Antioxidative activity and total phenolic compounds of root, leaf and petiole of four accessions of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, namely CA 01, CA 05, CA 08 and CA 11, were evaluated. Antioxidative activity of the extracts was measured using the ferric thiocyanate (FTC) method and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test. The antioxidative activities were then compared with that of α-tocopherol (natural antioxidant) and butylated hydroxytoulene or BHT (synthetic antioxidant). The results showed that CA 01 and CA 05 had the highest antioxidative activities among the accessions tested. Results also showed that both leaf and root of C. asiatica had high antioxidative activity, which was as good as that of α-tocopherol. The total phenolic content, determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu method, varied from 3.23 to 11.7 g/100 g dry sample, and showed strong association (r2=0.90) with antioxidative activity. The results suggest that phenolic compounds are the major contributors to the antioxidative activities of C. asiatica.

Seaweed has a great potential to be used as an important ingredient in food processing, as it contains a significant content of soluble polysaccharides and has a potential function as a dietary fiber. In this study, seaweed powder (Kappaphycus alvarezii) was incorporated (2-10%) with wheat flour for the production of muffins. The effect of seaweed composite flour on the quality of muffins was investigated using various techniques, such as texture profile and proximate analyses, as well as sensory evaluation. Modification of the muffin formulation to include seaweed powder improved the composition of ash, crude fiber, and moisture content, while the protein and carbohydrate levels decreased, compared to the control sample. An increase in the seaweed component reduced the muffin height, volume, and specific volume. According to the experimental texture profile analysis data, the seaweed affected the textural characteristics of the muffins, increasing the hardness and decreasing the springiness. Sensory evaluation revealed that seaweed powder could be used in the muffin formulation up to 6%, without significantly impacting the color, aroma, and taste attributes relative to the control sample. For overall acceptability, however, the panelists preferred muffins without seaweed powder.

Incorporation of composite flour into wheat flour for bakery goods production is expected to produce an effect in the functional properties of the blended samples. Functional properties of composite flour have been studied in most of the developing countries which used and imported a large amount of wheat flour to fulfil the increasing number of consumers as the higher demand in the development of bakery and pastry products. In this review paper, the characteristics of composite flours were reviewed to determine the suitability of the raw materials to be used in the production of food products. The functional properties such as water and oil absorption capability, foam ability, emulsion capability, least gelation concentration, and particle size distribution might indicate the capability of the composite flour before proceeding to the development of food products were reviewed. The functionality of composite flour was found to be beneficial to enhance the variety of food products with acceptable appearance, organoleptic, nutrition, and low cost to fulfil consumer demands.

Clitoria ternatea flowers are known as butterfly pea flowers which contain many bioactive compounds and can be found in tropical countries. However, the bioactive compounds are easily lost when exposed to various environmental conditions. Encapsulation technologies are introduced to provide maximum protection to the encapsulated bioactive compounds. The main objectives of this study were to determine the physicochemical properties of C. ternatea flowers encapsulated in gelatine prepared using different encapsulating methods and the microbiological properties of the best encapsulating methods for C. ternatea flowers with gelatine. In this study, the moisture contents for ultrasonic spray dried powders recorded the lowest (5.94±0.44%) while samples of convection oven recorded the highest (14.33±1.30%). However, the ultrasonic spray dried powders demonstrated the highest total flavonoid contents, but convection oven dried powders showed the lowest. The results for total anthocyanin contents were similar to total flavonoid contents. The highest encapsulation efficiency based on anthocyanin contents was found in freeze dried powders (95.75±0.24%). These results showed the same antioxidant activity (DPPH assay) with the highest percentage inhibition of freeze dried powders and the lowest percentage inhibition of ultrasonic spray dried powders. The phytochemical functional group that revealed from Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) analysis also indicate the presence of high amount of phenolic compounds in freeze dried powders although with ‘collapse building’ shape with fibrillary structure. The freeze dried powder showed the highest L* value (45.62±0.54), yet ultrasonic spray dried powders highest a*, b* and C* value. Thus, the analysis for microbial properties was carried out on freeze dried powders as freeze dryer was chosen as the best encapsulating methods. The freeze dried powders showed inhibition against gram positive and gram negative bacteria such as Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica and fungi such as Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The current study demonstrated the potential of using gelatine to encapsulate technique to retain antioxidant compounds in gelatine encapsulated C. ternatea flowers. This finding provides useful information on the use of different encapsulated methods for the development of functional food products for gelatine encapsulated flowers of C. ternatea.

Malay cherry fruit or locally known as Ceri Terengganu (Lepisanthes alata Leenh.) is a local tropical exotic fruit and it is native to Malaysia. The Ceri Terengganu tree is widely distributed in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia particularly in Terengganu, Pahang and Johor and commonly cultivated as an ornamental plant in the villages and gardens. A limited number of studies had been done on the proximate analysis and postharvest quality of Ceri Terengganu fruit, but the studies on the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Ceri Terengganu fruit extract are still lacking. Hence, this study aimed to determine the antioxidant and antibacterial activity in the peel, flesh and seed extracts of Ceri Terengganu. The Ceri Terengganu was extracted using 60% ethanol and the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total monomeric anthocyanins, antioxidant and antibacterial activities were measured using standard methods. The results showed that the seed of Ceri Terengganu had the highest amount of TPC, TFC and antioxidant activity, followed by the peel and flesh extracts whilst the peel extract had the highest total monomeric anthocyanins content. Furthermore, all three extracts of Ceri Terengganu showed inhibition against selected pathogens tested. In conclusion, the seed of Ceri Terengganu possessed the greatest potential to be explored as a source of natural antioxidant and antibacterial agent in the food industry, and thus warrant further investigation.