Bergapten (BP) or 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) is a furocoumarin compound mainly found in bergamot essential oil but also in other citrus essential oils and grapefruit juice. This compound presents antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, hypolipemic, and anticancer effects and is successfully used as a photosensitizing agent. The present review focuses on the research evidence related to the therapeutic properties of bergapten collected in recent years. Many preclinical and in vitro studies have been evidenced the therapeutic action of BP; however, few clinical trials have been carried out to evaluate its efficacy. These clinical trials with BP are mainly focused on patients suffering from skin disorders such as psoriasis or vitiligo. In these trials, the administration of BP (oral or topical) combined with UV irradiation induces relevant lesion clearance rates. In addition, beneficial effects of bergamot extract were also observed in patients with altered serum lipid profiles and in people with nonalcoholic fatty liver. On the contrary, there are no clinical trials that investigate the possible effects on cancer. Although the bioavailability of BP is lower than that of its 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) isomer, it has fewer side effects allowing higher concentrations to be administered. In conclusion, although the use of BP has therapeutic applications on skin disorders as a sensitizing agent and as components of bergamot extract as hypolipemic therapy, more trials are necessary to define the doses and treatment guidelines and its usefulness against other pathologies such as cancer or bacterial infections.
Biodiesels and biolubricants are synthetic esters produced mainly via a transesterification of other esters from bio-based resources, such as plant-based oils or animal fats. Microwave heating has been used to enhance transesterification reaction by converting an electrical energy into a radiation, becoming part of the internal energy acquired by reactant molecules. This method leads to major energy savings and reduces the reaction time by at least 60% compared to a conventional heating via conduction and convection. However, the application of microwave heating technology alone still suffers from non-homogeneous electromagnetic field distribution, thermally unstable rising temperatures, and insufficient depth of microwave penetration, which reduces the mass transfer efficiency. The strategy of integrating multiple technologies for biodiesel and biolubricant production has gained a great deal of interest in applied chemistry. This review presents an advanced transesterification process that combines microwave heating with other technologies, namely an acoustic cavitation, a vacuum, ionic solvent, and a supercritical/subcritical approach to solve the limitations of the stand-alone microwave-assisted transesterification. The combined technologies allow for the improvement in the overall product yield and energy efficiency. This review provides insights into the broader prospects of microwave heating in the production of bio-based products.
The purpose of this paper was to carry out microwave induced pyrolysis of oil palm biomass (shell and fibers) with the help of char as microwave absorber (MA). Rapid heating and yield of microwave pyrolysis products such as bio-oil, char, and gas was found to depend on the ratio of biomass to microwave absorber. Temperature profiles revealed the heating characteristics of the biomass materials which can rapidly heat-up to high temperature within seconds in presence of MA. Some characterization of pyrolysis products was also presented. The advantage of this technique includes substantial reduction in consumption of energy, time and cost in order to produce bio-oil from biomass materials. Large biomass particle size can be used directly in microwave heating, thus saving grinding as well as moisture removal cost. A synergistic effect was found in using MA with oil palm biomass.
The repellent activity of Piper aduncum essential oil against Aedes albopictus was investigated under laboratory conditions with human volunteers. The lowest median effective dose (ED50) value was 1.5 microg/cm2 at 60 sec of exposure when compared to 90 sec (2.1 microg/cm2) and 120 sec (1.8 microg/cm2) of exposure. At 0.4 g, the essential oil gave a high protection (95.2%) against Ae. albopictus bites or landing at 2 h postapplication. The percentage of protection was reduced to 83.3% after 4 h, 64.5% after 6 h, and 51.6% after 8 h postapplication. As a comparison, treatment with 10% deet gave 100% protection against mosquito biting/landing for 4 h postapplication. There was no significant difference in percentage protection reduction between the plant extract and the commercial product deet, respectively (P = 0.739). The essential oil, which was not as good as deet, still gave moderate protection against Ae. albopictus biting even until 4 h postapplication. In conclusion, the P. aduncum essential oil has the potential to be used as a repellent against the dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever vector, Ae. albopictus.
In a recent systematic review and meta-analysis report (Nutrients 2016, 8, 57), we critically appraised and summarized current evidence to determine the effects of chicken essence in improving cognitive functions as well as its safety. [...].
