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  1. Zakaria ZA, Sulaiman MR, Morsid NA, Aris A, Zainal H, Pojan NH, et al.
    Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol, 2009 Mar;31(2):81-8.
    PMID: 19455262 DOI: 10.1358/mf.2009.31.2.1353876
    The present study was carried out to evaluate the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects of the aqueous extract of Solanum nigrum leaves using various animal models. The extract, at concentrations of 10, 50 and 100%, was prepared by soaking (1:20; w/v) air-dried powdered leaves (20 g) in distilled water (dH2O) for 72 h. The extract solutions were administered subcutaneously in mice/rats 30 min prior to the tests. The extract exhibited significant (P < 0.05) antinociceptive activity when assessed using the abdominal constriction, hot plate and formalin tests. The extract also produced significant (P < 0.05) anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities when assessed using the carrageenan-induced paw edema and brewer's yeast-induced pyrexia tests, respectively. Overall, these activities occurred in a concentration-dependent manner, except for the 50% concentration of the extract, which was not effective in the abdominal constriction test. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that S. nigrum leaves possessed antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects and thus supported traditional claims of its medicinal uses.
  2. Zakaria ZA, Gopalan HK, Zainal H, Mohd Pojan NH, Morsid NA, Aris A, et al.
    Yakugaku Zasshi, 2006 Nov;126(11):1171-8.
    PMID: 17077618
    AIM: The present study was carried out to evaluate the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects of chloroform extract of Solanum nigrum leaves using various animal models.

    METHODS: The extract was prepared by soaking (1:20; w/v) the air-dried powdered leaves (20 g) in chloroform for 72 hrs followed by evaporation (40 degrees C) under reduced pressure to dryness (1.26 g) and then dissolved (1:50; w/v) in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The supernatant, considered as the stock solution with dose of 200 mg/kg, was diluted using DMSO to 20 and 100 mg/kg, and all doses were administered (s.c.; 10 ml/kg) in mice/rats 30 min prior to tests.

    RESULTS: The extract exhibited significant (p<0.05) antinociceptive activity when assessed using the abdominal constriction, hot plate and formalin tests. The extract also produced significant (p<0.05) anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities when assessed using the carrageenan-induced paw edema and brewer's yeast-induced pyrexia tests. Overall, the activities occurred in a dose-independent manner.

    CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that the lipid-soluble extract of S. nigrum leaves possessed antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic properties and confirmed the traditional claims.

  3. Zainal-Abideen M, Aris A, Yusof F, Abdul-Majid Z, Selamat A, Omar SI
    Water Sci Technol, 2012;65(3):496-503.
    PMID: 22258681 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2012.561
    In this study of coagulation operation, a comparison was made between the optimum jar test values for pH, coagulant and coagulant aid obtained from traditional methods (an adjusted one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method) and with central composite design (the standard design of response surface methodology (RSM)). Alum (coagulant) and polymer (coagulant aid) were used to treat a water source with very low pH and high aluminium concentration at Sri-Gading water treatment plant (WTP) Malaysia. The optimum conditions for these factors were chosen when the final turbidity, pH after coagulation and residual aluminium were within 0-5 NTU, 6.5-7.5 and 0-0.20 mg/l respectively. Traditional and RSM jar tests were conducted to find their respective optimum coagulation conditions. It was observed that the optimum dose for alum obtained through the traditional method was 12 mg/l, while the value for polymer was set constant at 0.020 mg/l. Through RSM optimization, the optimum dose for alum was 7 mg/l and for polymer was 0.004 mg/l. Optimum pH for the coagulation operation obtained through traditional methods and RSM was 7.6. The final turbidity, pH after coagulation and residual aluminium recorded were all within acceptable limits. The RSM method was demonstrated to be an appropriate approach for the optimization and was validated by a further test.
  4. Yusoff HM, Ahmad H, Ismail H, Reffin N, Chan D, Kusnin F, et al.
    Hum Resour Health, 2023 Oct 13;21(1):82.
