This study was conducted to determine the major potential sources of industrially produced trans fatty acids (IP-TFAs) in Malaysian diet. Levels of IP-TFAs were initially determined in samples (n = 136) collected from 8 food groups (baked products, snacks, dairy products, breakfast cereals, fast foods, semisolid fats and cooking oils, and fried foods). A survey was carried out to 105 subjects aged 19-59 years old to determine the intake of IP-TFAs using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The IP-TFAs range from 0-5.79% of food, with the highest found in semisolid fats and cooking oils (0.1-5.79%), followed by fast foods (0.04-0.86%), baked products (0.01-0.29%), breakfast cereals (0.06-0.45%), snacks (0.03-0.26%), dairy products (0-0.26%), and fried foods (0.002-0.06%). A Spearman’s Rho rank test showed that there were significant correlations (p < 0.05) between 4 of the food groups (semisolid fats and cooking oils, fast foods, fried foods, and baked products), with the total IP-TFA intakes of subjects. In general, total IP-TFAs intakes of subjects were < 1% of subjects' diet (0.067%-0.91% of subjects’ total calorie intakes). This indicate that high fat foods (semisolid fats and cooking oils, fast foods, fried foods, and baked products) were the main contributor of IP-TFAs in Malaysian diet, despite the low proportion of trans fatty acids, following their high frequency of daily intake.
Five improved Nigerian barley cultivars (ESCOBA, ASE – 2, ALOE, GOB – 2, SUMBARD) were obtained from Lake Chad Research Institute Maiduguri, Nigeria, and their physicochemical, malting and biochemical properties investigated employing standard procedures. Data were analyzed by means of ANOVA [at 95% significant level] and correlations using SPSS 14 software. Results showed GOB-2 grain and malt recording the highest kernel weight (47.50 g) and kernel volume (41.21 ml); whereas ALOE grain had the longest kernel length (13.40 mm) and GOB-2 the shortest (9.40 mm). GOB-2 had the largest major diameter (3.39 mm) and SUMBARD had the least (2.86 mm). ESCOBA, SUMBARD and ASE-2 cultivars had the highest protein values (as %N) of 14.90%, 13.90% and 13.69% respectively, while ALOE, ASE-2 and GOB-2 had the highest total carbohydrates of 69.97, 69.39 and 68.90% respectively. All the cultivars had good germinative capacities (> 90%), with GOB-2 and ASE-2 having the highest germinative energy values of 96.65% and 95.00%. No significant (p > 0.05) changes
in the dimension of the kernels after malting. SUMBARD recorded the highest malt yields (88.55%) followed by ASE-2 (83.45%) and ALOE (82.00%). The highest α-amylase activities of 105.34 and 96.23 unit/mg protein/min were recorded by ASE-2 and ALOE, respectively, with corresponding diastatic powers of 81.92 and 76.23oL. Thousand kernel weight correlated positively with protein (r = 0.500, P < 0.05) and with total soluble solids (r = 0.435, p < 0.05) but negatively with α-amylase (r = -0.869, p < 0.05) and with diastatic power (r = -0.838, p < 0.05). This study showed that the cultivars have good potentials for use as malting materials in beverage making.
We report here a case of severe iron deficiency anaemia resulting from prolonged exclusive milk diet without any iron supplementation. The patient was a 1112 year old boy, the only child of a factory worker, who was breasffed until 4 months of age followed by exclusive feeding by non-fortifiedformula. He presented with severe iron deficiency anaemia with haemoglobin of4 .0g% and required blood trans-fusion. Iron and.vitamin supplements were given and cereals were slowly introduced. He responded very well to the treatment with satis-factory weight gain and improvement of anaemia. (Copied from article).