Recent developments propose renewed use of surface-modified nanoparticles (NPs) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to improved stability and reduced porous media retention. The enhanced surface properties render the nanoparticles more suitable compared to bare nanoparticles, for increasing the displacement efficiency of waterflooding. However, the EOR mechanisms using NPs are still not well established. This work investigates the effect of in-situ surface-modified silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) on interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability behavior as a prevailing oil recovery mechanism. For this purpose, the nanoparticles have been synthesized via a one-step sol-gel method using surface-modification agents, including Triton X-100 (non-ionic surfactant) and polyethylene glycol (polymer), and characterized using various techniques. These results exhibit the well-defined spherical particles, particularly in the presence of Triton X-100 (TX-100), with particle diameter between 13 to 27 nm. To this end, SiO2 nanofluids were formed by dispersing nanoparticles (0.05 wt.%, 0.075 wt.%, 0.1 wt.%, and 0.2 wt.%) in 3 wt.% NaCl to study the impact of surface functionalization on the stability of the nanoparticle suspension. The optimal stability conditions were obtained at 0.1 wt.% SiO2 NPs at a basic pH of 10 and 9.5 for TX-100/ SiO2 and PEG/SiO nanofluids, respectively. Finally, the surface-treated SiO2 nanoparticles were found to change the wettability of treated (oil-wet) surface into water-wet by altering the contact angle from 130° to 78° (in case of TX-100/SiO2) measured against glass surface representing carbonate reservoir rock. IFT results also reveal that the surfactant treatment greatly reduced the oil-water IFT by 30%, compared to other applied NPs. These experimental results suggest that the use of surface-modified SiO2 nanoparticles could facilitate the displacement efficiency by reducing IFT and altering the wettability of carbonate reservoir towards water-wet, which is attributed to more homogeneity and better dispersion of surface-treated silica NPs compared to bare-silica NPs.
Pretreatment is an essential upstream process to deconstruct oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFBF) prior to sugars production. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of OPEFBF pretreatment using palm oil mill effluent (POME) as solvent. The effect of alkali catalyst (5%w/w NaOH and ammonia), temperature (90,120,135 °C) and time (60,120,180 min) on the efficiency of pretreatment (OPEFBF-to-solvent ratio of 1:25) was also investigated. The results indicated that POME-pretreatment (135 °C, 180 min) enhanced glucose yield by only ~56%. Glucose production was increased about 5.8-fold to 495.3 ± 5.9 mg g-1 OPEFBF when NaOH was added in POME-pretreatment (Na-P). The xylose production from OPEFBF was increased about 3.7-fold after ammonia-catalyzed POME-pretreatment. About 12.1 ± 0.2 g L-1 of ethanol was produced from Na-P-hydrolysate at molar conversion of 59.4 ± 1.4%. This research provides new insight into the use of POME as a cost-effective pretreatment solvent of OPEFBF to reduce upstream process cost by cutting down water usage.
Cryptocarya species are mainly distributed in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America, widely used in traditional medicines for the treatment of skin infections and diarrhea. The present investigation reports on the extraction by hydrodistillation and the chemical composition of three Cryptocarya species (Cryptocarya impressa, Cryptocarya infectoria, and Cryptocarya rugulosa) essential oils from Malaysia. The chemical composition of these essential oils was fully characterized by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 51 components were identified in C. impressa, C. infectoria, and C. rugulosa essential oils representing 91.6, 91.4, and 83.0% of the total oil, respectively. The high percentages of α-cadinol (40.7%) and 1,10-di-epi-cubenol (13.4%) were found in C. impressa oil. β-Caryophyllene (25.4%) and bicyclogermacrene (15.2%) were predominate in C. infectoria oil. While in C. rugulosa oil, bicyclogermacrene (15.6%), δ-cadinene (13.8%), and α-copaene (12.3%) were predominate. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on the essential oil composition of these three species.
Biomass and lipid production by the marine diatom Chaetoceros affinis were characterized under continuous light with aeration. Media based on palm oil mill effluent (POME; 10, 20 and 30 % v/v in distilled water) were used together with a standard control medium. The maximum biomass concentration on day 12 of batch cultures in control medium was 821 ± 71 mg L-1. Under identical conditions, in the best POME medium (20 % POME v/v in distilled water with other inorganic components), the biomass concentration was reduced by ∼11 % to 734 ± 66 mg L-1. The lipid content of the biomass grown in the control medium was 50.8 ± 4.5 % by dry weight, but was a little lower (48.9 ± 4.1 % by dry wt) in the above specified best POME medium. In the best POME medium, oleic acid was the major fatty acid (72.3 ± 5.2 % by weight) in the total lipids extracted from the biomass and monounsaturated fatty acids were the main type of fatty acids (74.6 ± 5.2 %). POME levels of >20 % in the medium suppressed both biomass and lipid production relative to the medium with 20 % POME.
