The effects on serum lipids of diets prepared with palm olein, corn oil, and coconut oil supplying approximately 75% of the fat calories were compared in three matched groups of healthy volunteers (61 males, 22 females, aged 20-34 y). Group I received a coconut-palm-coconut dietary sequence; group II, coconut-corn-coconut; and group III, coconut oil during all three 5-wk dietary periods. Compared with entry-level values, coconut oil raised the serum total cholesterol concentration greater than 10% in all three groups. Subsequent feeding of palm olein or corn oil significantly reduced the total cholesterol (-19%, -36%), the LDL cholesterol (-20%, -42%%) and the HDL cholesterol (-20%, -26%) concentrations, respectively. Whereas the entry level of the ratio of LDL to HDL was not appreciably altered by coconut oil, this ratio was decreased 8% by palm olein and 25% by corn oil. Serum triglycerides were unaffected during the palm-olein period but were significantly reduced during the corn-oil period.
We studied the effects of saturated (palm olein) and polyunsaturated (soybean oil) cooking oils on the lipid profiles of Malaysian male adolescents eating normal Malaysian diets for 5 wk. Diets cooked with palm olein did not significantly alter plasma total-cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol concentrations or the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol compared with diets cooked with soybean oil. However, the diet cooked with palm olein significantly increased apolipoprotein A-I (11%) and apolipoprotein B (9%) concentrations. Unexpectedly, soybean-oil-cooked diets caused a significant increase (47%) in plasma triglycerides compared with palm-olein-cooked diets. We conclude that palm olein, when used as cooking oil, has no detrimental effects on plasma lipid profiles in Malaysian adolescents.
The oil biosynthesis pathway must be tightly controlled to maximize oil yield. Oil palm accumulates exceptionally high oil content in its mesocarp, suggesting the existence of a unique fruit-specific fatty acid metabolism transcriptional network. We report the complex fruit-specific network of transcription factors responsible for modulation of oil biosynthesis genes in oil palm mesocarp. Transcriptional activation of EgWRI1-1 encoding a key master regulator that activates expression of oil biosynthesis genes, is activated by three ABA-responsive transcription factors, EgNF-YA3, EgNF-YC2 and EgABI5. Overexpression of EgWRI1-1 and its activators in Arabidopsis accelerated flowering, increased seed size and oil content, and altered expression levels of oil biosynthesis genes. Protein-protein interaction experiments demonstrated that EgNF-YA3 interacts directly with EgWRI1-1, forming a transcription complex with EgNF-YC2 and EgABI5 to modulate transcription of oil biosynthesis pathway genes. Furthermore, EgABI5 acts downstream of EgWRKY40, a repressor that interacts with EgWRKY2 to inhibit the transcription of oil biosynthesis genes. We showed that expression of these activators and repressors in oil biosynthesis can be induced by phytohormones coordinating fruit development in oil palm. We propose a model highlighting a hormone signaling network coordinating fruit development and fatty acid biosynthesis.
Thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation-gas chromatography (THM-GC) in the presence of an organic alkali was validated for the compositional analysis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) [P(3HB-co-3HHx)] accumulated in whole bacterial cells. Recombinant Cupriavidus necator Re2058/pCB113 was grown in a batch fermentation with different concentration of palm oil and fructose in order to control the molar fraction of 3HHx in P(3HB-co-3HHx) produced in the cells. Trace amounts (30μg) of freeze-dried cells were directly subjected to THM-GC in the presence of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) at 400°C. The obtained chromatograms clearly showed nine characteristic peaks, attributed to the THM products from 3HB and 3HHx units in the polymer chains, without any appreciable interference by the bacterial matrix components. Based on these peak intensities, the copolymer compositions were determined rapidly without using any cumbersome and lengthy sample pretreatment as in conventional GC method. Moreover, the compositions thus obtained were strongly correlated with those by NMR and conventional GC involving solvent extraction.
Being an emerging transdermal delivery tool, nanoemulgel, has proved to show surprising upshots for the lipophilic drugs over other formulations. This lipophilic nature of majority of the newer drugs developed in this modern era resulting in poor oral bioavailability, erratic absorption, and pharmacokinetic variations. Therefore, this novel transdermal delivery system has been proved to be advantageous over other oral and topical drug delivery to avoid such disturbances. These nanoemulgels are basically oil-in-water nanoemulsions gelled with the use of some gelling agent in it. This gel phase in the formulation is nongreasy, which favors user compliance and stabilizes the formulation through reduction in surface as well as interfacial tension. Simultaneously, it can be targeted more specifically to the site of action and can avoid first-pass metabolism and relieve the user from gastric/systemic incompatibilities. This brief review is focused on nanoemulgel as a better topical drug delivery system including its components screening, formulation method, and recent pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic advancement in research studies carried out by the scientists all over the world. Therefore, at the end of this survey it could be inferred that nanoemulgel can be a better and effective drug delivery tool for the topical system.