    PMID: 37833727 DOI: 10.1186/s12960-023-00868-8
    Violence against healthcare workers recently became a growing public health concern and has been intensively investigated, particularly in the tertiary setting. Nevertheless, little is known of workplace violence against healthcare workers in the primary setting. Given the nature of primary healthcare, which delivers essential healthcare services to the community, many primary healthcare workers are vulnerable to violent events. Since the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978, the number of epidemiological studies on workplace violence against primary healthcare workers has increased globally. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review summarising the significant results from previous studies has not been published. Thus, this systematic review was conducted to collect and analyse recent evidence from previous workplace violence studies in primary healthcare settings. Eligible articles published in 2013-2023 were searched from the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed literature databases. Of 23 included studies, 16 were quantitative, four were qualitative, and three were mixed method. The extracted information was analysed and grouped into four main themes: prevalence and typology, predisposing factors, implications, and coping mechanisms or preventive measures. The prevalence of violence ranged from 45.6% to 90%. The most commonly reported form of violence was verbal abuse (46.9-90.3%), while the least commonly reported was sexual assault (2-17%). Most primary healthcare workers were at higher risk of patient- and family-perpetrated violence (Type II). Three sub-themes of predisposing factors were identified: individual factors (victims' and perpetrators' characteristics), community or geographical factors, and workplace factors. There were considerable negative consequences of violence on both the victims and organisations. Under-reporting remained the key issue, which was mainly due to the negative perception of the effectiveness of existing workplace policies for managing violence. Workplace violence is a complex issue that indicates a need for more serious consideration of a resolution on par with that in other healthcare settings. Several research gaps and limitations require additional rigorous analytical and interventional research. Information pertaining to violent events must be comprehensively collected to delineate the complete scope of the issue and formulate prevention strategies based on potentially modifiable risk factors to minimise the negative implications caused by workplace violence.
  5. We ACE, Aris A, Zain NAM, Muda K, Sulaiman S
    Chemosphere, 2021 Jan;263:128209.
    PMID: 33297168 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128209
    The present work investigates the feasibility of aerobic granulation for the treatment of low-medium strength domestic wastewater for long-term operation and effects of a static mixer on the properties and removal performances of the aerobic granules formed. The static mixer was installed in a sequential batch reactor to provide higher hydrodynamic shear force in enhancing the formation of the aerobic granules. Aerobic granules were successfully formed in the domestic wastewater, and the granulation treatment system was sustained for a period of 356 days without granules disintegration. Subsequent to the installation, aerobic granules with a low SVI30 of 41.37 mL/gTSS, average diameter 1.11 mm, granular strength with integrity coefficient 10.4% and regular shape with minimum filamentous outgrowth were formed. Mineral concentrations such as Fe, Mg, Ca and Na as well as composition of protein and polysaccharide in tightly bound-extracellular polymeric substance of the aerobic granules were found to be higher under the effect of the static mixer. However, no significant improvement was observed on the TCOD, NH4+-N and TSS removal performance. Good TCOD and TSS removal performance of above 85% and 90%, respectively and moderate NH4+-N removal performance of about 60% were observed throughout the study. Higher simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) efficiency of 56% was observed after the installation of the static mixer, as compared to 21% prior. Therefore, it may be concluded that the installation of the static mixer significantly improved the properties of aerobic granules formation and SND efficiency but not the TCOD, NH4+-N and TSS removal performance.
  6. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy A, Yusop Z, Jaafar J, Bin Aris A, Abdul Majid Z, Umar K, et al.
    J Sep Sci, 2016 Jun;39(12):2276-83.
    PMID: 27095506 DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201600155
    A sensitive and selective gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous determination of three organophosphorus pesticides, namely, chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon in three different food commodities (milk, apples, and drinking water) employing solid-phase extraction for sample pretreatment. Pesticide extraction from different sample matrices was carried out on Chromabond C18 cartridges using 3.0 mL of methanol and 3.0 mL of a mixture of dichloromethane/acetonitrile (1:1 v/v) as the eluting solvent. Analysis was carried out by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry using selected-ion monitoring mode. Good linear relationships were obtained in the range of 0.1-50 μg/L for chlorpyrifos, and 0.05-50 μg/L for both malathion and diazinon pesticides. Good repeatability and recoveries were obtained in the range of 78.54-86.73% for three pesticides under the optimized experimental conditions. The limit of detection ranged from 0.02 to 0.03 μg/L, and the limit of quantification ranged from 0.05 to 0.1 μg/L for all three pesticides. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for the determination of three targeted pesticides in milk, apples, and drinking water samples each in triplicate. No pesticide was found in apple and milk samples, but chlorpyrifos was found in one drinking water sample below the quantification level.