Lodging is a phenomenon that affects most of the cereal crops including rice, Oryza sativa. This is due to the fragile nature of herbaceous plants whose stems are non-woody, thus affecting its ability to grow upright. Silicon (Si), a beneficial nutrient is often used to toughen and protect plants from biotic and abiotic stresses. Deposition of Si in plant tissues enhances the rigidity and stiffness of the plant as a whole. Silicified cells provide the much needed strength to the culm to resist breaking. Lignin plays important roles in cell wall structural integrity, stem strength, transport, mechanical support, and plant pathogen defense. The aim of this study is to resolve effects of Si on formation of microstructure and regulation of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), a key gene responsible for lignin biosynthesis. Besides evaluating silicon, paclobutrazol (PBZ) a plant growth retartdant that reduces internode elongation is also incorporated in this study. Hardness, brittleness and stiffness were improved in presence of silicon thus reducing lodging. Scanning electron micrographs with the aid of energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) was used to map silicon distribution. Presence of trichomes, silica cells, and silica bodies were detected in silicon treated plants. Transcripts of CAD gene was also upregulated in these plants. Besides, phloroglucinol staining showed presence of lignified vascular bundles and sclerenchyma band. In conclusion, silicon treated rice plants showed an increase in lignin content, silicon content, and formation of silicified microstructures.
As fermentation could reduce the negative effects of bran on final cereal products, the utilization of whole-cereal flour is recommended, such as brown rice flour as a functional food ingredient. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of fermented brown rice flour on white rice flour, white rice batter and its steamed bread qualities. Brown rice batter was fermented using commercial baker's yeast (Eagle brand) according to the optimum conditions for moderate acidity (pH 5.5) to obtain fermented brown rice flour (FBRF). The FBRF was added to white rice flour at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% levels to prepare steamed rice bread. Based on the sensory evaluation test, steamed rice bread containing 40% FBRF had the highest overall acceptability score. Thus, pasting properties of the composite rice flour, rheological properties of its batter, volume and texture properties of its steamed bread were determined. The results showed that peak viscosity of the rice flour containing 40% FBRF was significantly increased, whereas its breakdown, final viscosity and setback significantly decreased. Viscous, elastic and complex moduli of the batter having 40% FBRF were also significantly reduced. However, volume, specific volume, chewiness, resilience and cohesiveness of its steamed bread were significantly increased, while hardness and springiness significantly reduced in comparison to the control. These results established the effectiveness of yeast fermentation in reducing the detrimental effects of bran on the sensory properties of steamed white rice bread and encourage the usage of brown rice flour to enhance the quality of rice products.
Time of weed control and fertilizer application usually decide the profitability of crop production. The effects of weed control and macronutrients on maize crop were investigated. The study was undertaken in March 2009, using a RCBD design with split plot arrangements. The experimental set up was established at the Agricultural University Peshawar and seedbeds were prepared with the proper moisture regime. Maize was planted with one plot left weed free for first six weeks while another infested with weed. The combinations of macronutrients used were nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen-phosphorus, nitrogen-potassium, phosphorus-potassium and nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium. Control (no fertilizer) was included for comparison. The observations revealed that when a comparison was made between the application of fertilizers and weed control, the latter proved more important because weed infested plots had no harvestable maize plants. The role of main nutrients in crop production is well known and cannot be left aside, however weed infestation does not provide us a fair choice of fertilizers application. The maximum maize grain yield was recorded under nitrogen-phosphorus combination and promising results were obtained. The weeds and maize benefited equally in terms of fresh and dry weed biomass with an application of fertilizer in particular N singly or together with P. In view of this, application of fertilizer should be changed from broadcast to band and/or placement. In general, a positive interaction was seen between N and P promoting the growth of maize and weeds. It can be said that herbicide application for weed control is important because of the fact that hand weeding is not economical, difficult, time consuming because of perennial weeds and hot weather conditions in the month of June.
