Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) constitutes a great source of lignocellulosic biomass, mainly comprising of 66.97 % of holocellulose (cellulose and hemicellulose) and 24.45 % of lignin. This present work aimed to hydrolyze cellulose present in OPEFB to form glucose with the aid of Aspergillus niger. A. niger is a type of filamentous fungi able to produce cellulase, a multi-enzyme complex consisting of an endoglucanase, exoglucanase, and β-glucosidase, able to converting cellulose into glucose. The glucose produced is then fermented to produce bioethanol. The present study compared hydrolytic activity of cellulose between OPEFB with pretreatment using NaOH 10 % and OPEFB without pretreatment, concerning temperature, pH, and hydrolysis time. The concentration of reducing sugar derived from cellulosic hydrolysis was determined by using a glucose assay of 3.5-dinitrosalicylic acid. The results showed that the optimum temperature for hydrolysis of cellulose OPEFB (pretreated and untreated) was at 40 °C and the optimum pH was 5.0 for OPEFB-untreated and 5.5 for OPEFB-pretreated. Hydrolysis of cellulose at 40 °C and 3 d yielded reducing sugar 13.01 mg mL−1 and 1.16 mg mL−1 for OPEFB-untreated and OPEFB-pretreated, respectively.
Pyrolysis of cajuput (
Melaleuca leucadendron
) twigs and rice (
Oryza sativa
) husks to produce liquid smoke and antibacterial activities of the liquid smoke fractions were investigated. The liquid smoke was produced by pyrolysis at 500 °C for 8 h and contained fine chemicals, such as acetic acid, carbonyl, cyclic ketones, and phenolic compounds with pH 2.1–2.9. The liquid smoke was separated by vacuum evaporation under vacuum conditions at low temperatures (40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C) to recover three fractions. The composition of each fraction influenced its antibacterial activities. Antibacterial activities of the liquid smoke fractions were tested against Gram-positive bacteria (
Listeria monocytogenes
,
Bacillus subtilis
, and
Staphylococcus aureus
) and Gram-negative bacteria (
Salmonella typhimurium
,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
, and
Escherichia coli
). Whole fractions of the liquid smoke inhibited the six pathogenic bacteria, with the inhibition zone larger or smaller than the positive control. Among the liquid smoke fractions, the liquid recovered at 60 °C for the cajuput twigs and rice husks demonstrated a stronger inhibitory effect on bacterial growth than the other fractions.
Hibiscus tiliaceus is one of the herbal medicines that have been used as traditional medicine for a long time. Antioxidant and anticancer potencies of this plant have reported by some researchers. However, there are no studies reported on antioxidant and anticancer potencies of H. tiliaceus leaves collected from Terengganu-Malaysia, especially against breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Different solvents in the extraction process and different sampling areas were chosen in this study compared to other studies. These could affect the chemicals content of H. tiliaeus leaves as well as on their bioactivities. Hence, the objectives of this study were to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer potencies of H. tiliaceus leaves from Terengganu, Malaysia, against MCF-7. The sample was extracted by solvent-solvent partitioning using hexane and ethyl acetate. Antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties were carried out by DPPH free radical scavenging activity and MTT, respectively. The morphological features were stained by Annexin-V/PI and DAPI. Results revealed that H. tiliaceus leaves exhibited strong DPPH free radical scavenging and cytotoxic activities against MCF-7. Morphological features showed the cells were put to death by both early and late apoptosis. Our results found that H. tiliaceus leaves have potency as antioxidant and anticancer agents against MCF-7 cells.
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