Histamine is commonly present in food containing proteins, like in mackerel. Consuming fish is imperative for the improvement of human muscles. Nevertheless, some studies reported ingesting fish containing histamine more than 50 mg·kg-1 can cause toxicity. This study analyzed and determined the composition of histamine in mackerel and its products commonly consumed in Malaysia, especially on the East Coast of Malaysia. These included processed mackerel such as canned products, satay (skewed fish) and keropok lekor (fish cake/ cracker). Histamine analysis was performed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a fluorescence detector. A derivatizing reaction was applied to increase the sensitivity of HPLC to histamine using 9-flourenilmethylchloroformate (FMOC-Cl). The chromatographic separation was achieved in 15 min. Method validation was in accordance to Commission Decision 657/2002/CE. The linear range was at 0.16 – 5.00 µg·mL-1 (histamine) with the LOD at 0.10 µg·mL-1 and LOQ at 0.30 µg·mL-1 . Method applicability was checked on seven real samples involving raw, cooked, and dry products, yielding acceptable recovery.
Dengue is the main health problem in Malaysia. One of the main causes of dengue is the lack of participation in combating dengue. To improve participation, stakeholder’s engagement is considered the best solution which promotes an effective way of forming good governance. Engagement involves a level of knowledge, awareness, and understanding through past intended behavior. The objective of this study is to assess and compare the level of engagement of stakeholders toward dengue control techniques. A survey was conducted on 399 stakeholders who were selected randomly in the Klang Valley region, Malaysia. Result of the study showed that the stakeholders have a moderate level of engagement on dengue control techniques. The scientists seemed (a) more knowledgeable (4.81) than the public (4.68), (b) more aware (4.80) than the public (4.55), and (c) more intended behavior (4.31) than the public (4.11) to behave accordingly in supporting the implementation of these techniques. This study also identified the level of engagement factor across gender, religion, education level, and age were moderate which were translated to a moderately attached in dengue control techniques. However, one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) initially detected no significant differences across demographic factors except religion on stakeholder’s engagement. Therefore, these findings will serve as a benchmark to evaluate stakeholder’s engagement to understand their participation in the implementation of dengue control techniques. Good participation promotes good governance in sustaining healthy life without dengue.
Jatropha curcas is an oil-rich seed crop with huge potentials for bioenergy production. The inflorescence carries a number of processes that are likely to affect the overall yield potentials; floral development, male-to-female flower ratio, floral abscission and fruit set. In this study, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis which integrates the transcriptome, physical and simple sugar data of J. curcas inflorescence was performed and nine modules were identified by means of hierarchical clustering. Among them, four modules (green4, antiquewhite2, brown2 and lightskyblue4) showed significant correlation to yield factors at p≤0.01. The four modules are categorized into two clusters; cluster 1 of green4 and antiquewhite2 modules correspond to number of flowers/inflorescence, total seed weight/plant, number of seeds/plant, and number of fruits/plant, whereas cluster 2 of brown2 and lightskyblue4 modules correspond to glucose and fructose. Descriptive characterizations of cluster 1 show putative involvement in gibberellin signaling and responses, whereas cluster 2 may have been involved in sugar signaling, signal transductions and regulation of flowerings. Our findings present a list of hub genes for J. curcas yield improvement and reproductive biology enhancement strategies.
The pulp and pericarp of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) fruit are popular food, beverage and health products whereby 60% of the fruit consist of the pericarp. The major metabolite in the previously neglected or less economically significant part of the fruit, the pericarp, is the prenylated xanthone α-mangostin. This highly bioactive secondary metabolite is typically isolated using solvent extraction methods that involve large volumes of halogenated solvents either via direct or indirect extraction. In this study, we compared the quantities of α-mangostin extracted using three different extraction methods based on the environmentally friendly solvents methanol and ethyl acetate. The three solvent extractions methods used were direct extractions from methanol (DM) and ethyl acetate (DEA) as well as indirect extraction of ethyl acetate obtained via solvent partitioning from an initial methanol extract (IEA). Our results showed that direct extraction afforded similar and higher quantities of α-mangostin than indirect extraction (DM: 318 mg; DEA: 305 mg; IEA: 209 mg per 5 g total dried pericarp). Therefore, we suggest that the commonly used method of indirect solvent extraction using halogenated solvents for the isolation of α-mangostin is replaced by single solvent direct extraction using the environmentally friendly solvents methanol or ethyl acetate.
Abundant low-cost oil palm mesocarp fibre could serve as a potential feedstock for the production of oligosaccharides which may have prebiotic properties. Thus, a study was carried out to determine the ability of saccharified oil palm mesocarp fibre (OPMF) to support the growth of a probiotic microorganism (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1). The saccharified OPMF was produced using different saccharification times (1, 3 and 6 hrs) while fermentation of the saccharified OPMF with L. rhamnosus GR-1 was carried out for 0, 12 and 24 hrs. Growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 was measured based on OD600 using a UV-spectrophotometer along with the pH of the growth media. The results showed a significantly higher (p<0.05) growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 with increasing saccharification time and fermentation time. Increased saccharification time of up to 6 hrs also resulted in a higher variety of oligosaccharides compared to 1 hour and significantly reduced (p<0.05) pH of the growth media. The use of saccharified OPMF produced comparable growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 with significantly lower (p<0.05) pH compared to using fructooligosaccharide in the growth media. The results showed the ability of saccharified OPMF to support the growth of probiotic L. rhamnosus GR-1.
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