  7. Tee SK, Ong TL, Aris A, See SML, Leong HY, Khalid MKNM, et al.
    Seizure, 2019 Apr;67:78-81.
    PMID: 30947044 DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2019.03.012
  8. Tariq FS, Samsuri AW, Karam DS, Aris AZ, Jamilu G
    Environ Monit Assess, 2019 Mar 21;191(4):232.
    PMID: 30900076 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7359-6
    This study was conducted to determine the effects of rice husk ash (RHA) and Fe-coated rice husk ash (Fe-RHA) on the bioavailability and mobility of As, Cd, and Mn in mine tailings. The amendments were added to the tailings at 0, 5, 10, or 20% (w/w) and the mixtures were incubated for 0, 7, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days. The CaCl2 extractable As, Cd, and Mn in the amended tailings were determined at each interval of incubation period. In addition, the tailings mixture was leached with simulated rain water (SRW) every week from 0 day (D 0) until day 60 (D 60). The results showed that both RHA and Fe-RHA application significantly decreased the CaCl2-extractable Cd and Mn but increased that of As in the tailings throughout the incubation period. Consequently, addition of both RHA and Fe-RHA leached out higher amount of As from the tailings but decreased Cd and Mn concentration compared to the controls. The amount of As leached from the Fe-RHA-amended tailings was less than that from RHA-amended tailings. Application of both RHA and Fe-RHA could be an effective way in decreasing the availability of cationic heavy metals (Cd and Mn) in the tailings but these amendments could result in increasing the availability of anionic metalloid (As). Therefore, selection of organic amendments to remediate metal-contaminated tailings must be done with great care because the outcomes might be different among the elements.
  9. Reddy AVB, Yusop Z, Jaafar J, Bin Aris A, Abdul Majid Z
    J Sep Sci, 2017 Aug;40(15):3086-3093.
    PMID: 28581679 DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201700252
    An extremely sensitive and simple gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method was developed and completely validated for the analysis of five process-related impurities, viz., 4-hydroxy-l-phenylglycine, 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, methyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetate, and 2-[4-{(2RS)-2-hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]propoxy}phenyl]acetonitrile, in atenolol. The separation of impurities was accomplished on a BPX-5 column with dimensions of 50 m × 0.25 mm i.d. and 0.25 μm film thickness. The method validation was performed following International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines in which the method was capable to quantitate 4-hydroxy-l-phenylglycine, 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid at 0.3 ppm, and methyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetate and 2-[4-{(2RS)-2-hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]propoxy}phenyl]acetonitrile at 0.35 ppm with respect to 10 mg/mL of atenolol. The method was linear over the concentration range of 0.3-10 ppm for 4-hydroxy-l-phenylglycine, 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, and 0.35-10 ppm for methyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetate and 2-[4-{(2RS)-2-hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]propoxy}phenyl]acetonitrile. The correlation coefficient in each case was found ≥0.998. The repeatability and recovery values were acceptable, and found between 89.38% and 105.60% for all five impurities under optimized operating conditions. The method developed here is simple, selective, and sensitive with apparently better resolution than the reported methods. Hence, the method is a straightforward and good quality control tool for the quantitation of selected impurities at trace concentrations in atenolol.
  10. Praveena SM, Ahmed A, Radojevic M, Abdullah MH, Aris AZ
    Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 2008 Jul;81(1):52-6.