Thermophilic treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) was studied in a novel integrated anaerobic-aerobic bioreactor (IAAB). The IAAB was subjected to a program of steady-state operation over a range of organic loading rate (OLR)s, up to 30 g COD/L day in order to evaluate its treatment capacity. The thermophilic IAAB achieved high chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) removal efficiencies of more than 99% for OLR up to 18.5 g COD/L day. High methane yield of 0.32 LCH(4) (STP)/g COD(removed) with compliance of the final treated effluent to the discharge limit were achieved. This is higher than that of the mesophilic system due to the higher maximum specific growth rate (μ(max)) of the thermophilic microorganisms. Besides, coupling the model of Grau second order model (anaerobic system) with the model of Monod (aerobic system) will completely define the IAAB system.
In silico and experimental investigations were conducted to explore the effects of substituting hydrophobic residues, Val, Met, Leu, Ile, Trp, and Phe into Gln 114 of T1 lipase. The in silico investigations accurately predicted the enzymatic characteristics of the mutants in the experimental studies and provided rationalization for some of the experimental observations. Substitution with Leu successfully improved the conformational stability and enzymatic characteristics of T1 lipase. However, replacement of Gln114 with Trp negatively affected T1 lipase and resulted in the largest disruption of protein stability, diminished lipase activity and inferior enzymatic characteristics. These results suggested that the substitution of a larger residue in a densely packed area of the protein core can have considerable effects on the structure and function of an enzyme. This is especially true when the residue is next to the catalytic serine as demonstrated with the Phe and Trp mutation.
In the last few years, biodiesel has emerged as one of the most potential renewable energy to replace current petrol-derived diesel. It is a renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic fuel which can be easily produced through transesterification reaction. However, current commercial usage of refined vegetable oils for biodiesel production is impractical and uneconomical due to high feedstock cost and priority as food resources. Low-grade oil, typically waste cooking oil can be a better alternative; however, the high free fatty acids (FFA) content in waste cooking oil has become the main drawback for this potential feedstock. Therefore, this review paper is aimed to give an overview on the current status of biodiesel production and the potential of waste cooking oil as an alternative feedstock. Advantages and limitations of using homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic transesterification on oil with high FFA (mostly waste cooking oil) are discussed in detail. It was found that using heterogeneous acid catalyst and enzyme are the best option to produce biodiesel from oil with high FFA as compared to the current commercial homogeneous base-catalyzed process. However, these heterogeneous acid and enzyme catalyze system still suffers from serious mass transfer limitation problems and therefore are not favorable for industrial application. Nevertheless, towards the end of this review paper, a few latest technological developments that have the potential to overcome the mass transfer limitation problem such as oscillatory flow reactor (OFR), ultrasonication, microwave reactor and co-solvent are reviewed. With proper research focus and development, waste cooking oil can indeed become the next ideal feedstock for biodiesel.
This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of different nitrate concentrations in culture medium on oil content and fatty acid composition of Chlorella vulgaris (UMT-M1) and Chlorella sorokiniana (KS-MB2). Results showed that both species produced significant higher (p<0.05) oil content at nitrate ranging from 0.18 to 0.66 mM with C. vulgaris produced 10.20-11.34% dw, while C. sorokiniana produced 15.44-17.32% dw. The major fatty acids detected include C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3. It is interesting to note that both species displayed differentially regulated fatty acid accumulation patterns in response to nitrate treatments at early stationary growth phase. Their potential use for biodiesel application could be enhanced by exploring the concept of binary blending of the two microalgae oils using developed mathematical equations to calculate the oil mass blending ratio and simultaneously estimated the weight percentage (wt.%) of desirable fatty acid compositions.
The mRNA differential display method was utilized to study the differential expression and regulation of genes in two species of oil palm, the commercially grown variety Elaeis guineensis, var. tenera and the South American species, Elaeis oleifera. We demonstrated the differential expression of genes in the mesocarp and kernel at the week of active oil synthesis (15 week after anthesis) during fruit development as compare to the roots and leaves and the isolation of tissue-specific and species-specific cDNA clones. A total of eight specific cDNA clones were isolated and their specificities were confirmed by Northern hybridization and classified into three groups. Group one contains four clones (KT3, KT4, KT5 and KT6) that are kernel-specific for E. guineensis, tenera and E. oleifera. The second group represents clone FST1, which is mesocarp and kernel-specific for E. guineensis, tenera and E. oleifera. The third group represents clones MLT1, MLT2 and MLO1 that are mesocarp and leaf-specific. Northern analysis showed that their expressions were developmentally regulated. Nucleotide sequencing and homology search in GenBank data revealed that clones KT3 and KT4 encode for the same maturation protein PM3. While clones MLT1 and MLT2 encode for S-ribonuclease binding protein and fibrillin, respectively. The other clones (KT5, KT6, FST1 and MLO1) did not display any significant homology to any known protein.
Soil contamination by hydrocarbons, especially by used lubricating oil, is a growing problem in developing countries, which poses a serious threat to the environment. Phytoremediation of these contaminated soils offers environmental friendly and a cost effective method for their remediation. Hibiscus cannabinus was studied for the remediation of soil contaminated with 2.5 and 1% used lubricating oil and treated with organic wastes [banana skin (BS), brewery spent grain (BSG) and spent mushroom compost (SMC)] for a period of 90 days under natural conditions. Loss of 86.4 and 91.8% used lubricating oil was recorded in soil contaminated with 2.5 and 1% oil and treated with organic wastes respectively at the end of 90 days. However, 52.5 and 58.9% oil loss was recorded in unamended soil contaminated with 2.5 and 1% oil, respectively. The plant did not accumulate hydrocarbon from the soil but shows appreciable accumulation of Fe and Zn in the root and stem of H. cannabinus at the end of the experiment. The first order kinetic rate of uptake of Fe and Zn in H. cannabinus was higher in organic wastes amendment treatments compared to the unamended treatments, which are extremely low. The results of this study suggest that H. cannabinus has a high potential for remediation of hydrocarbon and heavy metal contaminated soil.
The world currently obtains its energy from the fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. However, the international crisis in the Middle East, rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves as well as climate change have driven the world towards renewable energy sources which are abundant, untapped and environmentally friendly. Malaysia has abundant biomass resources generated from the agricultural industry particularly the large commodity, palm oil. This paper will focus on palm oil mill effluent (POME) as the source of renewable energy from the generation of methane and establish the current methane emission from the anaerobic treatment facility. The emission was measured from two anaerobic ponds in Felda Serting Palm Oil Mill for 52 weeks. The results showed that the methane content was between 35.0% and 70.0% and biogas flow rate ranged between 0.5 and 2.4 L/min/m(2). Total methane emission per anaerobic pond was 1043.1 kg/day. The total methane emission calculated from the two equations derived from relationships between methane emission and total carbon removal and POME discharged were comparable with field measurement. This study also revealed that anaerobic pond system is more efficient than open digesting tank system for POME treatment. Two main factors affecting the methane emission were mill activities and oil palm seasonal cropping.
Old oil palm trunks that had been felled for replanting were found to contain large quantities of high glucose content sap. Notably, the sap in the inner part of the trunk accounted for more than 80% of the whole trunk weight. The glucose concentration of the sap from the inner part was 85.2g/L and decreased towards the outer part. Other sugars found in relatively low concentrations were sucrose, fructose, galactose, xylose, and rhamnose. In addition, oil palm sap was found to be rich in various kinds of amino acids, organic acids, minerals and vitamins. Based on these findings, we fermented the sap to produce ethanol using the sake brewing yeast strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Kyokai no.7. Ethanol was produced from the sap without the addition of nutrients, at a comparable rate and yield to the reference fermentation on YPD medium with glucose as a carbon source. Likewise, we produced lactic acid, a promising material for bio-plastics, poly-lactate, from the sap using the homolactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus lactis ATCC19435. We confirmed that sugars contained in the sap were readily converted to lactic acid with almost the same efficiency as the reference fermentation on MSR medium with glucose as a substrate. These results indicate that oil palm trunks felled for replanting are a significant resource for the production of fuel ethanol and lactic acid in palm oil-producing countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
A double-chambered membrane microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to investigate the potential use of natural microflora anaerobic palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge and pure culture bacteria isolated from anaerobic POME sludge as inoculum for electricity generation. Sterilized final discharge POME was used as the substrate with no addition of nutrients. MFC operation using natural microflora anaerobic POME sludge showed a maximum power density and current density of 85.11mW/m(2) and 91.12mA/m(2) respectively. Bacterial identification using 16S rRNA analysis of the pure culture isolated from the biofilm on the anode MFC was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ZH1. The electricity generated in MFC using P. aeruginosa strain ZH1 showed maximum power density and current density of 451.26mW/m(2) and 654.90mA/m(2) respectively which were five times higher in power density and seven times higher in current density compared to that of MFC using anaerobic POME sludge.