Yield performance in wheat (Triticum aestivum) was compared under crop residue, tillage system and nitrogen rate treatments in cereal based cropping system. The experiments were conducted at Agronomy Research Farm, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Chopped crop residue on dry matter basis (5 t ha1-) of legume (Vigna unguicuata, var. Ebney) and cereal (Zea mays, var. Azam) was applied in main plots with no residue treatments and plowed with Mould Board (MB) and Cultivator as deep and shallow treatments, respectively. A month after the crop residue and tillage system treatments, field was uniformly plowed with cultivator and wheat was sown with drill in rows 25 cm apart in the month of November on both years. Both P2O55 and K2O (80 and 40 kg ha , respectively) were applied uniformly to all fields before sowing. Nitrogen as subplot treatment (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha-1) was applied in two splits, half at 15 and the other half at 45 days after sowing with uniform cultural practices for crop growth and development. Compared to year 1, crop of year 2 showed better phenology with extended life cycle (LC). On two years average across tillage and N treatments, biological yield did not change (p<0.05) under the residue but did report lower at no-residue treatment. Nonetheless, grain yield showed a significant (p<0.05) change with the highest in legume followed by cereal and the lowest in no-residue treatments. A non-significant tiller number and significant variations in grain weight and spike m-2 were observed that influenced the grain and biological yield differently. Deep than shallow tillage resulted in better traits, which returned better biomass and grain yield. Nitrogen application from control to every increment showed a significant (p<0.05) improvement in all observations contributing in yield. The study confirms the significance of legume vs. cereal over no-crop residue incorporated through deep tillage system with optimum N (120 kg ha-1) in cereal-based cropping system for sustainable performance to sustain soil C:N for future production.
Bioethanol is a very environmentally friendly liquid biofuel that is not only renewable, but also sustainable. It is currently
deemed as a highly suitable additive and substitute energy source to replace fossil based fuel. In this study, bioethanol
was produced from sago hampas by using commercial amylase, cellulase and Saccharomyces cerevisiae via sequential
saccharification and simultaneous fermentation (SSSF), a modified version of the simultaneous saccharification and
fermentation (SSF) process. SSSF was performed on sago hampas at 2.5 and 5.0% (w/v) feedstock load for five days. The
samples taken from the SSSF broths were analysed via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for ethanol, glucose
and acetic acid production. From the results obtained, SSSF with 5.0% sago hampas loading exhibited the highest ethanol
production at 14.13 g/L (77.43% of theoretical ethanol yield), while SSSF using 2.5% sago hampas loading produced
ethanol at 6.45 g/L (69.24% of theoretical ethanol yield). This study has shown that ethanol not only can be produced
from sago hampas using different enzyme mixtures and S. cerevisiae via SSSF, but yields were also high, making this
process highly promising for the production of cheap and sustainable ethanol as fuel.
Pigmented rice is enriched with antioxidants, macro- and micronutrients. A comprehensive investigation of the gene expression patterns among the pigmented rice varieties would help to understand the cellular mechanism and biological processes of rice grain pigmentation. Hence, we performed RNA sequencing and analysis on the whole grain of dehusked mature seeds of selected six Malaysian rice varieties with varying grain pigmentations. These varieties were black rice (BALI and Pulut Hitam 9), red rice (MRM16 and MRQ100) and white rice (MR297 and MRQ76). Illumina HiSeq™ 4000 sequencer was used to generate total raw nucleotides of approximately 53 Gb in size. From 353,937,212 total paired-end raw reads, 340,131,496 total clean reads were obtained. The raw reads were deposited into European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) database and can be accessed via accession number PRJEB34340. This dataset allows us to identify and profile all expressed genes with functions related to nutritional traits (i.e. antioxidants, folate and amylose content) and quality trait (i.e. aroma) across both pigmented and non-pigmented rice varieties. In addition, the transcriptome data obtained will be valuable for discovery of potential gene markers and functional SNPs related to functional traits to assist in rice breeding programme.
Maize is an imperative grain crop used as a staple food in several countries around the world. Water deficiency is a serious
problem limiting its growing area and production. Identification of drought tolerant maize germplasm is comparatively
easy and sustainable approach to combat this issue. Present research was conducted to evaluate 50 maize genotypes
for drought tolerance at early growth stage. Drought tolerance was assessed on the basis of several morphological
and physiological parameters. Analysis of variance showed significant variation among the tested maize genotypes for
recorded parameters. Principal component analysis revealed important morpho-physiological traits that were playing
key role in drought tolerance. Correlation studies depicted significant positive correlation among the attributes such as
fresh shoot length (FSL), fresh root length (FRL), dry shoot weight (DSW), dry root weight (DRW), relative water contents
(RWC) and total dry matter (TDM) while a strongly negative correlation was observed among RWC and excised leaf
water loss. Results concluded that the parameters fresh shoot weight, fresh root weight, FRL, DRW, TDM, cell membrane
thermo stability (CMT) and RWC can be useful for rapid screening of maize germplasm for drought tolerance at early
growth stages. Furthermore, the genotypes 6, 16, 18, 40, 45 and 50 can be used as a drought tolerant check in breeding
programs. Moreover, biplot analysis along with other indices was proved to be a useful approach for rapid and cost
efficient screening of large number of genotypes against drought stress condition.