    PMID: 18506379 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-008-9460-3
    Spatial variations in estuarine intertidal sediment have been often related to such environmental variables as salinity, sediment types, heavy metals and base cations. However, there have been few attempts to investigate the difference condition between high and low tides relationships and to predict their likely responses in an estuarine environment. This paper investigates the linkages between environmental variables and tides of estuarine intertidal sediment in order to provide a basis for describing the effect of tides in the Mengkabong lagoon, Sabah. Multivariate statistical technique, principal components analysis (PCA) was employed to better interpret information about the sediment and its controlling factors in the intertidal zone. The calculation of Geoaccumulation Index (I(geo)) suggests the Mengkabong mangrove sediments are having background concentrations for Al, Cu, Fe, and Zn and unpolluted for Pb. Extra efforts should therefore pay attention to understand the mechanisms and quantification of different pathways of exchange within and between intertidal zones.
  11. Praveena SM, Aris AZ
    Environ Geochem Health, 2018 Apr;40(2):749-762.
    PMID: 28929262 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-017-0021-8
    This study aims to determine the status of potentially toxic element concentrations of road dust in a medium-sized city (Rawang, Malaysia). This study adopts source identification via enrichment factor, Pearson correlation analysis, and Fourier spectral analysis to identify sources of potentially toxic element concentrations in road dust in Rawang City, Malaysia. Health risk assessment was conducted to determine potential health risks (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks) among adults and children via multiple pathways (i.e., ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation). Mean of potentially toxic element concentrations were found in the order of Pb > Zn > Cr(IV) > Cu > Ni > Cd > As > Co. Source identification revealed that Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni, and Cr(IV) are associated with anthropogenic sources in industrial and highly populated areas in northern and southern Rawang, cement factories in southern Rawang, as well as the rapid development and population growth in northwestern Rawang, which have resulted in high traffic congestion. Cobalt, Fe, and As are related to geological background and lithologies in Rawang. Pathway orders for both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks are ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation, involving adults and children. Non-carcinogenic health risks in adults were attributed to Cr(IV), Pb, and Cd, whereas Cu, Cd, Cr(IV), Pb, and Zn were found to have non-carcinogenic health risks for children. Cd, Cr(IV), Pb, and As may induce carcinogenic risks in adults and children, and the total lifetime cancer risk values exceeded incremental lifetime.
  12. Omar, N. A., Praveena, S. M., Hashim, Z., Aris, A. Z.
    MyJurnal
    Rice is a carbohydrate, one of the plant-based foods that can accumulate heavy metal from soil and the irrigation water. Since total heavy metal always overestimates the amount of heavy metal available in rice, bioavailability of heavy metal is always preferred. Many studies have been done and found that in vitro methods offer an appealing alternative to human and animal studies. They can be simple, rapid, low in cost and may provide insights which not achievable in the in vivo studies. In vitro digestion model for rice may differ from other in vitro digestion models applied in soil or other type of foods studies. This review aims to provide an overview of in vitro digestion model used to determine bioavailability of heavy metal in rice, summarize health risk assessment application of heavy metal in rice studies and highlight the importance of health risk assessment to be included in the studies. Future exploration of in vitro digestion model and health risk assessment application on the bioavailability of heavy metal in rice was also suggested.
  13. Omar NA, Praveena SM, Aris AZ, Hashim Z
    Food Chem, 2015 Dec 1;188:46-50.
    PMID: 26041162 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.04.087
    Little is known about the bioavailability of heavy metal contamination and its health risks after rice ingestion. This study aimed to determine bioavailability of heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Co, Al, Fe, Zn and Pb) concentrations in cooked rice and human Health Risk Assessment (HRA). The results found Zn was the highest (4.3±0.1 mg/kg), whereas As showed the lowest (0.015±0.001 mg/kg) bioavailability of heavy metal concentration in 22 varieties of cooked rice. For single heavy metal exposure, no potential of non carcinogenic health risks was found, while carcinogenic health risks were found only for As. Combined heavy metal exposures found that total Hazard Quotient (HQtotal) values for adult were higher than the acceptable range (HQTotal<1), whereas total Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCRTotal) values were higher than the acceptable range (LCRTotal values >1×10(-4)) for both adult and children. This study is done to understand that the inclusion of bioavailability heavy metal into HRA produces a more realistic estimation of human heavy metal exposure.