Microbial mannanases have become biotechnologically important in industry but their application is limited due to high production cost. In presents study, the extraction of mannanase from fermented Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) in the Solid State Fermentation (SSF) was optimized. Local isolate of Aspergillus terreus SUK-1 was grown on PKC in (SSF) using column bioreactor. The optimum condition were achieved after two washes of fermented PKC by adding of 10% glycerol (v/v) soaked for 10 h at the room temperature with solvent to ratio, 1:5 (w/v).
Coconut oil is a rich source of beneficial medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) particularly lauric acid. In this study, the oil was modified into a value-added product using direct modification of substrate through fermentation (DIMOSFER) method. A coconut-based and coconut-oil-added solid-state cultivation using a Malaysian lipolytic Geotrichum candidum was used to convert the coconut oil into MCFAs-rich oil. Chemical characteristics of the modified coconut oils (MCOs) considering total medium chain glyceride esters were compared to those of the normal coconut oil using ELSD-RP-HPLC. Optimum amount of coconut oil hydrolysis was achieved at 29% moisture content and 10.14% oil content after 9 days of incubation, where the quantitative amounts of the modified coconut oil and MCFA were 0.330 mL/g of solid media (76.5% bioconversion) and 0.175 mL/g of solid media (53% of the MCO), respectively. MCOs demonstrated improved antibacterial activity mostly due to the presence of free lauric acid. The highest MCFAs-rich coconut oil revealed as much as 90% and 80% antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. The results of the study showed that DIMOSFER by a local lipolytic G. candidum can be used to produce MCFAs as natural, effective, and safe antimicrobial agent. The produced MCOs and MCFAs could be further applied in food and pharmaceutical industries.
A total of 97 amino acids, considered as the signal peptide and transmembrane segments were removed from 205y lipase gene using polymerase chain reaction technique that abolished the low activity of this enzyme. The mature enzyme was expressed in Escherichia coli using pBAD expression vector, which gave up to a 13-fold increase in lipase activity. The mature 205y lipase (without signal peptide and transmembrane; -SP/TM) was purified to homogeneity using the isoelectric focusing technique with 53% recovery. Removing of the signal peptide and transmembrane segments had resulted in the shift of optimal pH, an increase in optimal temperature and tolerance towards more water-miscible organic solvents as compared to the characteristics of open reading frame (ORF) of 205y lipase. Also, in the presence of 1mM inhibitors, less decrease in the activity of mature 205y lipase was observed compared to the ORF of the enzyme. Protein structure modeling showed that 205y lipase consisted of an α/β hydrolase fold without lid domain. However, the transmembrane segment could effect on the enzyme activity by covering the active site or aggregation the protein.
The objective of this research was to study the oxidative stability and antioxidant properties of microencapsulated kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) seed oil (MKSO) produced by co-extrusion technology upon accelerated storage. The combination of sodium alginate, high methoxyl pectin, and chitosan were used as shell materials. The oxidative stability of the kenaf seed oil was determined by iodine value, peroxide value, p-Anisidine value, total oxidation (TOTOX), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay, and free fatty acid content. Total phenolic content, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) cation radical-scavenging assay and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay were used to examine the antioxidant properties of oils. Oxidative stability tests showed that bulk kenaf seed oil (BKSO) was oxidized significantly higher (P < 0.05) than MKSO. The total increment of TOTOX value of BKSO was 165.93% significantly higher (P < 0.05) than MKSO. Co-extrusion technology has shown to be able to protect kenaf seed oil against lipid oxidation and delay the degradation of natural antioxidants that present in oil during storage.
The effect of palm oil, a widely used vegetable oil, rich in tocotrienols, on peroxidation potential of rat liver was examined. Long-term feeding of rats with palm oil as one of the dietary components significantly reduced the peroxidation potential of hepatic mitochondria and microsomes. As compared to hepatic mitochondria isolated from rats fed control or corn oil-rich diet, those from palm oil-fed group showed significantly less susceptibility to peroxidation induced by ascorbate and NADPH. However, in microsomes, only NADPH-induced lipid peroxidation was significantly reduced in rats fed palm oil rich-diet. Though the accumulation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances during ascorbate-induced lipid peroxidation in mitochondria from rats fed corn oil-rich diet supplemented with tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) of palm oil was similar to that of control rats, the initial rate of peroxidation was much slower than those from control or corn oil fed diets. Our in vitro studies as well as analyses of co-factors related to peroxidation potential indicated that the observed decrease in palm oil-fed rats may be due to increased amount of antioxidants in terms of tocotrienol as well as decrease in the availability of substrates for peroxidation.