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Biomass valorisation is conventionally associated with the production of green biofuels. However, this could extend beyond the conventional perception of biomass application into other domains such as medical sciences. Acid condensate (AC) obtained from pyrolysis promises a good potential for biomedical applications, notably for its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, concentrated AC extract (CACE) obtained from microwave-assisted pyrolysis of palm kernel shells was fractionated, and the resulting fractions were pooled according to similar thin layer chromatography profiles into combined fractions (CFACs). CFACs were evaluated for total phenolic content, antioxidant level, cytotoxicity, and wound healing activities toward human skin fibroblast cells (HSF 1184). CFAC-3 showed the highest total phenolic content (624.98 ± 8.70 µg GAE/mg of sample) and antioxidant activities (DPPH IC50 of 29.47 ± 0.74 µg/mL, ABTS of 1247.13 ± 27.89 μg TE/mg sample, FRAP of 24.26 ± 0.71 mmol Fe(II)/mg sample, HFRS of 257.74 ± 1.74 µg/mL) compared to CACE (DPPH IC50 of 81.76 ± 2.81 µg/mL, ABTS of 816.95 ± 30.49 μg TE/mg sample, FRAP of 9.22 ± 0.66 mmol Fe(II)/mg sample, HFRS of 689.30 ± 36.00 µg/mL), no cytotoxic properties at ≤50 µg/mL, and significantly faster wound closure (at 1.25 µg/mL) compared to the control 12 h after treatment. The phosphorylation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) were upregulated, thus indicating that wound healing of CFAC-3 followed through this signalling pathway. To conclude, phenolic-rich CFAC-3 obtained from the pyrolysis of palm kernel shells demonstrated potential biomedical application as an alternative wound healing agent with high antioxidant and wound-healing activity. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to report on the wound healing activity of AC and its wound healing mechanism.

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The present study aimed to investigate the effect of silver catfish (Pangasius sp.) protein hydrolysate (SCPH) on physicochemical properties and oxidative stability of emulsion sausage prepared from shortfin scad (Decapterus macrosoma). The SCPH with different concentrations (1, 2, and 3%) was added into fish emulsion sausage followed by characterization of its physicochemical properties. The results obtained from this study revealed that the fish emulsion sausages contain high moisture content (63.49-66.85%), protein content (18.04-21.89%), fat content (7.16-8.59%), carbohydrate content (2.28- 2.72%) and low ash contents (1.83-2.17%). The addition of SCPH improvised the hardness, cohesiveness, chewiness and resilience of the emulsion sausage (p<0.05) compared to the control sample. The finer fat globules were visualized in the sample added with SCPH at higher concentration of 3% (10-20 µm) compared to other concentrations (1 and 2%). Besides, the incorporation of SCPH at all concentrations shows a significant difference on L*, a* and b* values of the emulsion sausages during extended storage of 12 days (p<0.05). The SCPH was shown to retard lipid oxidation of sausage after extended storage of 12 days, with lower PV and TBARS values. Therefore, the effectiveness in retarding lipid oxidation achieved with the higher concentration of SCPH and it also capable to retain textural properties of fish emulsion sausage in the refrigerated storage of 12 days. Thus, as an alternative antioxidant in fish emulsion sausage, SCPH showed a potential to be used as it improved the physicochemical properties and oxidative stability of fish emulsion sausage.

More than half of the reported new discovered/invented drugs are ones with poor solubility, absorption or both. These are the crucial issues that can affect the bioavailability of the drugs. Therefore, improving solubility of poor-soluble drugs is absolutely important. One of the methods to solubilize them in biological fluids is using surfactants. Surfactants are an amphiphilic organic compound containing hydrophilic and lipophilic parts that allow it to reduce the surface tension between two opposite polar phases.  Several popular methods used to determine critical micelle concentration which includes surface tension, conductivity and UV-vis spectroscopy. These surfactants plays number of roles in antibacterial compound synthesis include size reduction agent, stabilizer, solubilizer and drug-carrier. This review will also critically discuss on the roles of surfactants in antibacterial compound synthesis/production and its effect on the antibacterial activity of the drugs.

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