Guava (Psidium guajava) leaves are commonly used in the treatment of diseases. They are considered a waste product resulting from guava cultivation. The leaves are very rich in essential oils (EOs) and volatiles. This work represents the detailed comparative chemical profiles of EOs derived from the leaves of six guava varieties cultivated in Egypt, including Red Malaysian (RM), El-Qanater (EQ), White Indian (WI), Early (E), El-Sabahya El-Gedida (ESEG), and Red Indian (RI), cultivated on the same farm in Egypt. The EOs from the leaves of guava varieties were extracted by hydro-distillation and analyzed with GC-MS. The EOs were categorized in a holistic manner using chemometric tools. The hydro-distillation of the samples yielded 0.11-0.48% of the EO (v/w). The GC-MS analysis of the extracted EOs showed the presence of 38 identified compounds from the six varieties. The sesquiterpene compounds were recorded as main compounds of E, EQ, ESEG, RI, and WI varieties, while the RM variety attained the highest content of monoterpenes (56.87%). The sesquiterpenes, β-caryophyllene (11.21-43.20%), and globulol (76.17-26.42%) were detected as the major compounds of all studied guava varieties, while trans-nerolidol (0.53-10.14) was reported as a plentiful compound in all of the varieties except for the RM variety. A high concentration of D-limonene was detected in the EOs of the RM (33.96%), WI (27.04%), and ESEG (9.10%) varieties. These major compounds were consistent with those reported for other genotypes from different countries. Overall, the EOs' composition and the chemometric analysis revealed substantial variations among the studied varieties that might be ascribed to genetic variability, considering the stability of the cultivation and climate conditions. Therefore, this chemical polymorphism of the studied varieties supports that these varieties could be considered as genotypes of P. guajava. It is worth mentioning here that the EOs, derived from leaves considered to be agricultural waste, of the studied varieties showed that they are rich in biologically active compounds, particularly β-caryophyllene, trans-nerolidol, globulol, and D-limonene. These could be considered as added value for pharmacological and industrial applications. Further study is recommended to confirm the chemical variations of the studied varieties at a molecular level, as well as their possible medicinal and industrial uses.
Basal stem rot disease caused by the basidiomycete fungus, Ganoderma boninense is the most serious disease of oil palm in Malaysia. The disease can be identified by dry rotting of internal parts of the stem with fruiting bodies or basidiomata of the fungus occurring at the oil palm stem base. The stem lesion allows the basal stem rot disease to be distinguished from the other root diseases
(Turner, 1981).
Many nonlinear problems that arise in various science and engineering fields can be
modelled by the Goursat partial differential equations. Modelling these non-linear
problems using the Goursat partial differential equations has not received much
attention especially the theoretical aspect . The proposed scheme of solution is
supported by examining a nonlinear Goursat problem. The verification of the
theoretical results from several series of numerical experiments are discussed. Results
obtained from Taylor series expansion show that the proposed new scheme is
consistent. By using the von Neumann analysis and essence of stability, the proposed
new scheme is found to be unconditionally stable. In addition, the trend of the
numerical results shows that the new scheme is also convergent.
Effects of breading materials and deep-fat frying on fat uptake, moisture content and fatty acid composition of the black pomfret (Parastromateus niger) fillets. Black pomfret fillets both breaded and non-breaded were deep-fat fried in sunflower oil and palm olein. Fat uptake, moisture content and fatty acid composition in the fillets were determined. Total fat content in the fillets of both breaded and un-breaded fillets increased significantly (p
Sour citrus are prized for their flavor and fragrance. This work identified the components of the peel oil of Hetsuka-daidai (Citrus sp. hetsukadaidai), a special sour citrus that is native to the southern part of the Osumi peninsula, Kagoshima, Japan. These compounds were compared to those identified from the peels of six other major sour citrus: lime (Citrus latifolia), lemon (Citrus limon), Yuzu (Citrus junos), Kabusu (Citrus aurantium), Kabosu (Citrus sphaerocarpa), and Sudachi (Citrus sudachi). Peel oil contents were analyzed for the duration of four months during harvest season to investigate the differences in peel oil/fragrance during ripening. These results could facilitate the development of preferred flavor and scent profiles using local species.
