment should exceed 12 min; after only 15 min, the oil had 1-methylcyclopentanol (12.96%), 1-tetradecanol (9.44%), 1-nonadecene (7.22%), nonanal (7.13%) and 1-tridecene (5.09%), which probably arose from the degradation of fibres.

RESULTS: From the characterization of physical properties, PCE-0.3 had an impressive amorphous porosity, wettability and 3D honeycomb-like structural morphology with a pore framework consisting of micropores and mesopores. According to the structural advantages of 3D hierarchical pores such as interconnected honeycombs, PCE-0.3 as supercapacitor electrode had a high specific capacitance of up to 285.89 F g-1 at 1 A. Furthermore, the supercapacitor exhibited high energy and power density of 21.54 Wh kg-1 and 161.13 W kg-1 , respectively, with a low internal resistance of 0.059 Ω.

RESULTS: PPF was subjected to alkali and bleach treatment prior to hydrolysis, which successfully removed 54% and 75% of non-cellulosic components (hemicellulose and lignin, respectively). Hydrolysis conditions of 5 h, 15:1 (w/w) resin-to-pulp ratio and 50 °C produced CNC particles of 50-100 nm in length. CNC had a crystallinity index of 42% and appeared rod-like morphologically. CNC-stabilised emulsion had better stability when used in combination with soy lecithin (SL), a well-established, commonly used food stabiliser. Emulsion stabilised by the binary mixture of CNC and SL had droplet size, morphology and physical stability comparable to those of emulsion stabilised using SL.

RESULTS: Increases in homogenization pressure and emulsifier concentration were observed to have significant (P  0.05) differences between the prepared and commercial LNDCs in terms of their color, appearance, and overall acceptability.

RESULTS: Biochar+compost application resulted in 37% and 300% higher soil total organic carbon and available phosphorus content, respectively, during the first 3 years of experimentation compared to control. Similarly, trunk diameter and shoot number of apple trees increased 23-26% by the end of the first year. Nevertheless, there were no significant changes in fruitfulness, fruit weight or starch pattern index as productivity indices.

RESULTS: This study was done to assess the hereditary assorted variety of selected genotypes of Capsicum annuum based on their morphophysiological and yield traits in two planting seasons. The biochemical properties, capsaicinoid content (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin), total phenolics content and antioxidant action determination of unripe and ripe chili pepper fruits were carried out in dry fruits. AVPP9813 and Kulai 907 were observed to have high fruit yields, with 541.39 and 502.64 g per plant, respectively. The most increased genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were shown by the fruit number per plant (49.71% and 66.04%, respectively). High heritability was observed in yield characters viz-à-viz fruit weight, length and girth and indicated high genetic advance. Eight groups were obtained from the cluster analysis. For the biochemical analysis, the capsaicinoid content and total phenolic content were high in Chili Bangi 3 at unripe and ripe fruit stages, while for antioxidant activity SDP203 was the highest in ripe dry fruit.

RESULTS: Plants treated with red and blue light at an intensity of 130 μmol m-2  s-1 supplemented with 5% of UV-A light under a 16-h photoperiod produced the most desirable overall results with a high rate of germination, low percentage of early flowering, and high yields of dry leaf, stevioside and rebaudioside A, 175 days after planting.

RESULTS: In the present study, the stability of quality parameters for palm oil products was examined over 10 months at low temperature storage (6 ± 2 °C). The palm oil products tested included crude palm oil (CPO); refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm oil (RBDPO); RBD palm olein (RBDPOo); and RBD palm stearin (RBDPS). The quality parameters of the oils [i.e. moisture content, free fatty acid content (FFA), iodine value (IV), fatty acids composition (FAC) and slip melting point (SMP)] were determined prior to and throughout the storage period. The moisture, FFA, IV, FAC and SMP for palm oil products changed significantly (P  0.05). The stability study indicated that the quality of the palm oil products was stable within the specified limits throughout the storage period at low temperature.

RESULTS: The moisture, pH and sugar composition of all SBH samples adhered to the Malaysian Kelulut Honey Standard (MS2683:2017) but not to the International Codex Standard (CODEX) for honey. Trehalulose presence in all samples, regardless of geographical area, was predominant alongside fructose and glucose. Only hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content and electrical conductivity (EC) results complied with both standards. The principal component analysis biplot showed that the discrimination of SBH according to the five different areas was not feasible, indicating sample homogeneity.