  14. Nuid M, Aris A, Abdullah S, Fulazzaky MA, Muda K
    J Environ Manage, 2023 Sep 01;341:118032.
    PMID: 37163834 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118032
    Biogranulation technology is an emerging biological process in treating various wastewater. However, the development of biogranules requires an extended period of time when treating wastewaters with high oil and grease (O&G) content. A study was therefore conducted to assess the formation of biogranules through bioaugmentation with the Serratia marcescens SA30 strain, in treating real anaerobically digested palm oil mill effluent (AD-POME), with O&G of about 4600 mg/L. The biogranules were developed in a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system under alternating anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The experimental data were assessed using the modified mass transfer factor (MMTF) models to understand the mechanisms of biosorption of O&G on the biogranules. The system was run with variable organic loading rates (OLR) of 0.69-9.90 kg/m3d and superficial air velocity (SAV) of 2 cm/s. After 60 days of being bioaugmented with the Serratia marcescens SA30 strain, the flocculent biomass transformed into biogranules with excellent settleability with improved treatment efficiency. The biogranules showed a compact structure and good settling ability with an average diameter of about 2 mm, a sludge volume index at 5 min (SVI5) of 43 mL/g, and a settling velocity (SV) of 81 m/h after 256 days of operation. The average removal efficiencies of O&G increased from 6 to 99.92%, respectively. The application of the MMTF model verified that the resistance to O&G biosorption is controlled via film mass transfer. This research indicates successful bioaugmentation of biogranules using the Serratia marcescens SA30 strain for enhanced biodegradation of O&G and is capable to treat real AD-POME.
  15. Nuid M, Aris A, Krishnen R, Chelliapan S, Muda K
    J Environ Manage, 2023 Oct 15;344:118501.
    PMID: 37418913 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118501
    This study was to develop biogranules using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and to evaluate the effect of pineapple wastewater (PW) as a co-substrate for treating real textile wastewater (RTW). The biogranular system cycle was 24 h (2 stages of phase), with an anaerobic phase (17.8 h) followed by an aerobic phase (5.8 h) for every stage of the phase. The concentration of pineapple wastewater was the main factor studied in influencing COD and color removal efficiency. Pineapple wastewater with different concentrations (7, 5, 4, 3, and 0% v/v) makes a total volume of 3 L and causes the OLRs to vary from 2.90 to 0.23 kg COD/m3day. The system achieved 55% of average color removal and 88% of average COD removal at 7%v/v PW concentration during treatment. With the addition of PW, the removal increased significantly. The experiment on the treatment of RTW without any added nutrients proved the importance of co-substrate in dye degradation.
  16. Muda K, Aris A, Salim MR, Ibrahim Z, van Loosdrecht MC, Ahmad A, et al.
    Water Res, 2011 Oct 15;45(16):4711-21.
    PMID: 21714982 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2011.05.012
    The physical characteristics, microbial activities and kinetic properties of the granular sludge biomass were investigated under the influence of different hydraulic retention times (HRT) along with the performance of the system in removal of color and COD of synthetic textile wastewater. The study was conducted in a column reactor operated according to a sequential batch reactor with a sequence of anaerobic and aerobic reaction phases. Six stages of different HRTs and different anaerobic and aerobic reaction time were evaluated. It was observed that the increase in HRT resulted in the reduction of organic loading rate (OLR). This has caused a decrease in biomass concentration (MLSS), reduction in mean size of the granules, lowered the settling ability of the granules and reduction of oxygen uptake rate (OUR), overall specific biomass growth rate (ìoverall), endogeneous decay rate (kd) and biomass yield (Yobs, Y). When the OLR was increased by adding carbon sources (glucose, sodium acetate and ethanol), there was a slight increase in the MLSS, the granules mean size, ìoverall, and biomass yield. Under high HRT, increasing the anaerobic to aerobic reaction time ratio caused an increase in the concentration of MLSS, mean size of granules and lowered the SVI value and biomass yield. The ìoverall and biomass yield increased with the reduction in anaerobic/aerobic time ratio. The HRT of 24 h with anaerobic and aerobic reaction time of 17.8 and 5.8 h respectively appear to be the best cycle operation of SBR. Under these conditions, not only the physical properties of the biogranules have improved, the highest removal of color (i.e. 94.1±0.6%) and organics (i.e. 86.5±0.5%) of the synthetic textile dyeing wastewater have been achieved.
