Hylocereus undatus foliage is believed to contain antioxidants similar to its peel. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity on the Hylocereus undatus pulps and peels; however, similar studies on its foliage have yet to be investigated. In this study, Hylocereus undatus foliage and peels were extracted using two different solvents namely; chloroform and methanol through Folin-Ciocalteu method and Diphenyl-1-Ipicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay for TPC and antioxidant activity, respectively. As for TPC, results revealed that the peels gave higher TPC in both methanol (48.15 mg GAE/100g extract) and chloroform (18.89 mg GAE/100g extract) extractions than foliage (30.3 mg GAE/100g extract and 5.92 mg GAE/100g extract, respectively). However, when a comparison was made between foliage and peels in terms of its scavenging effects in DPPH assay, the peels contained more antioxidants (18.71%) than foliage (38.3%) in the chloroform solvent extracts. This study shows that Hylocereus undatus foliage has a similar antioxidant activity as its peels and is potentially a natural antioxidant in food applications.
Alcohol is deleterious to physical and mental health as well as social well-being. This study aims to examine the prevalence of alcohol consumption and factors associated with its use among school-going Malaysian adolescents. The Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2012 employed 2-stage clustering design to Malaysian secondary school respondents aged 12 to 17 years. The prevalence of current alcohol usage was 8.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.8-10.07) overall, 11.2% (95% CI: 9.80-12.80) among males, and 23.4 (95% CI: 21.40-25.50) among Chinese students. Multivariate logistic regression showed that adolescents who had used alcohol were more likely to have used substance (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.39; 95% CI: 2.33-4.99), experienced injury (aOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.20-1.95), and engaged in sexual behaviors (aOR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.12-1.79), and fights (aOR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.08-1.41). The current national policies on alcohol should be strengthened to curb alcohol consumption among adolescents.
Study name: Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS)