Abstrak: Sarkosporidiosis adalah penyakit yang disebabkan oleh parasit protozoa intraselular iaitu Sarcocystis spp. Pada khinzir, tiga spesis Sarcocystis spp. telah dikenalpasti antaranya Sarcocystis meischeriana, Sarcocystis porcifelis dan Sarcocystis suihominis. Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan prevalens sarkosporidiosis otot pada khinzir dengan menggunakan teknik penghadaman peptik. Sebanyak 150 sampel segar otot jantung, esofagus dan paha daripada 50 khinzir jenis Yorkshire dan Landrace telah dikumpulkan dari dua buah tempat sembelihan tempatan di Perak mulai bulan Mei hingga Ogos 2014. Kesemua sampel segar tersebut diperiksa secara kasar untuk mengesan pembentukan-makrosis Sarcocystis spp. dan seterusnya diproses secara teknik penghadaman peptik bagi mengesan kehadiran bradizoit. Hasil yang diperolehi menunjukkan 58% (29 daripada 50) khinzir adalah positif terhadap Sarcocystis spp. Penemuan ini menggambarkan kepentingan untuk melaksanakan langkah-langkah yang ketat dalam pemeriksaan khinzir-khinzir di rumah sembelihan terhadap infeksi Sarcocystis spp. kerana kepentingannya terhadap kesihatan awam. Kata kunci: Sarkosistis, Khinzir, Otot, Penghadaman Peptik, BradizoitAbstract: Sarcosporidiosis is a disease caused by intracellular protozoan parasites, namely, Sarcocystis spp. In pigs, three species of Sarcocystis spp. have been recognised, including Sarcocystis meischeriana, Sarcocystis porcifelis and Sarcocystis suihominis. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of muscular sarcosporidiosis in pigs using the pepsin digestion technique. A total of 150 fresh heart, oesophagus and thigh muscle samples from 50 Yorkshire and Landrace pigs were collected from two local abattoirs in Perak from May to August 2014. All the fresh muscle samples were thoroughly examined for macrocyst-forming Sarcocystis spp. and processed using the peptic digestion technique to detect bradyzoites. The results from the muscle samples showed that 58% (29 out of 50) of the pigs were positive for Sarcocystis spp. These findings highlight the importance of implementing stringent measures for screening pigs in abattoirs for Sarcocystis spp. infection because this infection in pigs is a public health concern. *

Halal certification is one of the prerequisites for entering the global halal market. It does provide recognition of quality and safe product through the concept of halalan toyyiban for the entire supply chain, from farm to fork. In halal meat industry, the system covers from practicing good animal husbandry in the farm until the post-slaughter management in order to maintain the halal status. Animal welfare aspect and ante-mortem inspection were also highlighted in reducing the chances of slaughtering the injured or diseased animal which may not only affecting the meat quality but unhealthy for consumption. Rapid bleeding resulting from the slaughtering process will increases the shelf-life of the meat by reducing the risk of carcass contamination and product deterioration. As the concept of toyyiban (wholesomeness) is practice, the meat is free from any microbiological, physical and chemical hazards.

The challenge of high tropical temperature and chilling sensitive horticulture required an optimum postharvest handling to minimize the worldwide concern on the postharvest losses of tropical fruits and vegetables. To ensure the harvested produces achieves the consumer acceptability, the effect of temperature on the perishable produces along the integrated series of postharvest chain operations including harvesting, processing, storage and transportation must be crucially maintained. Even though the cooling process during the postharvest handling helps to reduce deterioration from high tropical temperature, the refrigeration storage temperature may also result in detrimental chilling injury. Quality of the produces reduced because of the development of symptoms include internal and external discoloration, abnormal fruit ripening, accelerated senescence, skin pitting, wilting, increase susceptibility to decay and loss of flavour. Optimum storage temperature for specific fruits and vegetables, temperature conditioning, intermittent warming technique, controlled atmosphere storage, chemical treatments and application of growth regulator can be applied either to retard the damaging symptoms or to increase the tolerance of the commodities towards chilling injury in order to extend fresh produces shelf life.

Psidium guajava L., or guava, has been widely reported as having antimicrobial activities against foodborne pathogens. However, the efficacy of P. guajava leaf extract at different storage temperatures has not been extensively explored. Therefore, the present work investigated the effect of antibacterial activity of P. guajava leaf extract on beef quality at different storage temperatures. Disc diffusion assay was performed on selected foodborne pathogens (Bacillus cereus ATCC33019, B. megaterium ATCC14581, B. pumilus ATCC14884, B. subtilis ATCC6633, Escherichia coli ATCC43895, Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC13048, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC13773, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC9027, Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC14028, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29737) to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the ethanolic extract of P. guajava leaves. The results revealed inhibition zones ranging from 7.00 ± 0.00 to 10.00 ± 0.00 mm. MIC and MBC assays were conducted to assess the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of the leaf extract at a concentration range of 0.08 to 2.50 mg/mL, and > 5.00 mg/mL, respectively. The stability of the leaf extract was also measured at different temperatures and pH conditions by disc diffusion assay with the minimum inhibition zone of 7.00 ± 0.00 mm. The application of P. guajava leaf extract (0.05, 0.50, and 5.00%) on beef samples resulted in a continuous decrease in Total Plate Count during 14-day storage at refrigerated (4.0 ± 2.0°C) and freezing (-18.0 ± 2.0°C) temperatures. The results revealed that P. guajava leaf extract can effectively serve as a natural meat preservative to prolong the shelf life of the treated beef up to 14 days.