  17. Muda K, Aris A, Salim MR, Ibrahim Z, Yahya A, van Loosdrecht MC, et al.
    Water Res, 2010 Aug;44(15):4341-50.
    PMID: 20580402 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2010.05.023
    Microbial granular sludge that is capable to treat textile wastewater in a single reactor under intermittent anaerobic and aerobic conditions was developed in this study. The granules were cultivated using mixed sewage and textile mill sludge in combination with anaerobic granules collected from an anaerobic sludge blanket reactor as seed. The granules were developed in a single sequential batch reactor (SBR) system under alternating anaerobic and aerobic condition fed with synthetic textile wastewater. The characteristics of the microbial granular sludge were monitored throughout the study period. During this period, the average size of the granules increased from 0.02 +/- 0.01 mm to 2.3 +/- 1.0 mm and the average settling velocity increased from 9.9 +/- 0.7 m h(-1) to 80 +/- 8 m h(-1). This resulted in an increased biomass concentration (from 2.9 +/- 0.8 g L(-1) to 7.3 +/- 0.9 g L(-1)) and mean cell residence time (from 1.4 days to 8.3 days). The strength of the granules, expressed as the integrity coefficient also improved. The sequential batch reactor system demonstrated good removal of COD and ammonia of 94% and 95%, respectively, at the end of the study. However, only 62% of color removal was observed. The findings of this study show that granular sludge could be developed in a single reactor with an intermittent anaerobic-aerobic reaction phase and is capable in treating the textile wastewater.
  18. Mohd-Aris A, Muhamad-Sofie MHN, Zamri-Saad M, Daud HM, Ina-Salwany MY
    Vet World, 2019 Nov;12(11):1806-1815.
    PMID: 32009760 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1806-1815
    Fish diseases are often caused either by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or a combination of these pathogens. Of these, bacterial fish diseases are considered to be a major problem in the aquaculture industry. Hence, the prevention of such diseases by proper vaccination is one of the integral strategies in fish health management, aimed at reducing the fish mortality rate in the aquaculture farms. Vaccination offers an effective yet low-cost solution to combat the risk of disease in fish farming. An appropriate vaccination regime to prevent bacterial diseases offers a solution against the harmful effects of antibiotic applications. This review discusses the role of live-attenuated vaccine in controlling bacterial diseases and the development of such vaccines and their vaccination strategy. The current achievements and potential applications of live-attenuated and combined vaccines are also highlighted. Vaccine development is concluded to be a demanding process, as it must satisfy the requirements of the aquaculture industry.
  19. Mohd Zainudin NAI, Abd Murad NB, Aris A, Hussain NH
    Plant Dis, 2022 Sep 19.