Starch blend films made from sago and mung bean were prepared by casting with glycerol as the plasticizer and subsequently exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for 2 h. The films were characterized by thickness, moisture sorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. All films produced were colorless while incorporation of glycerol resulted in more flexible and manageable films. Moisture sorption isotherms for all films showed sigmoidal shape and the control films showed slightly higher curve than treated films. While for X-ray analysis, the control and treated films for all formulations showed similar pattern, however for treated films showed more crystalline character. UV radiation showed affect on X-ray diffraction and sorption isotherms; however the UV radiation did not affect the spectra pattern of FTIR.
This study investigated the effect of annealing treatment (at 50°C for 72 h) on hydrolysis of tapioca and sweet potato starches using a raw starch hydrolyzing enzyme namely STARGEN 001 (a blend from fungal α-amylase and glucoamylase) at sub-gelatinization temperature (35°C) for 24 h. The degree of hydrolysis of the starches was evaluated based on the dextrose equivalent (DE) value. The hydrolyzed starches were then characterized in terms of its morphology, swelling power and solubility, gelatinization and pasting properties, amylose content and x-ray diffraction pattern. After 24 h of hydrolysis, annealed starches were hydrolyzed to a greater degree with higher DE value compared to native starches (40% vs 33% for tapioca; and 29% vs 24% for sweet potato starch). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs revealed a more porous granules and rougher surface in annealed starches than their native counterparts. The swelling power and solubility of annealed starches decreased significantly. Annealing was found to affect the pasting properties of the starches appreciably and increase the starch gelatinization temperature. The amylose content in hydrolyzed annealed tapioca and sweet potato starches increased while no significant changes observed in the X-ray diffraction of those starches. This study shows that the annealing treatment can be used as a way to increase the degree of hydrolysis of tapioca and sweet potato starches at sub-gelatinization temperature using a raw starch hydrolyzing enzyme.
Rice brown spot (BS) exerts devastating agronomic effects on grain quality and overall productivity. In Peninsular Malaysia, BS disease incidence is fairly prevalent and little is known about the diversity of BS pathogens in the local granaries. Fifteen isolates from BS symptomatic rice plants were identified at five different rice granaries across Peninsular Malaysia. Based on the morphological and molecular analyses, two isolates were confirmed as Bipolaris oryzae while the rest were identified as Exserohilum rostratum. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that BS incidence in rice granaries in Peninsular Malaysia is caused by a pair of closely related fungal pathogens, E. rostratum and B. oryzae, with the former being more predominant. Cultural characterization of E. rostratum isolate KT831962 showed the best growth and sporulation activity on corn meal agar plates incubated in complete darkness. The effects of calcium silicate (CaSiO3) and rice husk ash (RHA) soil amendment against MR219 and MR253 rice varieties were evaluated during rice-E. rostratum interaction. Results showed that soil amelioration using CaSiO3 and RHA singly and in combination with manganese (Mn) significantly reduced rice BS disease severity. The BS disease index was reduced significantly to less than 31.6% in the silicon-treated rice plants relative to the control plants at 41.2%. Likewise, the grain yield at the harvest stage showed significantly higher yield in the Si-treated rice plants in comparison to the control, non-Si treated rice plants. The findings highlight the potential of RHA agro-waste as Si fertilizer in a sustainable rice production system.