The 3-Monochloropropane-1, 2-diol ester (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl ester (GE) are formed at high processing temperatures with the presence of respective precursors. Both are potentially harmful to humans, causing adverse health impacts including kidney damage, reproductive problems, and increased risk of cancer. The presence of 3-MCPDE and GE in palm oil is of particular concern because of its widespread use by the food industry. There are a variety of methods for reducing 3-MCPDE and GE. For example, water washing eliminates mostly inorganic chlorides that, in turn, reduce the formation of 3-MCPDE. 3-MCPDE has also been reduced by up to 99% using combinations of methods and replacing stripping steam with alcohol-based media. Activated carbon, clay, antioxidants, potassium-based salts, and other post-refining steps have positively lowered GE, ranging from 10 to 99%. Several approaches have been successful in reducing these process contaminants without affecting other quality metrics.
Changes of aroma constituents of palm olein and selected oils after frying French fries have been studied. The aroma constituents of used oils were collected using a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) headspace technique with an absorbent of a divinylbenzene/carboxen (DVB/CAR) (50/30 microm) on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fibre. The extracted volatiles were desorbed from the fibre in the injection port of the gas chromatograph at 250 degrees C and the aroma constituents were identified by GC-MS. Analytical data showed that volatile constituents of palm olein, soybean oil, corn oil and sunflower oil changed while frying continued from 2 to 40 h, respectively. In palm olein, the 2t,4t-decadienal content decreased from 14.7 to 5.5 microg g(-1) (40 h) whilst hexanal increased from 7.9 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 29.2 microg g(-1) (40 h), respectively. Similar result was also obtained from soybean oil after frying French fries. The 2t,4t-decadienal content decreased from 15.9 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 3.2 microg g(-1) after 40 h frying whilst hexanal increased from 10.2 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 34.2 microg g(-1) (40 h). Meanwhile, in corn oil, it was found that 2t,4t-decadienal decreased from 15.6 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 3.2 microg g(-1) (40 h) whilst hexanal increased from 11.3 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 33.8 microg g(-1) when frying time reached 40 h. In sunflower oil, it was found that 2t,4t-decadienal, decreased from 16.8 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 1.2 microg g(-1) (40 h) while hexanal increased from 9.5 microg g(-1) (2 h) to 32.4 microg g(-1) when frying time reached 40 h. It also showed that used oils exhibited off-odour characteristics due to the increasing amount ofhexanal while their freshness characteristics diminished due to the decreasing amount of 2t, 4t-decadienal.
This study investigates the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the quality and quantity of Malaysia's palm oil production through a time series analysis. The study uses three primary factors to evaluate palm oil production: the Monthly Oil Extraction Rate (OER), the Monthly Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) Yield, and the Monthly Oil Exports. The results indicate that the Russia-Ukraine conflict significantly impacted the quality and quantity of palm oil production in Malaysia. Marginal declines in both the quality and quantity of palm oil produced at the onset of the conflict indicate a slight but significant decline in palm oil production during the next four-year period.
In this study we used a laser ablation technique for preparation of silver nanoparticles. The fabrication process was carried out by ablation of a silver plate immersed in palm oil. A pulsed Nd:YAG laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm was used for ablation of the plate at different times. The palm coconut oil allowed formation of nanoparticles with very small and uniform particle size, which are dispersed very homogeneously within the solution. The obtained particle sizes for 15 and 30 minute ablation times were 2.5 and 2 nm, respectively. Stability study shows that all of the samples remained stable for a reasonable period of time.
The melting curves of 11 vegetable oils have been characterised. Vegetable oil samples that were cooled at a constant rate (5 degrees C/min) from the melt showed between one and seven melting endotherms upon heating at four different heating rates (1, 5, 10 and 20 degrees C/min) in a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Triacylglycerol (TAG) profiles and iodine value analyses were used to complement the DSC data. Generally, the melting transition temperature shifted to higher values with increased rates of heating. The breadth of the melting endotherm and the area under the melting peak also increased with increasing heating rate. Although the number of endothermic peaks was dependent on heating rate, the melting curves of the oil samples were not straightforward in that there was no correlation between the number of endothermic peaks and heating rates. Multiple melting behaviour in DSC experiments with different heating rates could be explained by: (1) the melting of TAG populations with different melting points; and (2) TAG crystal reorganisation effects. On the basis of the corollary results obtained, vegetable oils and fats may be distinguished from their offset-temperature (Toff) values in the DSC melting curves. The results showed that Toff values of all oil samples were significantly (p < 0.01) different in the melting curves scanned at four different scanning rates. These calorimetric results indicate that DSC is a valuable technique for studying vegetable oils.