    PMID: 36122197 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1291-PDN
    In July 2019 to November 2021, symptoms of fruit rot of Averrhoa bilimbi (commonly known as bilimbi) fruits were observed in Serdang (3°00'05.8"N 101°42'18.4"E) and Tanjong Karang (3°25'55.3"N 101°12'55.7"E), Selangor, Malaysia. External decay showed some yellowish to brownish-red discoloration and inside the fruit there was black powdery sporulation and a brownish decay that measured between 8 - 15 mm wide. Twenty random symptomatic fruits were collected from each location. Small pieces (5 mm) of infected tissues from the fruit rot were surface sterilized for 1 min in 0.5% NaOCl, washed twice with sterile distilled water and cultured onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and peptone pentachloronitrobenzene agar (PPA). The plates were incubated at 28 ± 1oC under 12 hours light/dark for 7 days. The fungal colonies growing from the plates were purified using hyphal tip technique (Leyronas et al. 2012). A total of 42 fungal isolates were obtained, and the morphology characteristics of six isolates were matched that of Aspergillus niger. The A. niger isolates were further identified based genus and species-specific Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequencing. Primers ITS1/ITS4, were used to amplify and subsequently sequenced the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region (White et al. 1990). Primer ASAP1 (5'-CAGCGAGTACATCACCTTGG-3'), ASAP2 (5'-CCATTGTTGAAAGTTTTAACTGATT-3') was used for Aspergillus species confirmation, primer ASPU (5'-ACTACCGATTGAATGGCTCG-3') / Ni1r (5'-ACGCTTTCAGACAGTGTTCG-3') for A. niger species-specific, ASPU / Af3r (5'-CATACTTTCAGAACAGCGTTCA-3') for A. fumigatus specific-specific and ASPU / Fl2r (5'-TTCACTAGATCAGACAGAGT-3') for A. flavus specific-specific (Sugita et al. 2004). In general, Aspergillus niger isolates grew rapidly on PDA and were visibly white initially then appearing black and powdery on the second day of incubation (Figure 1A). Some isolates grew rapidly (0.71-0.85 cm/day) and have a cottony appearance. The conidia were appeared brown to black, globose and rough with diameter ranging between 4.1-5.2 µm (Figure 1B). The vesicles were hyaline, globose, and brown in color with measurement of 30-75 µm in diameter with uniseriate sterigmata (Figure 1C). The conidial head was brownish black in color and split into several irregular and regular columns of conidial chains (Figure 1D-E). The conidiophores were hyaline, and brown in color. Phylogenetic trees of ITS (Figure 2A) and ASAP sequences (Figure 2B) were constructed using a Neighbor-Joining method showing isolates Aspergillus niger #11, #15, #32, #33, #41 and #42 were grouped into the same clade as A. niger (accession no. MT446087). To examine virulence of A. niger, pathogenicity tests were performed three times by inoculating an asymptomatic fruit with six isolates of A. niger (isolate #11, #15, #32, #33, #41 and #42) and a single isolate for each species of Aspergillus aculeatus, Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Penicillium gerundense. Ten fruits were inoculated by placing a mycelial disc (6 mm) (Kouame et al. 2010) from a 5-day-old culture of each fungal colony while control fruits were non-inoculated with any fungal colony (10 fruits were inoculated with a sterile agar disc and 10 were non-inoculated, respectively). After 3 days, typical symptoms of Aspergillus fruit rot were observed on A. niger inoculated fruits, whereas the control fruits remained asymptomatic (Figure 1F-P). Aspergillus niger was reisolated and reidentified based on morphological and molecular characterization from the inoculated, symptomatic fruits, thus confirming Koch's postulates. A. niger causing widespread diseases in various plant and it is a common contaminant of food. This study shows A. niger to be highly virulent on bilimbi fruits and leads to reduction of fruit quality and its production. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. niger causing fruit rot on bilimbi and future work on its pathogenesis may provide strategies for disease control against the pathogen.
  20. Lim CK, Bay HH, Neoh CH, Aris A, Abdul Majid Z, Ibrahim Z
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2013 Oct;20(10):7243-55.
    PMID: 23653315 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-013-1725-7
    In this study, the adsorption behavior of azo dye Acid Orange 7 (AO7) from aqueous solution onto macrocomposite (MC) was investigated under various experimental conditions. The adsorbent, MC, which consists of a mixture of zeolite and activated carbon, was found to be effective in removing AO7. The MC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray, point of zero charge, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis. A series of experiments were performed via batch adsorption technique to examine the effect of the process variables, namely, contact time, initial dye concentration, and solution pH. The dye equilibrium adsorption was investigated, and the equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich, and Tempkin isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm model fits the equilibrium data better than the Freundlich isotherm model. For the kinetic study, pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion model were used to fit the experimental data. The adsorption kinetic was found to be well described by the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the adsorption process is a spontaneous and endothermic process. The SEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectral and high performance liquid chromatography analysis were carried out before and after the adsorption process. For the phytotoxicity test, treated AO7 was found to be less toxic. Thus, the study indicated that MC has good potential use as an adsorbent for the removal of azo dye from aqueous solution.
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