Agricultural development in the tropics lags behind development in the
temperate latitudes due to the lack of advanced technology, and various biotic and abiotic
factors. To cope with the increasing demand for food and other plant-based products,
improved crop varieties have to be developed. To breed improved varieties, a better
understanding of crop genetics is necessary. With the advent of next-generation DNA
sequencing technologies, many important crop genomes have been sequenced. Primary
importance has been given to food crops, including cereals, tuber crops, vegetables, and
fruits. The DNA sequence information is extremely valuable for identifying key genes
controlling important agronomic traits and for identifying genetic variability among the
cultivars. However, massive DNA re-sequencing and gene expression studies have to be
performed to substantially improve our understanding of crop genetics. Application of the
knowledge obtained from the genomes, transcriptomes, expression studies, and
epigenetic studies would enable the development of improved varieties and may lead to a
second green revolution. The applications of next generation DNA sequencing
technologies in crop improvement, its limitations, future prospects, and the features of
important crop genome projects are reviewed herein.
A new method for the simultaneous quantification of 12 mycotoxins was developed and optimized using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with a photodiode array (PDA) and fluorescence detector (FLD), a photochemical reactor for enhanced detection (PHRED) and post-column derivatization. The mycotoxins included aflatoxins (AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1), and AFG(2)), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisins (FB(1), FB(2), and FB(3)), T-2 and HT-2 toxins. A double sample extraction with a phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS) and methanol was used for co-extraction of mycotoxins, and a multifunctional immunoaffinity column was used for cleanup. Optimum conditions for separation of the mycotoxins were obtained to separate 12 mycotoxins in FLD and PDA chromatograms with a high resolution. The method gave recoveries in the range 72-111% when applied to spiked corn samples. The limits of detection (LOD) were 0.025 ng/g for AFB(1) and AFG(1), 0.012 ng/g for AFB(2) and AFG(2), 0.2 ng/g for OTA, 1.5 ng/g for ZEA, 6.2 ng/g for FB(1), FB(3) and HT-2 toxin, 9.4 ng/g for FB(2) and T-2 toxin, and 18.7 ng/g for DON. In addition, the limits of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.04 ng/g for AFB(2) and AFG(2) to 62 ng/g for DON. The method was successfully applied to the determination of these mycotoxins in 45 cereal samples obtained from the Malaysian market. The results indicated that the method can be applied for the multi-mycotoxin determination of cereals.
This study was carried out to determine the blood glucose response and glycaemic index (GI) values of four types of commercially available breads in Malaysia. Twelve healthy volunteers (six men, six women; body mass index, 21.9±1.6 kg/m(2); age, 22.9±1.7 years) participated in this study. The breads tested were multi-grains bread (M-Grains), wholemeal bread (WM), wholemeal bread with oatmeal (WM-Oat) and white bread (WB). The subjects were studied on seven different occasions (four tests for the tested breads and three repeated tests of the reference food) after an overnight fast. Capillary blood samples were taken immediately before (0 min) and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min after consumption of the test foods. The blood glucose response was obtained by calculating the incremental area under the curve. The GI values were determined according to the standardized methodology. Our results showed that the M-Grains and WM-Oat could be categorized as intermediate GI while the WM and WB breads were high GI foods, respectively. The GI of M-Grains (56±6.2) and WM-Oat (67±6.9) were significantly lower than the reference food (glucose; GI = 100) (P < 0.05). No significant difference in GI value was seen between the reference food and the GI of WM (85±5.9) and WB (82±6.5) (P > 0.05). Among the tested breads, the GI values of M-Grains and WM-Oat were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of WM and WB. There was no relationship between the dietary fibre content of the bread with the incremental area under the curve (r = 0.15, P = 0.15) or their GI values (r = 0.17, P = 0.12), indicating that the GI value of the test breads were unaffected by the fibre content of the breads. The result of this study will provide useful nutritional information for dieticians and the public alike who may prefer low-GI over high-GI foods.
A simple sample preparation technique coupled with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for the determination of tocopherols and tocotrienols in cereals. The sample preparation procedure involved a small-scale hydrolysis of 0.5g cereal sample by saponification, followed by the extraction and concentration of tocopherols and tocotrienols from saponified extract using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME). Parameters affecting the DLLME performance were optimized to achieve the highest extraction efficiency and the performance of the developed DLLME method was evaluated. Good linearity was observed over the range assayed (0.031-4.0μg/mL) with regression coefficients greater than 0.9989 for all tocopherols and tocotrienols. Limits of detection and enrichment factors ranged from 0.01 to 0.11μg/mL and 50 to 73, respectively. Intra- and inter-day precision were lower than 8.9% and the recoveries were around 85.5-116.6% for all tocopherols and tocotrienols. The developed DLLME method was successfully applied to cereals: rice, barley, oat, wheat, corn and millet. This new sample preparation approach represents an inexpensive, rapid, simple and precise sample cleanup and concentration method for the determination of tocopherols and tocotrienols in cereals.
Infant feeding practices of 6149 mothers in Kenya, Mexico and Malaysia are reported. A high proportion of mothers initiated breast-feeding in each country regardless of social class. Most Kenyan mothers continued to breast-feed for at least 12 months. In Mexico and Malaysia, however, breast-feeding was discontinued relatively early, especially among urban mothers. Early supplementation of breast-fed infants with milk and/or other food was a common practice in each of the three countries. Among breast-fed infants below 4 months of age, the percentages who were exclusively breast-fed in the urban elite, urban poor and rural groups respectively were 6, 14 and 21 per cent in Kenya, 8, 19 and 31 per cent in Mexico, and 11, 9 and 11 per cent in Malaysia. Supplementation of breast-fed infants in the first two months of life was more likely to be with infant formula than with any other milk or food. At three months of age, however, nonmilk foods were the most common supplements in all population groups with the exception of those in urban Kenya. The policy implications are discussed.
Fungi are distributed worldwide and can be found in various foods and feedstuffs from almost every part of the world. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by some fungal species and may impose food safety risks to human health. Among all mycotoxins, aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), trichothecenes, deoxynivalenol (DON and T-2 toxin), zearalenone (ZEN), and fumonisins (FMN) have received much attention due to high frequency and severe health effects in humans and animals. Malaysia has heavy rainfall throughout the year, high temperatures (28 to 31 °C), and high relative humidity (70% to 80% during wet seasons). Stored crops under such conditions can easily be contaminated by mycotoxin-producing fungi. The most important mycotoxins in Malaysian foods are AFs, OTA, DON, ZEN, and FMN that can be found in peanuts, cereal grains, cocoa beans, and spices. AFs have been reported to occur in several cereal grains, feeds, nuts, and nut products consumed in Malaysia. Spices, oilseeds, milk, eggs, and herbal medicines have been reported to be contaminated with AFs (lower than the Malaysian acceptable level of 35 ng/g for total AFs). OTA, a possible human carcinogen, was reported in cereal grains, nuts, and spices in Malaysian market. ZEN was detected in Malaysian rice, oat, barley, maize meal, and wheat at different levels. DON contamination, although at low levels, was reported in rice, maize, barley, oat, wheat, and wheat-based products in Malaysia. FMN was reported in feed and some cereal grains consumed in Malaysia. Since some food commodities are more susceptible than others to fungal growth and mycotoxin contamination, more stringent prevention and control methods are required.
The common industrial starches are typically derived from cereals (corn, wheat, rice, sorghum), tubers (potato, sweet potato), roots (cassava), and legumes (mung bean, green pea). Sago (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) starch is perhaps the only example of commercial starch derived from another source, the stem of palm (sago palm). Sago palm has the ability to thrive in the harsh swampy peat environment of certain areas. It is estimated that there are about 2 million ha of natural sago palm forests and about 0.14 million ha of planted sago palm at present, out of a total swamp area of about 20 million ha in Asia and the Pacific Region, most of which are under- or nonutilized. Growing in a suitable environment with organized farming practices, sago palm could have a yield potential of up to 25 tons of starch per hectare per year. Sago starch yield per unit area could be about 3 to 4 times higher than that of rice, corn, or wheat, and about 17 times higher than that of cassava. Compared to the common industrial starches, however, sago starch has been somewhat neglected and relatively less attention has been devoted to the sago palm and its starch. Nevertheless, a number of studies have been published covering various aspects of sago starch such as molecular structure, physicochemical and functional properties, chemical/physical modifications, and quality issues. This article is intended to piece together the accumulated knowledge and highlight some pertinent information related to sago palm and sago starch studies.